A teacher in a school in a working-class area in Chile
noticed that the mothers who brought their children
in the morning used to make a visit to the chapel
near the main school entrance for a moment in prayer
before going home. She organised them, gave them material,
and turned them into a small Apostleship of Prayer group.
They had a daily 15 – minute programme,
with a gospel-reading, a song, petitions,
ending with the Morning Offering.
A simple example of the service the AP
can offer, easy to organise.


Faced with difficulty in finding a Diocesan Director
among the local clergy, the bishop of a diocese in Uruguay,
in agreement with the National Secretariat,
has appointed a married couple as local organisers of the AP.
They have worked well, visiting each parish in the diocese
and promoting the AP actively. 


Every year the Apostleship of Prayer in
the French-speaking region of Switzerland
organises a great gathering of the local church,
bringing together about 1700 people for a weekend.
Many young people take part, as well as families with children.
A good practice at the final solemn Mass is the
separate Liturgy of the Word for children,
in another hall, where the same readings are explained
for at their level. Then at the offertory
the children return to the Mass, in a long and beautiful procession,
carrying the gifts. 


In Croatia two Jesuits from the Apostleship of Prayer
travel all over the country offering a week’s Mission
for the people in different parishes, dealing with various themes.
On the last day of the mission they talk about
the Apostleship of Prayer, and set up a small support-structure
to keep up contact and to distribute
the monthly leaflets and the magazine. Already 200 Missions
have been given in the country, and 7000 people
have joined the AP. 


Also in Croatia: to encourage those people in the parishes
who belong to AP, whether or not they are in our specific groups,
the National Secretary has asked the parish priests to pray
with their people and to renew once a month the Morning Offering
and the promise to pray for the Pope.
They usually do this at the First Friday Mass,
or the First Saturday, or the following Sunday.
Some parish priests do it the three times

The Diocesan Director of AP in Mallorca, Spain,
Fr. J. M. Casanovas, S.J. (jmcasasnovas@gmail.com)
offers a mail service that provides the Ignatian Spiritual
Exercises in daily life to AP members and
to all that are interested.


The National Secretary of Uruguay,
Fr. Juan Antonio Medina, S.J. (apora@montevideo.com.ur),
has the possibility to greet each one of the members
of his AP community for their birthdays.
He prints on the monthly leaflets the list of
all who celebrate their birthdays that month.


The AP network in India prints about 300.000 copies,
in 14 languages, of the monthly eight page booklet destined
to help the weekly community meeting of our young people.
The AP youth branch in India is called “Eucharistic Crusade”
or “Soldiers of God”, among other names.
This means one copy per community, each having 8 to 12 members…
it is very hard to know how many children and young people belong
to this Movement in India!


The AP in Guatemala prints out a monthly credit-card
sized reminder of the Pope’s intentions, with a carefully
chosen image and the offering prayer on the other side.
Its smart looking presentation and high-quality
print makes it an appealing hand-out.