On 26 July 2024, the second ecumenical prayer for peace took place in St. Josef’s House, the care and nursing home of the Vinzenz Pallotti Foundation in Refrath (a home for around 180 senior citizens), inspired by the Pallottine Sisters and welcomed with joy by the social services and the management of the home.
The first prayer for peace in June “had ignited” – it was like a small Pentecost miracle. Home residents – many of them with walking aids and in wheelchairs -, the Pallottine Sisters, the social services team, nursing and cleaning staff as well as the managing director Mrs Andréa Kaib gathered in the chapel and sang and prayed for peace for our conflict-ridden world. It was a prayer service that brought joy to everyone’s face. It was an experience that we are a family together with the desire for peace among us and in the world. From this first experience came the desire to organise a monthly prayer for peace. Mrs Elke Sikora, the social services and pastoral care worker, has incorporated this prayer at 11 a.m. into the programme of the house and prioritised it.
It is to become a tradition that Sr Pacifica, the superior of the Pallottine Sisters, brings in the peace light at the beginning and places it on the altar. A donated olive tree, which unexpectedly was placed in the chapel for the 2nd prayer for peace, will be a lasting symbol in St Josef’s House as a reminder for the concern of “peace”. Everyone also enjoyed singing together, supported by two guitars. We will be back on 22 August for the 3rd Peace Prayer!
Text: Sr. Maria Landsberger SAC
Photos: Susanne Schneck (2) and Sr. Maria Landsberger SAC (1)
