On September 28th, the epicenter of the prayer before the approaching Synod of Bishops on the family will be in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Indeed, throughout its entire duration, the Synod will be accompanied by prayer. The news of the encounter on the 28th, wanted by Pope Francis, was announced these days in a statement of the Synod’s Secretariat. The Synod of Bishops invites "the particular Churches, parish communities, Institutes of consecrated life, associations and movements to pray during Eucharistic celebrations and other liturgical occasions in the days preceding and during the work of the Synod." In Rome, there will be prayers each day in the chapel of the icon Salus Populi Romani, in the Liberian Basilica. The note invites the faithful and especially families to "include this intention in their personal prayers, and to pray the Rosary for the work of the Synod." The press release also announced the publication in the coming days of a leaflet, edited by the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, with the prayer to the Holy Family for the Synod, composed by Pope Francis last year’s feast of the Holy Family, on Sunday, December 29th. This prayer, and especially the intercession of Mary—very dear to the Pope—, will in fact be the leitmotif of this Synod. The decision to begin a significant event like the Synod with prayer expresses the Pope’s intention to connect the work that is awaiting the Bishops, from 5 to 19 October, with the 2015 Ordinary Assembly on the theme "Jesus Christ reveals the mystery and vocation of the family."