Zagreb, (IKA) – The fourth meeting of the Subcommittee for the Content of the Preparatory Period and Program Prior to the Celebration of the Eucharist with Pope Benedict XVI was held on Tuesday, May 11, at the Secretariat of the Croatian Conference of Bishops in Zagreb. The meeting was presided over by the Bishop of Krk and President of the Council of the CCB for the Family, Msgr. Valter Župan.
In Bishop Župan’s introductory remarks, he said that a large candle is being made as a lasting memento of the first meeting of Croatian Catholic families and its celebration together with Pope Benedict XVI, which will also burn at future national family encounters. At the end of the celebration of the Mass, the candle will be blessed by Pope Benedict XVI and a small replica will be presented to him as a sign of the gratitude, devotion, love, prayers and sacrifices of all Croatian families.
At the Subcommittee meeting, a detailed program was presented and adopted for the Prayer Vigil at the Zagreb Hippodrome, which will begin at 3 a.m. on Sunday, June 5. The vigil, entitled “The Family – Together in Christ,” will begin with the Candle Ceremony in which the candle for family encounters will be lit for the first time, and from which families of six Croatian parishes dedicated to the Holy Family will carry its flame back to their respective parishes. Recalling the first encounter with the successor of Peter at the Zagreb Hippodrome in 1994, a part of the Prayer Vigil in which one family from each Croatian (arch)diocese will participate has been conceived as a combination of prayer and music, interwoven with the thoughts and messages of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI about the family in various situations.
In the middle of the second part of the Prayer Vigil will be a musical program entitled “Adam, Where Are You?” that ends with the testimony of several families, the renewal of marital vows and thanksgiving for the children of all the married couples present. The conclusion and climax of the prayer preparations for the celebration of the Mass with Pope Benedict XVI will be the dedication of Croatian families to the Holy Family.
In order to be as prepared as possible for our encounter with the Vicar of Christ, Bishop Župan stressed the importance and significance during the last days and weeks of the preparations for the Pope’s arrival, with particular emphasis on the spiritual preparation of all the faithful. In this sense, the Subcommittee invites all Croatian families and the faithful to participate in the spiritual-prayer initiative of a Forum of Families for the Pope and Family, “Peter’s Guard” (www.forum-obiteljski.org). The Subcommittee also invites all the parishes throughout Croatia to begin praying the Novena to the Holy Family on Friday, May 27, the text of which will be published these days in the Catholic media, as a visible sign of the cohesion and unity of all Croatia and all Croatian families, in joyful anticipation of the encounter with the successor of Peter.
The Subcommittee invites all the faithful and people of good will to participate in the largest numbers possible with joyful hearts in one of the greatest events of this decade for Croatia and to be part of the historical encounter of Croatian families with Pope Benedict XVI at the Zagreb Hippodrome on Sunday, June 5.