[NEWS] Many prayers and dollars help Francis Fund ‘undo the knots of poverty’

From CatholicPhilly.com: 

For weeks, the faithful had been streaming to the Knotted Grotto, a domed lattice outside the chapel of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, tying white strips of paper on which their prayers were written. The petitions ranged from healing for themselves or family members, world peace, the elimination of poverty, protection for the environment, the preservation of families and thousands of other requests.

By the time the grotto closed with an interfaith blessing on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 150,000 strips fluttered in the breeze. After the solemnity and festivities of the Sept. 22-25 World Meeting of Families and the two-day visit to Philadelphia by Pope Francis, the exhibit, if not the hopes of the flock, was to be dismantled.

The grotto as designed by artist Meg Saligman invited passersby to pray for the intentions on one of the ribbons tied outside the grotto, unknot it and retie it inside the grotto, then leave a new ribbon with one’s own intention, to be prayed for by another person.