Catholic church hosts multi-faith prayer circle

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/06/2025 (481 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Back in 1983 Farida Lalbiharie was serving as the spiritual convenor for the Catholic Women’s League at Winnipeg’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish when a couple of the League’s members suggested she start a prayer circle. That prayer circle is now more than 40 years old, and although Lalbiharie is no longer able to attend it in person, she continues to serve as its facilitator, phoning participants to remind them of upcoming meetings, keeping them informed about relevant church news, and suggesting who they might consider praying for at any given time.

Lalbiharie’s prayer circle meets on the third Friday afternoon of every month in the church’s library. There are usually about 10 people in attendance. Following the June 20 meeting later this month, the group will break for the summer, resuming activity in September.

“The purpose of our prayer circle is to raise our minds and hearts to God and to pray for the world, its suffering humanity, peace and other intentions,” Lalbiharie explains.

When the group first convened, all of the prayer circle participants were congregants at the Charleswood church, but 15 years later, Lalbiharie decided to open up the circle to members of other denominations and other faiths. At the time, she recalls, she was inspired by and wished to emulate Mother Teresa, who had recently passed away after devoting her life’s work to ministering to peoples of different faiths.

While the core of the prayer circle remained Catholic following that decision, the group soon widened, welcoming participants from the local United, Anglican, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Unity, and Glorious Hope churches. Over time, members of the Muslim, Amidyya Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, B’hai, Hari Krishna, Rama Krishna and Jewish faiths joined the circle as well.

That diversity inspired the prayer circle’s interest in exploring other faiths and, on occasion, prior to COVID, they would venture out to visit mosques, synagogues and temples.

“We all, from every tradition, experience the same joys and difficulties in life,” says Jo-Anne Eilers, a regular prayer circle attendee and a volunteer with the parish’s development and peace campaigns. “We share prayer and stories to give thanks and to ask for strength, love and peace.” Those prayers and stories are often traditional, but increasingly, they are more creative and more reflective of the current times. In the prayer circle’s early years, participants usually recited the Prayer of St. Francis, followed by a rosary, and later turned to reciting Marian devotions. Now, Eilers adds, the prayers are more inclusive, a change that she prefers. They are sometimes general in topic and sometimes specific to a person, place or global concern. Personal petitions are encouraged as well. The prayers are almost always recited out loud and on occasion they are sung.

“In praying and sharing stories,” Eilers continues, “we see that the same Spirit is at work in all of us, regardless of our religion, ethnicity or race, and that experience strengthens our relationship with each other and with our Creator.”

At the same time, the prayer circle, by its very nature, offers participants support and friendship, a sense of community, and a sense of hope.

No one expects that when it is time for the Our Lady of Perpetual Help prayer circle to reconvene after the summer months, that there will no longer be a need to pray for peace and an end to suffering around the globe. But it’s nice to imagine that one day that might be the case.

swchisvin@gmail.com

The Free Press is committed to covering faith in Manitoba through our Religion in the News project. This reporting continues because readers like you step forward to fund it.

Donate now to support our reporting on religion.
Your donation is eligible for a charitable tax receipt. BECOME A FAITH JOURNALISM SUPPORTER