Tormented Kate McCann yesterday urged friends to "pray like mad" for missing Madeleine on the first anniversary of her disappearance.
Tearful Kate stood up in church during a service for Madeleine to thank friends and family for their support.
Kate - who had not planned to make a speech - said: "We know you have been praying and we ask you to keep going. Pray like mad. Please stay with us, stay with Madeleine, keep praying."
Kate and husband Gerry, both 40, walked into yesterday's multi-faith service in their home village of Rothley, Leics with their heads bowed and holding hands. They had not taken two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to the service.
Vicar Rob Gladstone, said he was overwhelmed by the turnout and Kate and Gerry left clutching bunches of flowers from well-wishers.
A prayer about courage written by the Archbishop of York specifically for Madeleine was also read out. It said: "We pray for Madeleine. Keep her safe and take away her fear and anxiety. May your holy angels guard and protect her."
Earlier Kate told how she barely recognised the "cold" image of herself in TV appeals in the days after Madeleine went missing.
She had been advised by behavioural experts not to show any emotion "in case her daughter's kidnapper got a perverted kick from it".
But Kate said she barely recognises the cool and controlled woman on the screen. She told the Sunday Mirror: "With the anniversary, they've started showing footage from the early days. I don't recognise myself.
"All the critics out there...who would want to swap places, really?"
Kate said that she believes the anniversary of Madeleine being kidnapped could be their last opportunity to find her.
And she hopes the milestone will prompt a witness to come forward.
"It could be our last chance to get all that information," she said. "We are appealing for that one bit of information... then it could all be over."
Madeleine McCann relatives make pilgrimage to Praia da Luz
Relatives of Madeleine McCann made an emotional pilgrimage to Praia da Luz yesterday.
Her uncle John McCann, 48, said: "Gerry and Kate would have been here but felt they needed to spend the time quietly with Sean and Amelie."
Last night other relatives and locals were due to hold a candlelit vigil at a church at the resort.
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