1st Rosary Bowl in the Nation's Capital with 4 Bishops, many Priests, Religious Sisters and hundreds of Laity including Youth - #RosaryBowl

Gathered at the TD Landsdowne place stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada the 1st Rosary Bowl took place on Thursday, August 22, 2019. There were over 500 people who attended this event to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and pray the Rosary together. Some were on the lawn but others sat in the stadium seats. Notable among the attendees were Archishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, Auxiliary Bishop Guy Derochers (pictured left), Bishop Pierre Olivier Tremblay and Auxiliary Bishop Christian Riesbeck.

 The Queenship of Mary had a strong presence and helped to organize the whole event. Other religious orders included the Servants of the Holy Cross, the Companions of the Cross and the Daughters of St. Paul. Seminarians, and many laity and youth were in attendance also leading the Rosary 
prayers. Former Conservative Member of Parliament (who is running in the elections) Pierre Lemieux was there and a member of the Christian Heritage Party, Sean Mulligan.

A number of priests from the Companions of the Cross were there including Fr. Roger Vandenakker, Fr. Tim Devine, Fr. Mark Goring.Angelina Girard and Dennis Girard,  the Directors of the Marian Devotional Movement were among the organizers who welcomed the crowd. 
Archbishop Prendergast spoke first saying "Our Bishops had a great devotion to Mary." He explained "Some people worry that to focus on Mary is to detract from Jesus." Quoting St. Maximilian Kolbe he said, "We can never love Mary as much as Jesus did."  Afterwards, Bishop Pierre Olivier Tremblay, who runs the shrine of Our Lady of the Cape, spoke in both official languages of French and English. 















He encouraged the crowd saying; "We never pray enough" and in French "When we pray miracles happen."

Bishop Tremblay's words touched the hearts of those present when he said, "Let us build new bridges of prayer today!" 

Then the Rosary was recited by the Sisters of the Queenship of Mary and each decade was introduced by students from the Stella Maris Academy and Corpus Christi Catholic School Rosary Club of Ottawa. 
This is part of a 5-day pilgrimage which will include Mass at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Ottawa and at the Old Shrine - then culminating at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape in Quebec.