Benedictine Launches Prayer Campaign to Transform Culture in America
In his document The Church in America, St. John Paul II said Our Lady of Guadalupe’s prayers will Transform Culture in America, and Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, is taking him at his word.
“Through Our Lady of Guadalupe’s powerful intercession, the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of the men and women of America and permeate their cultures, transforming them from within,” said St. John Paul II.
As the 490th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe nears, members of Benedictine College’s Memorare Army for Transforming Culture in America will pray 490 Memorares.
“On Sept. 8, Benedictine College announces its new Transforming Culture in America strategic plan,” said President Stephen D. Minnis. The plan was produced by a process that began in 2018 in which the college’s faculty, board of directors, staff, and administration met with leaders from all walks of life and asked what the college could do to help transform culture in America. The results will be announced on Sept. 8, 2021.
“We know that something this important will never be accomplished without Our Lady, who has blessed the college in so many ways, and we hope you will join us in praying for this important new work,” said Minnis.
The college has had a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe for decades. A Guadalupe Chapel was built at St. Benedict’s Abbey on the college’s campus in 1957. The college built Guadalupe Hall, a residence hall for girls, on campus in 2014 after President Minnis was chosen to be one of the representatives at the Church in America conferences called for in The Church in America by St. John Paul II.
Members of the Memorare Army for Transforming Culture in America will pray five Memorares a day in the 96 days between Sept. 8 and Dec. 12. To make 490 Memorares, members are asked to pray two additional Memorares on these five Marian feast days:
- Sept 8, the Nativity of Our Lady
- Sept. 15, Our Lady of Sorrows
- Oct 7, Our Lady of the Rosary
- Dec. 8, Immaculate Conception
- Dec. 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe
New members are free to join at any point. The college has created a Memorare Tracker to help keep count of Memorares; cross off each group of five or seven as it is completed. Memorare Army members will pray for this intention:
“That through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of men and women and Transform Culture in America.”
Following the example of St. Teresa of Kolkata, the college has launched several Memorare Armies, as described in “Mary’s Miracles”, an account of Our Lady’s intercessions for Benedictine College.
The National Catholic Register covered Benedictine College’s Memorare Amy in an article available here. To read Kansas City Arcbishop Joseph Naumann’s article on the Memorare Army, “How Prayer Stopped a Kansas Storm,” click here.
Click here to join the Memorare Army for Tranforming Culture in America
