Intercessory prayer petitions are pouring in from around the country in anticipation of the second annual archdiocesan Mass focusing on a cure for all types of cancer, scheduled Oct. 14, 3:15 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
San Pedro Region Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar will be among numerous clergy concelebrating, including St. Bernadette Church pastor, Father Allan Roberts, who will preside at the liturgy organized by Deacon Mark and Vickie Race of St. Bernadette.
Like last year's inaugural "Pray for a Cure" Mass, which drew more than 1,200 people from all over the Southland, the event is coordinated in association with Los Angeles' St. Bernadette Church, members of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, Cathedral staff and the American Cancer Society, which will have an information table available.
"We are also getting a lot of support from the diaconate community and receiving a lot of calls from parishes," said Deacon Race, who will be the homilist for the Mass. Bishop Salazar will deliver a Spanish translation immediately following Race's homily.
According to Race, who founded the Faith Hope & Charity Cancer Ministry with his wife last year, the Catholic cancer ministry's website, www.faithhopeandcharityccm.com, has already received over 700 names of cancer sufferers seeking enrollment in the prayer petition book which will be placed near the altar during the Mass.
Those attending the liturgy will be able to participate in a communal celebration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, which drew hundreds of people from the pews last year for individual blessings administered by the numerous clergy present.
Many who attended last year's event said they were "filled with hope after the Mass," said Deacon Race. Since the 2006 Mass, the Races have provided approximately 4-5 hours a day of spiritual support by phone several days a week to cancer sufferers from as far away as Australia. They are also starting a support retreat group at St. Bernadette in a designated room at the parish.
"This ministry is growing. The reward is hearing people say how this is helping them. People are thrilled the Mass is happening again," said Vickie, a breast cancer survivor.
"We are offering [cancer sufferers] Catholic prayer, reaching back to what they have grown up with," such as the rosary, the sacraments and the saints," Mark said. The ministry's website features a "Prayer to St. Peregrine," an Italian Servite priest from the 14th century known as the patron saint of cancer sufferers who was, himself, miraculously cured of leg cancer.
"Through God, we can beat cancer," said Mark at last year's Pray for a Cure Mass. "One day, we'll remember cancer like we remember polio."
For more information on the Oct. 14 Mass, contact Vickie Race at St. Bernadette Church, (323) 293-4877, or Mark and Vickie Race at (310) 844-1970. |