Catholics in Natore join Pope Francis to recite the rosary for the end of the pandemic
by Sumon Corraya

The faithful of seven Catholic villages in Bonpara recite the evening rosary in a home or the parish church. Margaret has a daughter healed through rosary prayers. “We can pray for our country, but also for the people in India, where thousands of people die every day as a result of COVID.” Hymns to Our Lady bring “inner peace”.


Natore (AsiaNews) – The Catholic church in Natore (picture 2) is one of a group of churches in Bonpara (Diocese of Rajshai). Some 3,900 Catholics live in seven Catholic villages, employed mostly in farming or as migrants in cities.

This year everyone was called to pray the rosary during the month of May to end the coronavirus pandemic, as requested by Pope Francis.

“May is the month of Mother Mary,” said Fr Bikash H Reberio. “In this month we need to pray the rosary. She is our model of holiness, simplicity and obedience.”

“This year Pope Francis also asked everyone to pray the rosary at home and in the parish to ask for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic” .

Margaret Cruze lives in Bahimaly. In her family, “Every day, in the evening we pray the rosary. This year the intention is to end the pandemic. When you ask Our Lady, you always get an answer.”  

Margaret, 45, is a mother of two. “Once,” she said, “my daughter had a chronic skin disease. After praying to Mary, she was fully healed. I hope that God will accept our prayers and end this pandemic.”

So far no cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Margaret’s village. But hundreds of Catholics in Dhaka and other cities have been infected.

“We pray for them, for their relatives and for all the peoples of the world that humanity may be saved from this deadly virus.”

Rinku Palma, another Catholic, says that in her village, on 1 May they started praying the rosary all together. “We gather in someone’s home and pray,” she explained.

“This increases our fraternal relations. We can pray for our country, but also for the people in India, where thousands of people die every day as a result of COVID. We ask that God save them.”

Fr Bikash has given instructions for all the villages to recite the rosary every evening. Praying is interspersed with chanting and singing.

“I love so much the hymns for Mother Mary during the rosary,” Rinku Palma said. “It gives me inner peace. I trust that Our Lady will convey our prayer to her Son Jesus to end the pandemic.”