Pope Francis announced the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Pope Benedict XV’s Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud.
The Theme of the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019
Message of His Holliness Francis for World Mission Day 2019
How to Live the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019
- A personal encounter with Jesus Christ alive in His Church through the Eucharist, the Word of God, personal and communal prayer;
- Testimony: missionary saints, martyrs and confessors of the faith, as an expression of the Church scattered throughout the world;
- Missionary formation: biblical, catechetical, spiritual and theological;
- Missionary charity.
Prayer proposed by Pope Francis for the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019
Heavenly Father,
when your only begotten Son Jesus Christ
rose from the dead,
he commissioned his followers
to “go and make disciples of all nations”
and you remind us that through our Baptism
we are made sharers in the mission of the Church.
Empower us by the gifts of the Holy Spirit
to be courageous and zealous
in bearing witness to the Gospel,
so that the mission entrusted to the Church,
which is still very far from completion,
may find new and efficacious expressions
that bring life and light to the world.
Help us make it possible for all peoples
to experience the saving love
and mercy of Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, forever and ever.
Amen.
The logo of the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019
The logo of the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019 is a missionary cross where the primary colors refer to the five continents. The Cross is the instrument and direct sign of communion between God and man for the universality of our mission, and through its vibrant colors, a sign of victory and resurrection. The world is transparent because the action of evangelization has no barriers or boundaries, it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Christian charity and the world transfigured in the Spirit overcome distances and open the horizon of our minds and hearts. The words Baptized and Sent next to the image indicate the two characteristics of every Christian: baptism and proclamation.
The primary colors of the Cross are referred to the five continents: red for America, green for Africa, white for Europe, yellow for Asia and blue for Oceania. The red recalls the blood of the American martyrs, seeds for a new life in the Christian faith. Green is the color of life and symbolizes growth, fruitfulness, youth and vitality. It is also the color of hope, one of the three theological virtues. White is the symbol of joy, the beginning of a new life in Christ: this is the challenge that the old Europe is facing, so that it may be able to regain the evangelizing strength from which it was generated thanks to so many churches and saints. Yellow is the color of light, which nourishes itself with light by invoking the true Light. Blue is the color symbolizing the water of life that quenches our thirst and restores us along the path to God. It is the color of heaven, a sign of God’s dwelling with us.
Official site of Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019: www.october2019.va, in lithuanian – misijos.katalikai.lt