MANILA, Philippines – On his first Sunday Angelus after a deadly earthquake struck the Visayas, Pope Francis urged the world to pray for the Philippines as he preached about praying “without growing weary.”

“I want to express my closeness to the people of the Philippines who have been struck by a strong earthquake, and I invite you to pray for that dear nation, which in recent days has suffered different calamities,” Francis said after the Angelus on Sunday, October 20.

Before making this appeal, the Pope preached about persistence in prayer in his Sunday Angelus address. His message resounded in the Philippines, a country battered by a typhoon and an earthquake in recent weeks. READ: Quake infra damage now at P867M; death toll at 186.

(Watch Rappler’s latest Vlog about the earthquake below.)

Francis recounted the parable of a widow who, through her persistence, convinced a dishonest judge to give her justice.

The Pope said: “Let us learn, therefore, from the widow of the Gospel, and pray always without growing weary. This widow was good, she knew to fight for her children, and I think of the many women who fight for their families, who pray, who never grow weary!”

“Pray always,” he added, “but not to convince the Lord by the strength of words! He knows better than we do what it is we need. And so persevering prayer is an expression of faith in a God Who calls us to fight along with Him, every day, every moment, to overcome evil with good.”

Francis also addressed Filipinos in a video message aired Friday, October 18. In this message, he appealed for mercy toward the poor and neglected in the Philippines, the most predominantly Catholic country in Asia that is also among the poorest. READ/WATCH: Pope to PH: Don’t get tired of mercy.

“Don’t get tired of bringing the mercy of the Father to the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the young people, and the family,” the Pope said.

Like Francis, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle last Wednesday, October 16, recalled the recent disasters that hit the Philippines. Tagle stressed “faith in the midst of ruin.” READ: Tagle, faith, and ruins from the quake. – Rappler.com