Hundreds of people across the eight-county Catholic Diocese of Cleveland availed themselves of the opportunity to attend one or more sessions of the most recent Nine Nights of Night Prayer. (See the photo gallery above for an assortment of photos from some of the participating parishes.)
The sessions for the third cycle of night prayer began March 17 and wrapped up on March 25, the solemnity of the Annunciation. Much like the previous two sessions, nine different churches hosted night prayer. This session’s host churches were Transfiguration Parish in Lakewood; St. Mary Parish in Akron; St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Parma; Our Lady of Peace Parish in Cleveland; St. Helen Parish in Newbury; Sacred Heart Parish in Oberlin; St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish in Cleveland; St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Willowick; and SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Doylestown. (See photo gallery above.)
Father Damian Ference, vicar for evangelization and secretary for parish life and special ministries, worked with his team to select the parishes and arrange the events. As has become the custom, there was an ice cream social following the last night of night prayer.
Country Parlour Ice Cream in North Royalton created a custom flavor – Gratia Plena (full of grace) – for the host parishes to serve. Father Ference said it was a coconut cream ice cream with chocolate balls covered with a blue candy shell. The white ice cream base symbolizes Mary’s purity and the blue candies are a Marian blue.
Pastors were encouraged to have greeters and music ministers on hand for night prayer to welcome the faithful and make night prayer more meaningful.
Attendance varied, but several churches reported averaging 40-50 people per night. People could attend each night at the same church or they could move around and visit different parishes. Father Ference said the night prayer sessions offer people a chance to stop in at a parish they might not normally be able to see. The plan is to offer nine sessions of night prayer at nine different parishes each time over a period of three years, eventually involving 81 parishes. The sessions are scheduled around the Marian holy days of the Annunciation, Assumption and Immaculate Conception.
The next session of Nine Nights of Night Prayer will take place in August and will conclude on the feast of the Assumption, Aug. 15. Host churches will be announced soon.