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11. The Rosary: A Catholic Response to the Olympics with Cassandre Verhelst

• Sheila Nonato

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The Rosary: A Catholic Response to the Olympics with Cassandre Verhelst

Join us on the Veil and Armor podcast as we welcome Cassandre Verhelst, Head of the Anglophone edition of the Hozana App, to share the electrifying atmosphere of Paris, France, during the Olympics.

We delve into the fervour of the locals, the heightened security, and the lifestyle tweaks that come with hosting such a grand event. Cassandre also sheds light on the state of the Catholic Church in France, especially the dynamic involvement of the youth in prayer groups. We also learn about the Hozana App’s features, including spiritual Novenas and a page dedicated to communal prayer intentions.

Are you curious about the true nature of Catholic intercession and the power of the Holy Rosary? Discover the "Rosary Olympics," a unique spiritual challenge inspired by the dedication of Olympic athletes. Listen as we clear misconceptions about worshiping Mary and the saints, and emphasize the concept of intercessory prayer. With the Rosario app, participants can gradually increase their daily prayer commitment, eventually praying a full rosary each day during the Olympics. This communal effort underscores the importance of consistency in prayer, akin to athletic training, and offers tools for building a robust spiritual practice.

How can daily acts of faith anchor your life in gratitude? We explore the beauty of integrating simple prayers and gestures of faith into everyday activities, transforming everyday tasks into moments of spiritual reflection. Celebrate with us the Rosario App’s milestone of Catholics praying 1.5 million decades of the Rosary around the world to Our Lady, resulting in a stunning floral homage of one million roses in Guadalupe, Mexico, on July 31. We also navigate the intersection of faith, technology, and global events, emphasizing the positive impact of online prayer communities. Our next episode features the long-awaited interview with Father Rob Galea, an internationally acclaimed singer and songwriter, and his inspiring journey from desperation to hope in his book "Breakthrough."

Let's Be Brave, Bold, and Be Blessed together with the Veil and Armour community.

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Sheila Nonato:

Hello and welcome to the Veil and Armour podcast. This is your host, Sheila Nonato. I'm a stay-at-home mom and a freelance Catholic journalist, Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of Our Lady. I strive to tell stories that inspire, illuminate and enrich the lives of Catholic women, to help them in living out our vocation of raising the next generation of leaders and saints.

Co-host:

Please join us every week on the Veil and Armor podcast, where stories come alive through a journalist's lens and mother's heart.

Sheila Nonato:

So welcome, cassandra Verhels. You're the head of the Anglophone edition of Hosanna app. And yeah, would you like to start off with a prayer? Hail Mary With pleasure, with pleasure.

Cassandre Verhelst:

Hail Mary. Full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, jesus Holy.

Sheila Nonato:

Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen, amen. Thank you for joining us again, and the last episode you were on was actually very popular. People want to know about Mother Mary and the Rosary, so you're back and you're going to tell us, please, about you know what's happening right now in France. Today, july 26th, is the opening ceremony in Paris. What is the mood in France today? July 26th is the opening ceremony in Paris. What is the mood in France right now?

Cassandre Verhelst:

I think there's a lot of excitement going on. People are looking forward to seeing the athletes and the tourists and everybody that's around the Olympic Games coming to come and fill up the city again. That's been empty, with all the Parisians that have gone on vacation to make room for visitors, and there's a lot of joy. There's a lot of security measures being put in place. So life is different. Life is slower because you have to take a few extra minutes to plan your routes and to see how you can get from point A to point B, but there's a lot of excitement in Paris at the moment.

Cassandre Verhelst:

That sounds awesome. And tell me about the Catholic church in France. How is it and how? How are the youth, the Catholic youth?

Cassandre Verhelst:

The Catholic church is doing good because there are priests that are being ordained, but there are not that many. If we compare to the French population, there are only about 3% of practicing Catholics, which is alarming, but it's the reality at the moment. But, that being said, there's a strong enthusiasm and there are many strong forces within the church. We're asking a little bit about the youth. In what is happening in Paris, we can see there are tons of new worship groups that are being created by 20 to 25 to 30-year-olds. One cool initiative is that there's a group that's going around every church in Paris doing a worship event in every church, and so the aim of the game is to have every parish being the center for one worship night, with tons of youth that come from the whole parish plus the parishioners.

Cassandre Verhelst:

There are prayer groups a little bit everywhere. That's something that's really interesting, I think, in the youth for the Catholic Church is that people are taking an active part in their faith. They're going to choirs, they're going to youth groups where people are exchanging on the Word of God. They're creating initiatives where community is being created and they're also creating initiatives where they can go and evangelize. So there's a lot of things going on more traditional aspects, but also new charismatic communities that are taking a lead as well, and so it's exciting. And there are a lot of propositions for young people across France, so that's always good news.

Cassandre Verhelst:

Refreshing and exciting for young people across France, so that's always good news refreshing and exciting

Cassandre Verhelst:

Sheila Nonato (Host): And I'm just also curious I think today is a sombre kind of anniversary that one of the churches I forget which city in France, where a priest had been murdered. I'm just wondering, how is Catholicism in France right now in terms of solidarity, after that kind of attack? Are people coming together and seeking the intercession of, I guess, the Holy Spirit, Mother Mary, to protect them in their faith, in their expression of faith in France?

Cassandre Verhelst:

Well, I think that, contrary to other countries, France is still close to its Christian origin, so there's not so much as we need to defend our faith, there's more we need to defend our ideas, because the majority of people aren't linked to the Catholic faith or to Christianism at all, and so the decisions that are being taken are diametrically opposed to the faith. And so there's more an idea that we need to rally and and to preserve what was the status quo up until a few months and years ago, and so we need to just that's, I think, with some presence. Rather than trying to defend the faith, it's trying to defend the values associated with the faith that used to be French values and now are values of a minority.

Sheila Nonato:

Okay, and can you tell us about the Hosanna app and the Rosario app please?

Cassandre Verhelst:

Yeah, I work for an association that creates social media for Catholics and it's a great initiative because the Hozana App is twofold On one side, it has spiritual communities and spiritual novenas, so novenas to St Rita, novenas to St Joseph, to find peace, to find healing, all of these different ideas and things that we can ask to pray with us and for us. And then, at the same time, there's also an intention page, and that's something that's really rich, because it's the communion of saints in real life brought down to us and given to us. You can write down when you have an intention, you can go into that intention page and say, well, lord, I entrust to you my sister or I entrust to you my exams that are coming up, and then this information will appear on the feed of other people that have Hosanna on their phones or on their computers and they'll be able to pray for this specific intention. And there's such power to praying for people that you don't know and to pray for the intentions of others. And then, once someone else has prayed for the intention, I laid down on them or I laid on the website. A few days later, I get notified saying well, saying well, 18 people prayed for your, for your intention, and, for example, I recently got engaged and so I wrote down what I entrust to my this, this period, with them, with my fiancee, and the next day I received an email from josiah saying, well, 18 people had prayed for me. And so how, how awesome to know that people are are praying exactly for that one cause on top of their own personal intentions. So I think that's something that's so reassuring and refreshing and comforting to know that people are praying for you.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And Hozana also has a sister app called Rosario. That's an initiative to try and get and help others and help each other pray the rosary, because in every single one of her apparitions, Our Lady asked for us to pray more, pray more fervently and pray with the Rosary, and the idea was to we know it's a challenge to take half an hour to say your Rosary, and so why not do it together? And so one rosary is divided into five decades, and so groups of five are created and everyone says their decade during the day. It's an asynchronous app, so you can say whenever in the 24 hours of the day you pray, when you pray, and then the once you have prayed for a decade, a pearl appears lit and so you know when the others are also praying, and that way, by the end of the day, a complete rosary is said. There's also a chat where you can confine your intentions, and so I'm praying with four ladies that I don't know across the anglophone world for the conversion of our loved ones, and so I I pray for my sister, and another lady prays for her, for her brother and her ex-husband. So it's it's lovely to know that we're praying together for people that we don't know, but helping each other be present and to daily take the time to pray.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And so those are the two things that are being created by Hozana, and of course, it's all free. So that's always interesting, and what's nice is that it's also user created, so I can create a living rosary group with my four friends from high school, or with my cousins and my grandmother, or with people that I went on a pilgrim which with two years ago to another, to the Lord, for example. And on Hozana, anyone can also create a novena. So, for example, if you have someone that has just recently passed away, we can create a novena for their soul, or someone that's going through a hard time, or you're close to a religious community and you think that more people should be aware of their spirituality, you can create the novena and it'll be available to all other xana users wow, that's a lot of prayers going around the world and congratulations on your engagement.

Cassandre Verhelst:

Thank you

Sheila Nonato:

tell

Sheila Nonato:

me. You know people might say well, I can just pray on my own. What is the value of praying with somebody else or other people?

Cassandre Verhelst:

I think the most important thing is well, there are two things. I think there's one for you to know that you're being supported and people are counting on you, and that you're praying together. For the first intention, for the same intention. I mean, the cross has a vertical part and a horizontal part. The vertical part is our relationship to God and the horizontal part of the cross is our community, and an isolated Christian is a Christian in danger. And so if we pray together, I think we're stronger in our faith, and we're stronger in our personal faith and in our community faith.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And the other thing is that it's also a great example. If you know someone that might need some help or need a push or a pull in their faith, saying, well, I'm here for you, and concretely saying I'm here for you through prayer as well, come join my rosary group and together we'll say every day, we'll say the rosary together every day. You can count on me, I'll be there. And it's also the opportunity to help someone else grow in their faith. So if I know that I'm a champion of the rosary, well, I can help someone else be a champion of the rosary beautiful.

Sheila Nonato:

I'm just wondering also, let's say, somebody doesn't know. You know they're new to the faith, to catholicism what? What is a rosary? How do you pray? If you can just explain, you know there are five mysteries. What is the rosary?

Cassandre Verhelst:

so the Rosary is a prayer that was given to us through Our Lady. The idea is that by contemplating the mysteries of Jesus' life we can be closer to him. A Rosary, concretely, is five times ten Hail Marys started off with an, our father, and so it's a repetition of prayer, and a repetition that really allows you to to meditate on what you've read just before, on a mystery, a part, part of Jesus' life. And there are different rosaries that correspond more or less to each day, and they're the luminous oh gosh, in English I'll have a hard time but the sorrowful, the joyful and the Glorious and the glorious, and so together they create the. I think that's something interesting. In French, we have a different word for each part. Each one is called a chaplet and the. Together the four different versions create the rosary, the rosette. But in english I don't believe that there's the.

Sheila Nonato:

That difference right hey, yeah, wow, okay, beautiful, yeah. And also, if somebody doesn't know what is a Novena, right, yeah, can you explain? Like, how do you pray that? How?

Cassandre Verhelst:

do you pray the novena. So what is a novena? A novena is taking nine. Novena means nine, so taking nine days to pray for a certain intention, and nine is three times three. One of the reasons we pray nine days um in allusion to them, to the trinity. It's nine days where you continually ask the lord for the same and you pray for the same intentions. So you pray nine days in the hopes that the lord will answer your prayer for this one intention.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And novenas can be prayed with saints if they have a special intercession, if the patron saint of lost causes or of the Armed Forces or of such and such thing, and the idea is that you can ask also the saints that are already closer to the lord to help you in praying with this. And so there are novenas to our lady, there are novenas to Saints. It's just taking nine days to pray for one intention. And what's great on Hozana is that you pray the Novena, but with others. You're not alone in asking this thing, and so you can pray with 10, 20, 1,000, 30,000 other people for one intention.

Sheila Nonato:

Thank you for explaining that and I'm just wondering I'm going to get to the whole the Rosary Olympics, but I'm just wondering because I've been seeing this on social media a lot when we say you know the Rosary and the Novena and praying with the saints, are we worshiping Mary and the saints? Can you please clear that up because some people don't know?

Cassandre Verhelst:

Yeah, no, the idea is and we must be really careful about that it's that we're not asking Mary something. We're asking mary to ask jesus something, and she's the one that's closest to the lord and so she, she can talk to her son and she can intercede for us. So ask for us, and same thing with the saints. We're not, we're not glorifying them. We're asking them, because we know that they had such a close relationship to the Lord, to help us, ask the Lord and to be examples for us to be closer to Jesus in that relationship. So the the it's, it's a common misconception because we think that we're we're worshiping Mary, but we're not worshiping Mary. We're with Mary, through Mary, worshiping.

Sheila Nonato:

Jesus. Thank you for clarifying that. I am very excited to learn about the Rosary Olympics. What is that?

Cassandre Verhelst:

it's a big challenge going learn about the Rosary Olympics. What is that? It's a big challenge going on at the moment. You might've heard of the real Olympics, the Paris Games, and what we thought was well, we're seeing all these athletes giving 100% of their best and being completely committed to something that we thought okay. Well, where's the spiritual part of that? What's our spiritual endeavor and what are we working towards and so that's something that was launched a few days ago is that we can also show our human excellence and perseverance, and through the "Rosary Olympics. So what the idea is is to use the same dedication that the athletes are showing in their preparation for our prayer life use, use and be inspired by by what they're giving to translate that into our prayer life for the virgin mary. So the idea of the rosary olympics that you start with a single decade every day, in groups of five everyone says a decade and as the games go on, the prayers will intensify and with the games, to finally reach five full five decades daily.

Cassandre Verhelst:

So one full rosary, and the idea is that athletes have a coach that tells them often the same thing. Our coach is the virgin. She, in every single one of her apparitions, says well, pray more, pray more to my son. And so there's this person that's telling us the same thing over and over, and let's listen to her, let's put it into practice, and so using the feats of the athletes. And to my son. And so there's this person that's telling us the same thing over and over, and let's listen to her, let's put it into practice, and so, using the feats of the athletes and being inspired by those, we can commit ourselves fully to Jesus in this spiritual challenge during the time of the Olympic Games, so from the 26th of July to the 11th of August.

Sheila Nonato:

And how can people access the app, when can they find it and what? Yeah, if you can tell us.

Cassandre Verhelst:

So it's really easy. It's the Rosario app, r-o-s-a-r-i-o, and it's on all the app stores, and once you download it on your phone or on your device, you can join a new group that's praying for this 2024 Brosier Olympics by entering the code STRIKETHEMATCH in one word, in all caps, and that way you'll be put in one of the many groups that are praying for them during the Olympics. And this is I think I already said it, but it's all free, of course, because the idea is to pray and prayer is free.

Sheila Nonato:

That's beautiful and if you can talk a little bit about, you're talking about the Olympics and the athletes who are there have trained their whole life to be there. It's their highest achievement and they train every day in order to get to that. And I guess I'm sort of thinking about prayer, how prayer is also. It's kind of like a discipline in that in order to develop your relationship with Jesus, you have to kind of do it every day, just like the athletes are. To kind of attain a higher level of a relationship with God. We have to do this kind of every day. What do you think about that sort of prayer as a spiritual practice, a daily spiritual practice?

Cassandre Verhelst:

Yeah, prayer as a daily spiritual practice is exactly that. It's something that you can only get better by doing it. And you know we say one percent of your day is 15 minutes. Can you give one percent of your day to Jesus? And the the thing is we should start small and and athletes practice every day. If we have, if we're lucky, we have parents that have, from the cradle, told us and shown us tiny, small prayers that we can say before going to bed, and that's planting the seeds for them being able to be better in our prayer.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And I think the parallel with athletes is significant is that it's something that you start young and that gives you such pride and confidence in what you're doing. I think their thing is more human pride and it's from a human resource, but our pride and our confidence comes from our relationship with the Lord, and so we also have to practice to be able to enjoy the fruit of this effort. And so, yeah, we have to take the time and invest also Invest in prayer and invest in the oh, sometimes I don't want to do it, or, gosh, it's too late, or this or that. And I think what's interesting is that on the Rosario app, people are waiting for you, are expecting you and are hoping that you're saying your prayer, and so there's also this idea that, well, you're not alone, you're not alone. And so athletes also have teammates and they have coaches and they have people surrounding them. Here it's the same thing. You're you're not alone in this um, in this practice, and you have um every sunday a match. You can. Every sunday, you have a big event that you need to prepare for as well oh, yes, that's right, almost forgot about that.

Sheila Nonato:

Uh, the Holy Eucharist, sunday, sunday Mass yeah, of course, of course. Yes, we should be preparing for that. And I'm just curious also. So we have the Novena, we have the Rosary, but we also have different aspects of prayer, meaning we don't always have to ask for anything thing. We can also just tell Jesus, Jesus, thank you for thank you for this beautiful day, or thank you for answering my prayer, or, jesus, I love you. I guess we could talk to you, we can talk to God, like we talk to our, our friend, our most treasured friend. Can you talk to me about how prayer is not just, it's not just about asking for things. We could also just have this kind of conversation with God yeah, I.

Cassandre Verhelst:

I was really marked by something that comes out almost systematically in confession. Is the priest that tells you um, thank you, sorry. Please, in your prayer, always start with thank you, lord. Thank you Jesus for for everything. Often I'm on my bike and I pass by this or that with thank you lord. Thank you jesus for for everything. Often I'm on my bike and I pass by this or that. Or thank you, lord for the amazing smell of the bakery. Thank you, lord for for the sun. Thank you, lord for this.

Cassandre Verhelst:

I mean taking the time to glorify the lord, and just in your day, he's watching you, he's with you so he hears you.

Cassandre Verhelst:

If you just speak to him at a random moment and not in the time slot that you've given yourself for prayer, in the corner of your room in front of your cross, he's always there with you, so he's always ready to listen.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And so I think that saying thank you is super important, and saying sorry also, because, as you can hurt a friend, the lord is also sometimes offended by what you do, and so taking the time to say okay, well, oh gosh, I've just done something that I think I shouldn't have.

Cassandre Verhelst:

Lord, I'm sorry, help me be better next time. And and just during the day, I'm always impressed by people that, just in the middle of their day, do a sign of the cross, because it's the easiest prayer, but it's a way to to anchor your day into your, into your faith and to anchor your day with the lord. And, of course, I work in a catholic association and I see, and something that's impressive is that in the morning, when you arrive first, you see other people starting to get ready for their day and, quite systematically, a sign of the crosses are being done across the office because people are entrusting their workday and their and their concentration and their energy to work for the Lord. And so I think that's a concrete tip is to say, okay, well, lord, I'm gonna start my day by consecrating it to you and I'm gonna take the time to do something well for you.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And so, as you sit down at your desk before you open your emails, sign of the cross, and I think that's so impressive yes, absolutely, and I guess we could also offer, like our little, you know, for me, when I'm like washing the dishes or making breakfast, say, offer it up and say a little prayer that this is my prayer for the day. Like sometimes I'm really too tired, to be honest, to have a formal prayer and sometimes it's just like Jesus, jesus, you know, you just say his name, say Mother Mary's name, to ask Jesus to help me. But yeah, I guess anything can be a prayer, like, you know, making something, making a birthday cake or something like that, doing something charitable or nice to somebody, all these things, and absolutely I agree with you that you know I often forget about, yeah, I should thank God, you know, thank God for the day, for my life, for my vocation, because, yeah, we sometimes tend to well for myself I'm talking about myself but tend to like notice the little imperfections, like why isn't this day perfect? You know which I mean? You know that's quite impossible. Um, I ask, but just the gratitude.

Cassandre Verhelst:

Going back to the gratitude and how God is really the source of all of our blessings, and even in the suffering, even in the challenges, there is there's something to be learned. I mean the cross Jesus went through the cross, the crucifixion, and he turned it into something beautiful. So, yeah, absolutely I agree with you about gratitude, and I speaking of gratitude in may, in the month of may, the rosario app launched this challenge to pray 1 million decades to our lady, and it was reached. And so what is happening?

Cassandre Verhelst:

July, um, there's going to be a huge floral homage to our lady in guadalupe. So the idea was that if we reached a million spiritual roses, we would lay thousands of real roses at her feet, and the goal has been reached, and so the second part of the challenge will be completed, and so that will be happening at the end of the month in Mexico, and I just want to thank everyone that prayed because we reached the 1.5 million mark, so we did more than we were hoping for, and so everybody that participated, I'd be happy, and if you could see the images of their, the concretization of what they're, they offered spiritually?

Sheila Nonato:

Yes, amazing. And are you going to be there, or who's going to be bringing these?

Cassandre Verhelst:

roses. So it's a partnership between the sanctuary and Hozana and Rosario, and so it's a sanctuary that will be offering these flowers during the mass.

Sheila Nonato:

That's beautiful. Was there anything that I missed that you wanted to share with us?

Cassandre Verhelst:

I just want to thank you, Sheila, but also just to say that and encourage everybody to pray the rosary, or at least to start praying the rosary. If it's not something that they're familiar with, and if I can give a personal testimony, is that I started off thinking what's the point of this prayer. I mean, I take my time to speak directly to jesus, but the idea is that you, with mary, meditate on jesus's life, and so just taking the time to follow the example of our lord is something that personally spoke to me. And so now I'm part of different rosary groups on Rosario and I'm so happy to be able to pray with others and to pray with my high school friends and to pray with ladies from across the world for the conversion of our loved ones. I think it's an easy first step to get started on the rosary and since Our Lady asks it, why not answer? And if the challenge is daunting, why not take a small bite and start with something easy, through Rosario, for example?

Sheila Nonato:

Amen, and it's beautiful that Rosario and Hosanna, they're using the new media to evangelize. I think I mentioned this in the last interview. It's the new mission territory, as we were, as you were saying, you were explaining.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And I don't know if I told you last time, but I was taken aback by a friend that told me that she had also laid an intention on Hosanna, and she said Cassandre, it's impressive. Internet can be the source of so much bad, of the worst, but it can also be the source of so much good. Knowing that people are praying for you. It's such a blessing. And so yeah, new evangelization territory, new, new directions, new um new people to convert also and to convert hearts.

Cassandre Verhelst:

Yes, Amen. Thank you so much again for taking the time to speak with us and we look forward to this challenge and, yes, the Olympics is starting today, so this is the perfect time for our listeners. Please do check out Hozana App and Rosario App and check out this challenge, and I am looking forward to that photo of the 1 million roses. I am very excited about that. So, and it's amazing, everybody who prayed and helped to achieve that challenge and surpass 1.5 million decades Amazing, amazing. Thank you, Cassandre, and hope to speak to you again about another challenge. Thank you, cassandra, and hope to speak to you again about another challenge. Thank you, Sheila. God bless, take care.

Sheila Nonato:

Good morning, Cassandre. Again. Like to see you again.

Sheila Nonato:

So, since we last talked, we were talking about the Rosary Olympics, but that was before the opening ceremonies. So I just want to get your personal thoughts on for the opening ceremonies. So I just want to get your personal thoughts on. You know, since the ceremonies, one part of it unfortunately, celine Dion's amazing comeback has been overshadowed by one part, one unfortunate part of the ceremonies, which has been interpreted by Christians and even non-Christians on social media around the world as a jab at Christianity. What are your personal thoughts? How can we respond? How can we come together after this?

Cassandre Verhelst:

And we talked about the fact that it was exciting and that the mood in Paris was full of energy, and I was, like you say, kind of disappointed that maybe the final note and what we remember of the ceremony is this jab that was done through the Last Supper, or the reinterpretation of the Last Supper. And so I think that, whilst we can still acknowledge that there was beauty and there was a lot of organization and it was impressive what they managed to put and to create, that we should try and focus on that because, while it's tempted, it's tempting and we can be tempted to, to try and take part and and be outraged. I think what we should do is maybe focus on on our unity and and present that as a front, as a christian response and as a catholic response to say, um, well, we were attacked, but what we do is we don't attack back just as we're trying to in the heat of things. We attack back through prayer that accompanies a reflected and organized response. And so what we can do now is we can pray for unity and we can pray for things that make us come together and support and giving the best of oneself and dedication and support for people that are representing your nation is something that unites us and so something that we can look forward to.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And so what can a Catholic, what can a Christian person do?

Cassandre Verhelst:

Well, they can pray that we can create an articulated and professional or interesting response, because political stances require political action, but political action needs to be prepared and thought out, and so what we can do now is pray that we can prepare this response, pray but also pray for the Olympics and pray for the athletes, and pray that everything goes well and that there is kindness in the rest of the Games, because the Olympic Games are based around togetherness and exchange and kindness. And so why not, you know, focus on that part and really try to, because the biggest commandment that we received from our Lord is to love one another. That's the thing that we need to do, and that goes through prayer and through forgiveness and through loving each other. Uh, and through loving each other just kind of pushy, mushy, but I think it's it's important to say, okay, I'm not just going to react hotheadedly and and without arguments, I'm going to react um, haven't taken the time to think things through and to um and to have an adaptive response.

Sheila Nonato:

I think what you're saying is just spot on, because we know that prayer leads to discernment of our actions and having a reaction without prayer may not communicate what we want to say in the most accurate way.

Sheila Nonato:

You know, through faith, hope, love, charity and, as you mentioned, forgiveness. I think what Hosanna, the Rosario app, is launching with the Rosary Challenge is very fitting right now that we sort of ground ourselves in our faith and ground ourselves in Jesus and Mother Mary to Jesus through Mary, that this is actually quite fitting. What is happening right now? That we sort of go back to our foundation and our roots and and this is also welcoming a discussion, as you were saying, about kindness and also about unity and also look at looking at our athletes and how they have prepared for this moment, their whole lives, and the spotlight should really be on them and their tremendous efforts and how we can emulate their achievements, their standard of excellence that we should also be in our own spiritual and prayer life. We should also be striving for that Olympic level standard, right For the gold medal, which is heaven. What are your thoughts about what I just said? Do they make?

Cassandre Verhelst:

sense 100% and I completely agree, and of course, we mustn't react, but you must act, and act with kindness, and that needs to be inspired through prayer and that needs to be inspired through reading the word and through finding the example of Jesus' love and his actions and then copying that and replicating that, as you said exactly, I completely agree and then to focus on the beauty of the Olympic Games and the beauty of sharing a passion and of sharing an enthusiasm. And if I can tell you about what's going on in Paris now, everybody is just there are smiles everywhere and there's joy and people are on vacation and so happy to follow their athletes and happy to wave their flag and to cheer. So you know, there is so much beauty in this period, so why not focus on that and, in parallel, pray that this kindness stays the top priority?

Sheila Nonato:

Yes, absolutely, and in our interview on Friday you had mentioned, there are these worship services in some of the parishes in Paris. Are those linked to the Holy Games? I'm just trying to figure out what that is linked to.

Cassandre Verhelst:

Yeah, absolutely, yeah, absolutely. The Holy Games are going strong. There's tonight a priest from Burkina Faso that's coming to give his story to the youth of Paris. There are parishes across the city I'm going to one tonight myself and there are concerts that are being given Every night. There's a big event in one of the Holy Game churches affiliated churches and then in the other churches there are smaller things. Volunteers are welcoming pilgrims, welcoming visitors, welcoming people that are just passing by. All doors are open and all doors to Jesus are open.

Cassandre Verhelst:

So people can just walk on in and get to know him.

Cassandre Verhelst:

And is this by the French Catholic bishops? Yeah, it's in partnership with the Conference of the Bishops. It's a movement that was created more than three years ago in preparation for this, and the idea was to have a Catholic response to the Olympic Games and to allow visitors that are coming into this Catholic country because France was Catholic and, in its history, is Catholic to get a taste of that. I mean, paris is just filled with churches, filled with Catholic churches, and so just to show visitors what's inside and that there's something real inside, something living, the true presence is there.

Sheila Nonato:

Yes, absolutely. Just appreciate you joining us again on last

Sheila Nonato:

minute to give us an update on your personal thoughts on what's happening in Paris right now, and you're joining us from. Sorry, not Paris, right, you're not in Paris right now. I am in Paris now.

Sheila Nonato:

Oh, you are in Paris oh my gosh, that must be so exciting, must be so exciting. That is amazing. I'm going to invite our listeners to pray for you, for hosanna and the rosario app to join uh, the rosary challenge and to pray for the the olympic games and all our athletes and organizers that we may have the beautiful unified olympic games as it progresses for the next two weeks. Did you have anything else you wanted to add?

Cassandre Verhelst:

No, thank you very much. And yeah, we can copy, as you said, the feats of the Olympians and of the athletes in our own prayer life and to try and be as committed to something which is Jesus. And so, why not, you know, take the Olympics as inspiration and try and become an athlete of the Virgin on Rosario.

Sheila Nonato:

Amen. Thank you so much again and we will chat again, I'm sure. God bless With pleasure, sheila. Thank you, have a great day Bye, Thank you you too.

Sheila Nonato:

Take care Bye, thank you. Have a great day. Bye, thank you, you too, take care Bye, thank you. Thank you to Cassandra Verhulst for speaking with me and sharing the Rosary Challenge with us today from the Rosary app. Let's pray for the Olympics. Let's pray for the athletes. That they strive to do their best and fulfill their long-awaited goals. Let's pray for France goals. Let's pray for France.

Sheila Nonato:

I mentioned during the interview that July 26 was the somber anniversary of the murder of French priest Father Jacques Hamel in the suburb of Rouen in northwest France in 2016. A parishioner was also seriously wounded at that time during the attack. The two accused of Father Hamel's murder said in a previous video that they had ties to the Islamic State. Let's pray for Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith. May the talk of the Olympics shine the spotlight on the athletes and their achievements, and also on our Christian brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their faith in countries that are not in the spotlight. For the next episode, please join us for the long-awaited interview with Father Rob Galea. He has written a book called "Breakthrough A Journey from Desperation to Hope. Join us next time, thank you and God bless. Thank you for listening to the Veil and Armor podcast.

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