Dennis Girard hopes the Marian Devotional Movement������Ƶapp prayerful Papal Visit Pilgrim Statue Procession — and a 54-day Novena launched May 31 —  will bless Pope Francis’ mission of healing and reconciliation with Canada������Ƶapp Indigenous peoples.

With the famed Detroit River as a uniting backdrop, replica Pilgrim Virgin Statues of Our Lady of the Cape (Cap-de-la-Madeleine) and Fatima intersected on opposite sides of the Windsor-Detroit border on May 1 for a special Rosary for world peace and consecration to the Blessed Mother.

Outside of its military overtones, the word “legion” most often describes a large group of people with a singular mission.

“We’re about to hear the story of a woman — an accompanying witness whose story begins with a prophecy and ends with victory. A woman whose story can be reflected in other people, helping us to see our story in her story.”

The cross I wear around my neck each day is a relatively large wooden one made by young people living in the poorest and most dangerous areas of Colombia. It is one of hundreds of thousands that they made as part of a project supported by Development and Peace. The crosses were given as a special gift from St. John Paul II at the World Youth Day papal Mass in Toronto on July 28, 2002.