People pray at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Surfside, Fla., June 30, 2021, as emergency crews continued the search and rescue operations for survivors of a collapsed condo building. Photo: CNS 
Following the sudden collapse of a multi-storey building with people trapped inside, many Catholics around South Florida have fled to a common refuge: the comforting presence of Mary.
So it was that several schools in the Miami Archdiocese reacted to the June 24 fall of the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside by praying the rosary.
Reflecting on its glorious, joyful, sorrowful and luminous mysteries, they called on the Mother of God for aid and comfort.
“I think everyone understands that in pain, you turn to your mother,” said Wency Ortega, who helped organise a virtual online rosary June 27 for students, teachers, families and alumni of Christopher Columbus High School. “And in turning to our Mother, we turn to Jesus.”
About 2,000 people tapped into Columbus’ virtual rosary, coordinated by a group of instructors and alumni of the Marist school in Miami.
Taking part through YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook Live, they were knitted together via the StreamYard platform. Individuals submitted their own intentions in chat boxes.
They also prayed for members of a half-dozen families in the school’s “greater family” who remained missing. As of July 1, at least 18 people were confirmed dead and authorities put the number of those still unaccounted for at 145.
Miami-Dade County’s mayor said two of the 18 fatalities were children, ages 10 and 4.
Other schools also have held or planned their own rosaries. On June 28, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami drew 300 people to a “Prayer for Surfside”.
