Elizabeth Lev’s weekly column for Zenit highlights a Roman way of celebrating All Saints Day: racing from church to church to raise money for charity.
More than 2,000 participants took off from St. Peter’s Square early on the morning of Nov. 1, competing in the 10-kilometer race to several major Christian sites in the Eternal City.
It ended back at St. Peter’s, in time for the runners to catch their breath before taking part in the noon Angelus prayers there.
Writes Lev, “Following in the footsteps of the multitudes of saints who ‘have run the good race’ through the same streets taken by the runners, the meaning of the universal call to sainthood became all the clearer.
“As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ‘You know well enough that when men run in the race, the race is for all, but the prize is for one. Run, then, for victory. Every athlete must keep all his appetites under control; and he does it to win a crown that perishes, whereas ours is an imperishable crown.’”
— Tom McFeely