This year, the Day of Prayer for Survivors and Victims of Abuse will fall on 16 February, the first Friday of Lent. You may wish to provide your priests with the following prepared liturgical resources: article and graphics for parish newsletters, which can also be used on social media platforms and websites. Also below is information on the Towards Peace Spiritual Support Service.
As you know, the Day of Prayer is an initiative of the Holy Father Pope Francis in 2017, and since then dioceses have marked this prayerful event with candles being lit in cathedrals and churches across the country as a reminder of the need for atonement and to symbolise repentance; light in the darkness and hope. Clergy are again encouraged to bless and dedicate ‘Candles of Atonement’ for use in cathedrals and parishes on the Day of Prayer, and thereafter during the celebration of Mass and other liturgies.
Towards Peace Spiritual Support Service
Towards Peace is an independent organization that provides a spiritual support and professional service for survivors of physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual abuse who suffered in an institutional, clerical or religious setting in Ireland. Funded by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Association of Missionary and Religious in Ireland, the vision of Towards Peace is to provide a safe supportive space for people and their families, whose spiritual life has been damaged by abuse. Through spiritual accompaniment with a qualified spiritual director, Towards Peace endeavours to accompany people as they seek their own experience of spiritual peace, one step at a time. Towards Peace is also a response to the continually growing understanding of the spiritual impact of the trauma of abuse and seeks to raise awareness about this within the Church. The Towards Peace Spiritual Support Service is free of charge and for more please see https://towardspeace.ie/
