During the whole day of March 23, the National Shrine of Christ the King, located in Almada, Diocese of Setubal, hosted the Icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, offering to the many visitors that passed by on that day the chance to pray next to her for the defense of Life and for Peace in the world.
The Shalom community, responsible for the activities of the Shrine, prepared a prayer time schedule so that during the day, various groups of people could always be in the prayerful presence of the Black Madonna, in the chapel of Our Lady of Peace.
Towards the end of the day, around 4pm, there was the prayer of the rosary followed by the Eve Mass of Palm Sunday. The procession with the Icon of Our Lady was done around the shrine.
During the homily, the priest gave a detailed explanation about the reasons for the pilgrimage “from ocean to ocean” and said that this should be a challenge for us not to give up the fight for the defense of human life.
The monument of Christ the King, which is 113 meters high and offers a great view over the city of Lisbon was inaugurated in 1959 as a thanksgiving to God for Portugal not participating in the Second World War. It was inspired by the statue of Christ the Redeemer of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.