LONDON, SEPT. 21, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI’s trip to the United Kingdom has been declared a success by the Vatican, the government and even many critics. Undoubtedly these results point to the amount of prayer that supported the trip.
The Pope got an inside look at that prayerful support while he was in England. Graham Hutton of the charity group Aid to the Church in Need presented the Pontiff on Friday with a leather-bound book of 7,224 benefactors who had promised prayer in the run-up to the visit.
“I was presented to the Holy Father, along with about 20 others, after his private morning Mass at the nunciature and before his visit to St. Mary’s College, Twickenham,» Hutton explained. «I was able to explain briefly what the book contained and to show a few pages of it to the Holy Father who smiled his beautiful smile and expressed his gratitude.»
The benefactors — who are supporters of Aid to the Church in Need — promised to say more than 32,000 decades of the rosary and spend the equivalent of 137 days in Eucharistic adoration. More than 11,000 Masses were offered as well.
The names of those included in the book were divided into four main sections, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Also listed in a small section at the end were 71 benefactors from overseas countries, including New Zealand, Japan and the United States.
