On December 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest organized for the third consecutive year a candlelight procession in honor of Mary Immaculate through the very heart of Rome.
Very Reverend Msgr. Juan Miguel Ferrer Grenesche, Undersecretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, presided over the procession, which began at the Church of Jesus and Mary (Chiesa Gesu e Maria), the home of the Institute's apostolate in Rome.
The Founder and Prior General of the Institute, Very Reverend Monsignor Gilles Wach and a representative group of canons and seminarians of the Institute, along with priest friends and clergy led the faithful in singing Marian hymns and in reciting the Holy Rosary. A very large crowd of about 1500 people, following the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, filed down the Via del Corso and through other avenues which serve as main arteries through the center of the city, passing along the way such well-known Roman landmarks as the Pantheon, Chiesa Santa Maria in Aquiro, Piazza Colonna, and Palazzo Montecitorio. Along the way the Madonna was greeted with ringing church bells, wholehearted applause and cries of "Viva Maria," as festive music was played at intervals by a band of the Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy.
Upon the arrival of the procession at the Basilica Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Monsignor Ferrer offered Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in this splendid Gothic basilica of the Dominican Fathers.
After the singing of Christus Vincit at the conclusion of Benediction, Monsignor Ferrer gave a closing address in which he noted with satisfaction the large number of faithful who had participated in this procession organized by the Institute of Christ the King. Furthermore, he stressed the importance and need to promote such forms of popular devotion which help to sustain and increase the love for the Liturgy of the Church. Finally, Reverend Canon Joseph Luzuy, who serves in the Roman apostolate of the Institute, offered remarks thanking the many faithful who were present for this Marian procession. He also invited them to return next year for this annual procession in honor of the Immaculate Madonna, patroness of the Institute of Christ the King.