We were blessed to see the mother of Blessed Carlo Acutis, Mrs. Antonia Acutis, speak in person at the John Paul II Shrine on October 3rd during her recent visit to the United States. Mrs. Acutis is fired up by the power of the Eucharist to change our lives. She loves talking about her son Blessed Carlo Acutis’ mission to encourage people to fall in love with our Eucharistic Lord Jesus Christ.
Accompanying her on this trip was Ray Grijalba, one of our live speakers at this year’s 31st International Week of Prayer and Fasting from October 20-28, 2023. Ray’s team is producing a film called The New Manna, a movie about the amazing scientific evidence for Eucharistic Miracles.
Ray Grijalba and Mrs. Antonia Acutis recorded a special message for us, which we have attached for you.
The theme of this year’s IWOPF is “Miracles of the Eucharist.” This week begins with pre-recorded talks online at www.IWOPF.org by Maureen Flynn, Fr. Chris Alar, Fr. Robert Altier, Fr. David Gunter MIC, Dr. Peter Howard, Nikki Kingsley, Mark Houck, Karen Japzon, and Fr. Ron Stone. All talks will be available FREE on our website, www.IWOPF.org.
The week culminates with Closing Day of Prayer, which includes a Eucharistic Prayer Vigil on Saturday, October 28, 2023, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., where Bishop Emeritus Robert J. Baker, STD, will be the main celebrant and homilist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Live speakers at the Basilica also include and Dr. Carlos Parellada, the physician who was involved in the study of the Tixtla (Mexico) Eucharistic Miracle, where he used his expertise as a surgeon to extract a sample to be provided for pathological review. Sister Dede Byrne will speak about how she found the love of Jesus before the most Blessed Sacrament, and Ted Flynn will discuss the Mystery of the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the faith. Fr. Timothy Byerley, the vice postulator for the beatification cause of Maria Esperanza, will talk about Maria Esperanza and hope for our times. We will have a relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis available for veneration again this year.
For those not able to be there in person, we will be live streaming all of these talks FREE on the day of the event. If you can’t watch during that time, you can get an all-access pass which will allow you to access the talks for a full year. For more information please visit www.IWOPF.org.
Please help spread the word to your friends and family, by email and flyers. As Antonia Acutis told us during her time in our country, “The Eucharist will transform your life!”