The Roman Catholic Church marks the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God and World Day of Peace on the first day of every year.

The Holy Father Pope Francis traditionally celebrates a Holy Mass commemorating the two significant religious events at 10 a.m. (4 p.m. Manila time) at the Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy.

In a message sent to heads of state across the world, Pope Francis asked the world leaders to reflect on what lessons can be learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, said a Catholic News Agency post,

“What did we learn from the pandemic? What new paths should we follow to cast off the shackles of our old habits, to be better prepared, to dare new things? What signs of life and hope can we see, to help us move forward and try to make our world a better place?” the Pontiff asked.

The Holy Father said that “certainly after directly experiencing the fragility of our own lives ... the greatest lesson we learned from Covid-19 was the realization that we all need one another,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, the faithful are encouraged to offer novena prayers, and special prayers, and to recite the Holy Rosary in honor and in celebration of the divine motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Also known as the “Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” the title Mary, Mother of God was accorded the Blessed Mother during the Council of Ephesus in the year 431 to celebrate the fact that Mary, being the mother of Jesus, who is God, was to be called Mother of God.

In recognition of the event, Pope Sixtus III built the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, one of the four major basilicas of the Catholic faith.

The observance of World Day of Peace is meant to give honor to the part played by Mary in the mystery of salvation. “It is meant to exalt the singular divinity which this mystery brings to the Holy Mother, through whom we were found worthy to receive the Author of Life,” said Saint Pope Paul VI who instituted the observance in 1968.