VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV prayed the rosary with hundreds of children and their families at the Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens Oct.
1 after the pope invited Catholics to pray the rosary throughout the month of October for peace in the world.
“Tonight and in these coming days, we are not alone in prayer.
Across the globe, one million children are praying with us,” Pope Leo told the children.
“One million! Just think: 50 million ‘Hail Marys’ rising to Heaven from every corner of the earth and in every language, asking for peace, and coming together as if in a single, immense rosary, to embrace and bind together all the continents, races, and nations of the planet,” he said.
The prayer with the pope as the sun set over the Vatican Gardens was part of the “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” initiative organized by Aid to the Church in Need, a pontifical foundation that supports persecuted and suffering Christians around the world.
A weeklong prayer campaign this year For the first time, the 2026 campaign is taking place over an entire week, from Oct.
1-7, allowing dioceses, parishes, schools, communities and families around the world to choose a day suited to their pastoral circumstances while uniting in prayer for peace and unity.
The campaign will conclude Oct.
7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Pope Leo arrived at the Vatican Gardens singing the hymn “Jesus Christ, You Are My Life” with the children and the crowd gathered in the gardens for the prayer.
“Tonight we’ve gathered to be together with the two people who love us more than anyone else.
Do you know who they are?” the pope asked.
“The Lord Jesus and his mother Mary, who never leave us alone and who are always close to us.” At the beginning of the prayer vigil, the pope was accompanied by a child as he brought a bouquet of flowers to the altar at the Lourdes grotto.
The gathering came just days after Pope Leo visited the original Marian grotto in Lourdes, France, where the Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to St.
Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.
The Lourdes grotto in the Vatican Gardens dates back to Pope Leo XIII, who decided near the end of his life to install a reproduction of the Lourdes grotto in France.
It was solemnly inaugurated in 1905 by his successor, Pope Pius X.
As the pope spoke enthusiastically to the children and their families, a young child ran across the gardens in front of him.
Pope Leo invited the children to shout, “I love you, Jesus,” and “I love you, Mary.” Praying for peace around the globe “Yes,....
