A night of prayer attended by over
a thousand people, launched on 1 July last by the Archdiocese of Seoul. It was a " Rosary marathon" to ask for the canonization of Fr. Choi Yang-oeb, Paul Yun Ji-choong and his 123 companions, killed in hatred of the faith during the persecutions of the XVIII - XIX century.
The purpose is to recite 100 million mysteries for each martyr, a total of 12.5 billion prayers.
The first prayer was held in the Myeong-dong Cathedral of the South Korean capital on the initiative of the Commission for the martyrs and of the Council for the apostolate of the laity: the news was re-launched by the Secretariat of the archdiocese.
Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, the Commission director Msgr. Choi Chang-hwa and the Council director, Choi Hong-jun were present.
The goal is to reach 100 million mysteries recited for each Servant of God: a total of 12.5 billion prayers, which will be recited by Catholics around the country indefinitely until the canonization of the Korean Martyrs becomes reality.
The local Church is eagerly awaiting this decision: it was John Paul II to lead the way in 2003 when he proclaimed the group Servants of God. The bBishop of Daejeon, Msgr. Lazzaro You Heung-sik, has already invited Pope Francis to Korea for the event.
After an hour of prayer, the archbishop of the capital gave a short speech to those present: "The Lord gives great blessings through the prayer of Rosary. It is the prayer that gives us the strength to overcome every difficulty in our life. We thank the Lord for his grace, and pray together for the canonization of the Korean martyrs. "