I am very anxious to kick off the centenary for Papa Luciani! Preparations began last year in his home town of Canale d’Agordo.

This prayer for the centenary of Papa Luciani has been published in the diocese of his birth; from Humilitas (Italian ed), September 2011, p. 5.

PRAYER FOR THE CENTENARY

Lord, Omnipotent and eternal God,
We admire the marvels that You Grace
works in your children. Today
We bless you for the love You have poured out
On Your Servant, Pope John Paul I, by calling him
To life, to Your friendship,
To serve You as pastor and as Your
Vicar for the Universal Church.
As we inaugurate the centenary year that recalls
the history of his life in the light of your Providence,
which guides men and events toward the encounter with You,
from the testimony of life of John Paul I,
a living image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd,
help us to draw on those gifts that make us
Your children and disciples of Christ:
from his faith and serenity we want to learn
to abandon ourselves to You with the heart of a child;
from his generosity, we want to learn
to say “Yes” to everything You ask of us;
from his love for the simple and the little ones,
we want to learn to serve everyone who needs us.
Father in Heaven,
We humbly ask you to glorify
In your Church Your Servant John Paul I,
So that, through his intercession and his example,
We may all draw on and give,
with humility and simplicity ,
The light and love that radiate from You.
Through Christ out Lord.

Amen.