Pope Leo XIV turns 70 on Sept. 14, and several Catholic organzations are celebrating by gathering a host of prayers into a very special “spiritual birthday bouquet” for the Holy Father in which everyone can participate.
Groups including OSV News, Pray More Novenas, Relevant Radio, the Daughters of St. Paul, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Pontifical Mission Societies, Sing the Hours and more are encouraging an outpouring of prayer for Pope Leo and his intentions leading up to his milestone birthday — and his first birthday as pope.
Called “Pizza and Prayer,” the spiritual bouquet will be made up of a variety of prayer options from a full novena to a Holy Hour to a Rosary. Each prayer effort will be noted, collated and sent to the pope. The effort also encourages participants, when possible, to pray together and then grab a slice of pizza in honor of one of the Chicago native’s favorite treats. The name of every person and organization who participates in this spiritual bouquet will be included on the card that will be sent to the Vatican.
“One of the most important things that we can do as Catholics is pray for the pope and for his intentions,” said Gretchen R. Crowe, editor-in-chief of OSV News. “The modern Petrine ministry is one of the most challenging roles in the world. As Pope Leo XIV prepares to celebrate this special birthday, we want him to be surrounded by prayer, and we hope everyone will participate in this special effort.”
Partners around the United States and the world are participating.
“From Thursday, Sept. 4 to Sunday, Sept. 14, we will offer our Family Rosary Across America on Relevant Radio at 7 p.m. CT for the Holy Father, and we expect we will be sending him around 1 million Rosaries,” Father Francis (Rocky) Hoffman of Relevant Radio said.
The Daughters of St. Paul, also known as the Media Nuns, also are looking forward to participating.
“As Daughters of St. Paul, our mission is to bring Christ to the world through every means of communication,” Sister Tracey Dugas said. “What greater joy than to join our voices in prayer for the Holy Father on his 70th birthday! We are grateful for the opportunity to unite with so many others in offering Pope Leo XIV the gift of prayer and presence, along with a little pizza to celebrate his life and vocation.”
“The most important present we can give Pope Leo for his 70th birthday is praying for him, his health and intentions,” said Msgr. Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA. “Sept. 14 is a Sunday this year and so it’s a great opportunity for his spiritual family to pray together at Mass and then to celebrate him afterward in a Sunday meal. I’m sure he’d be really pleased if we invited the poor, like he recently did at Castel Gandolfo.”
To add your prayers to the pope’s spiritual birthday bouquet, please note your prayer offering at stlreview.com/4mIT6NE.
