More than 1.5 million people have watched Facebook videos of Catholic prayers during the first week of a Lenten prayer campaign.
Since Ash Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Southwark has been posting daily videos of prayers on its website and social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The aim is to encourage people to connect with Jesus Christ through popular prayers either part of the liturgy or written by saints.
A video on the Nicene Creed has topped the list of most-viewed prayers. About 510,000 people watched the film featuring the Church’s ancient statement of belief.
A prayer on trust and confidence in God, attributed to Padre Pio attracted 491,000 views. More than 323,000 social media users have watched the prayer “Stillness of my soul” from the 16th century Spanish mystic, John of the Cross.
The Fatima prayer drew 146,00 social media users, while the Act of Contrition used in the Sacrament of Confession has been watched 105,000 times.
Some of the prayer videos are as short as 13 seconds, such as St Thomas More’s prayer to thank Jesus. Others, such as the Magnificat last 56 seconds, while a prayer to Our Lady undoer of Knots – a devotion popularised by Pope Francis – is one minute and 25 seconds long.
Other prayers already posted in the campaign which ends on Easter Sunday include the Hail Mary, a prayer to the Holy Spirit, and the prayer Hail Holy Queen.
“The extraordinary reach of this simple prayer campaign underlines how much people do desire a relationship with Christ, but sometimes just need a little support in lifting their hearts and minds to Him,” said Archbishop of Southwark John Wilson.
He added: “Prayer is a gift from God, it’s his way of revealing his desire to have a meaningful and lasting relationship with each of us. But too often, with the busyness of life, people put up barriers between themselves and God. Too often people find it hard to take a moment to lift their hearts and mind to God.”
The campaign is part of the Archdiocesan’s wider Give Prayer a Go initiative which began on the 1 January. This is supporting the Year of Prayer scheduled by Pope Francis in 2025 Jubilee.
Archbishop Wilson added that he wanted people to “rejoice in the wonder of prayer”, saying, “that is why I’m encouraging people to give prayer a go. Christ thirsts for us and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.”
The wider prayer campaign will also highlight to enrich prayer life, including articles on Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and as well as encouraging children and families to pray the Rosary.
The archdiocese said it had not advertised the Lenten prayer initiative.
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