The Parish School of Religion (PSR) at St. Peter in Chains in Wheelersburg recently held a Prayer-a-Thon to benefit Ukraine and its war refugees.
The motto of this PSR school year, “God + 1 = Army” was displayed as the students sought to counter the injustice of the Russian invasion.
Each month, the PSR program holds a day of service. These have focused on cleaning up at the church and putting together Christmas stockings for soldiers, winter care packages for the homeless and Valentine gifts for local nursing home residents. For April, the students planned to assemble Easter baskets for local foster children.
For March, the program’s lay leaders, Stephanie McClure and Alison Tennant, decided to conduct a Prayer-a-Thon for Ukraine. Soon flyers explaining the effort were posted on social media and in the church bulletin. Parishioners of St. Peter and the other three parishes of the Scioto County Consortium as well as other community members participated.
On Sunday, March 13, requested prayers were written on sticky notes and fastened to bulletin boards at the front of St. Peter church. Individuals and families claimed the requests and prayed for the Ukrainian people.
When the boards had been cleared, participants had offered 515 Hail Mary prayers, 142 Our Father prayers, 75 St. Michael prayers, 25 quotes from Philippians 4:6-7, 22 Glory Be prayers, 21 rosaries and two Divine Mercy chaplets.
They also raised $1,402 for Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Partners to provide shelter, food, fuel, transportation and counseling services for those affected by the war.