An initiative promoting the rosary asked to pray for an end to the pandemic in Austria as the country battles a new wave.
More than a thousand people prayed the rosary together at several hundred locations across the Central European country last week itself.
Now, the prayer movement known as “Austria prays” is spreading to Germany, Switzerland, and other countries including the United States, reports CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.
Louis-Pierre Laroche, the initiative’s creator, came up with the idea after repeatedly hearing the phrase “Now only prayer will help” in conversations following the outbreak of the pandemic.
“What comes out of it shows that, in my opinion, it is blessed by God,” he said.
Austria has recorded more than 1.2 million COVID-19 infections and 13,282 deaths as of 16 December, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.