THE ROSARY PRIEST

I grew up with the phrase “The family that prays together stays together”  The priest who coined that phrase, VENERABLE PATRICK PEYTON, is one step closer to sainthood.  As they say there is a saint for everybody, and we all have our favorites.  Father Peyton was not one of mine, though I certainly have nothing against the man.  Maybe because I grew up in  a family with a mixed marriage (my mother never converted, in spite of  “Catechism classes” two times).  So we never prayed the rosary at home, nor do I remember in grammar or high school having the rosary said on  a regular basis.

I do remember once going to the L.A. colleseum for May rosary  with my best friend Alice's family and Father Peyton leading us in the rosary.  Most probably for me, because I grew up with Hollywood nearby, I did not pay much attention to personages related to it.  Fortunately, all the nuns I had for 12 years in school heavily enforced in our small minds the true meaning of the Eucharist, so for me that is where my devotion has been foremost.

This does not mean I do not have great devotion to our Blessed Mother or that I never say the rosary. On the contrary, I seem to pray it more now that I am older, and havemore and more time for Adoration. Also having been a Benedictine for almost 50 years I have the Divine Office  which takes up most of my prayer day.  

But back to our venerable. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland  in 1909, sixth in a family of four girls and five boys living in a small cottage on a 14-acre stony farmland near the foot of the Ox Mountains. The Peyton family was a deeply religious  subsistence-farming family. Later on, some members of the family migrated to the United States.

With his brother Thomas

 Patrick was one of the children having the privilege of going to school. He was sent to his mother's relatives in Bonniconlon to study. As a young man, Patrick was rebellious and had moments of defying authority, resulting in dropping out of school. Despite the youthful rebellion, he remained close to his family, respectful of his parents, and was deeply religious. By his teen years, he was contemplating a vocation to become a priest. His curiosity about pursuing a vocation was set aside for a couple of years. Instead he would concentrate in helping his family earn a living when their father became too ill to work the farm.  

Some of his elder sisters were already in America and were sending remittances to help the family left behind. In 1927, his sisters in America sent word that Patrick and his older brother Thomas could sail to the United States and join them in Scranton, Pennsylvania. On May 13, 1928, the Peyton brothers set sail.

The two took the train from New York to Pennsylvania and lived at the home of their already married sister Beatrice, who was working as a housekeeper for the state Attorney General. Patrick's sister Nellie had already spoken to Monsignor Paul Kelly of the St. Stanislaus Cathedral and told of Patrick's inclination to pursue a priestly vocation. Monsignor Kelly told Nellie to bring her younger brother Patrick to the cathedral as soon as he arrived. By June 1928, with hard luck in finding a job, Patrick finally met Monsignor Kelly and was offered a job of becoming the cathedral's sexton.

During the spring of 1929, Father Pat Dolan of the Congregation of Holy Cross came to the cathedral in Scranton in search of new seminarians. Patrick and his brother Thomas formally entered the main seminary of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Notre Dame, Indiana in 1932.

After completing high school studies at the Holy Cross School in Notre Dame,  Patrick was admitted to the Moreau Seminary within the University of Notre Dame in 1932, pursuing a  Bachelor of Arts, excelling in Philosophy.

In 1938, Patrick's health took a turn when he started coughing blood. For months he refused to acknowledge his hemorrhages until he could no longer concentrate on his work. He was brought to nearby Providence Hospital. Doctors discovered advanced stages of tuberculosis on the upper lobe of Patrick's right lung. At the start, Patrick was despondent and feared this was the end of his young life. His sister Nellie traveled to Notre Dame and reminded him of the never-ending love of the Blessed Mother and how their family lived the life of prayer, especially the Holy Rosary. Father Cornelius Hagerty was also influential in this stage of Patrick's life, encouraging the young seminarian to give it all up to God and seek the hand of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The doctors discovered that the patches in his lungs disappeared.

He immediately packed his bags and left for the Holy Cross College in Washington, D.C. to complete his theology studies and take his final vows. In May 1941, a special dispensation from the Vatican allowed Patrick to be ordained as a priest but he must complete his studies after being subjected to severe illness. On June 15, Patrick and his brother Thomas were finally ordained at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the University of Notre Dame as members of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

His first assignment was in Albany, New York as the chaplain of the Holy Cross Brothers of the Vincentian Institute. But he was certain that his return to health was for a different, specific purpose.

From Albany, New York, Father Peyton's mission started as letters of appeal to Bishops, the Catholic lay, even to non-Christians arguing and appealing the importance of the families praying the Family Rosary as the war raged on. Father Peyton won points for his mission to bring families together later on especially after the end of the war.

Utilizing radio, films, outdoor advertising and later television, with the help of celebrities, artists and advertising practitioners, Father Peyton was one of the first pioneers of evangelism using mass media.

He would also pioneer in conducting public rallies to bring families to pledge to pray the Rosary as a unit. These Rosary rallies attended by millions would become the most significant event where Father Peyton could be best remembered. According to historian Hugh Wilford, "Peyton himself was deeply conscious of the political dimension of his mission, proudly proclaiming in a 1946 radio broadcast, 'The rosary is the offensive weapon that will destroy Communism—the great evil that seeks to destroy the faith'.

These Rosary Crusades were duplicated in different dioceses with attendees growing in numbers taking Father Peyton across the globe from Brussels to Madrid,  across Asia to Manila,, down south of the equator to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea and into several South American cities like Peru and  Brazil. He was a popular and charismatic figure  known for his strong Irish accent.

With a Cold War threatening a new world peace, Father Peyton was highly instrumental in promoting prayers, winning the hearts of leaders and non-Christians, making visible the messages of the Blessed Virgin Mary, including the recognition from the Vatican from Pope Pius XII to Pope John Paul II. His efforts throughout the tumultuous period of human history in the 20th century earned him the title "The Rosary Priest".

Controversy hounded Father Peyton throughout his ministry as some accused him of being a front for American intelligence during his missions in Latin America. Father Peyton's Rosary Crusades in Latin America were funded and, to some extent, directed by the Central Intelligence Agency, which was interested in combating leftist political movements in Latin America. While the CIA determined the locations of the Crusades, it did not influence the methods employed or Father Peyton's goal of promoting family prayer, the Rosary and devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Others accused Father Peyton of living an ostentatious lifestyle, living a life with Hollywood artists who volunteered their efforts in helping promote his mission. But Father Peyton maintained that he never solicited funds for his ministry, and the well-off were more than generous to voluntarily donate a portion of their wealth all in the name of the Blessed Mother.

Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., died peacefully holding a Rosary in a very small room on June 3, 1992 in San Pedro, California.

Venerable Patrick Peyton's work continues today in his original Ministries, Family Rosary, Family Theater and Family Rosary International, and in the Father Patrick Peyton Family Institute.