To the Family of the Rogate

Dearly beloved,
we are preparing ourselves to live, in the joy of the Easter season, the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which for us, sons and daughters of St. Hannibal, is the Rogationist day par excellence.

This annual appointment, which is, by definition, a Day of Prayer, falls in a year dedicated to prayer, in preparation for the Jubilee, and is meant to be, as the Pope reminds us in his message, a prayer of listening and supplication, which brings us together summoned by the words of Jesus: Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, "Rogate."

"This Day is dedicated, in particular, to prayer to invoke from the Father the gift of holy vocations for the building up of his Kingdom: 'Pray, therefore, to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send laborers into his harvest!' (Lk. 10:2). And prayer-we know it-is made more of listening than of words addressed to God. The Lord speaks to our heart and wants to find it open, sincere and generous. His Word became flesh in Jesus Christ, who reveals and communicates to us the whole will of the Father. In this year 2024, dedicated precisely to prayer in preparation for the Jubilee, we are called to rediscover the priceless gift of being able to dialogue with the Lord, heart to heart, thus becoming pilgrims of hope, because "prayer is the first force of hope. You pray and hope grows, it goes forward. I would say that prayer opens the door to hope. Hope is there, but with my prayer I open the door'" (From Pope Francis' message).

Another peculiarity of this Day is that it is worldwide, that is, it belongs to the whole world.
The Pope in his message reminds us that each person is born with a particular call from God to be a gift to the brothers and sisters with whom he or she lives, to be pilgrims of hope and builders of peace, particularly today, in a world marked by cruel wars and oppression of various kinds, in which it is difficult to look forward with hope.

The world Day, while inviting us to pray so that each person may rediscover and live his or her vocation consistently, reminds us that the Lord addresses special callings to some people, such as that of the priesthood, consecrated life, mission, and lay consecration. These are special vocations, also called vocations of special consecration, which, a fortiori, as Jesus taught us, are besought through prayer.
"In those days Jesus went away to the mountain to pray and spent the night in prayer. When it was day, he called his disciples to himself and chose twelve, to whom he gave the name of apostles" (Luke 6:12).

On another day, when Jesus was travelling through the cities and villages of Palestine, he faced with the sorrowful spectacle of the weary and exhausted crowds like sheep without a shepherd and said to the disciples to pray, therefore, to the Lord of the harvest, inviting them to do what he, first, had done when he was about to call the twelve apostles.

Father Hannibal, since his youth, felt the need to pray to the Lord to implore good laborers. When, as a priest, with the blessing of his bishop, he decided to give himself to the redemption of the weary and exhausted crowds of the Avignon Quarter, he aimed at three objectives: their evangelization, their relief in order to help them to as citizens, implanting in that privileged field of poverty the prayer that he believed to be the main secret for the salvation of souls: the Rogate.

Father Hannibal, moved by love for God and for the little ones and the poor, throughout his life breathed and proclaimed the prayer of the Rogate, not only in the Avignon Quarter, through his preaching in Sicily and Italy and, through the press, in all the five continents. He did so by speaking to the Supreme Pontiffs and animating the episcopate, clergy and people of God with the Holy Alliance and the Pious Union of Prayer for Vocations. His dream was that this command of Jesus would penetrate the heart of the whole Church. In the 25th of the beginning of the Sacred Covenant (1922) there were the following members: 38 cardinals, 213 archbishops and bishops, 34 general superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations, and 624 priests. In 1924, “God and the Neighbour”, organ of the Pious Work and the Pious Union, had a circulation of 200,000 copies.

This action of promoting the prayer for vocations in the Church, entrusted to us to us as a sacred patrimony by our holy Founder, has remained alive in our Family of the Rogate and, we believe that it moved the Holy Father Paul VI to institute 61 years ago, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Father Hannibal has rejoiced in Heaven but, equally from Heaven today he sees how far remains the journey to go for the Rogate to become universal in the Church and which our commitment must be, as his sons and daughters.

Let us, therefore, live this Rogationist day par excellence with the ardour and passion of Father Hannibal, animating the local church of which we are a part, particularly during the triduum of preparation, and let us keep in our hearts this prayer that sprang from the Compassionate Heart of Jesus.

With these sentiments and, with the blessing of the Risen Jesus, who bestows his Spirit on us, I extend to all of you my best regards. distinct and cordial greetings.


Fr.  Bruno Rampazzo, RCJ
General Superior

Fr. Reinaldo Leitao De Sousa, RCJ
General Councilor for the Rogate

Fr. Fortunato Siciliano, RCJ
General Secretary