Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, speaking at a 1958 Rosary Rally in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Said actress Loretta Young, “I never met a man so in love with a woman as Fr. Peyton was in love with the Blessed Mother.”
Welcome to the debut of a new series, "The Venerables": Holy men and women in the United States, in some cases little-known, who are on the road to sainthood. The road to sainthood has four steps: "Servant of God," "Venerable," "Blessed," and "Saint." The Pope grants the title "Venerable" after a review confirms the individual has lived a life of heroic virtue. The next step, beatification, requires the verification of a miracle attributed to their intercession.
By Kimberly Bruce
Everyone knows the slogan, “The family that prays together, stays together.” The priest who coined it is on the road to sainthood.
Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton, CSC, known as the “Rosary Priest,” was one of the most famous religious media personalities of the 20th century. “A world at prayer is a world at peace” is another of his famous phrases.
His service to the Church and his dedication to evangelism through the Rosary resulted in his declaration as a “Servant of God” and, more recently, as “Venerable” by Pope Francis in 2017.
Ireland, then America
Born in Attymass, County Mayo, Ireland, on Jan. 9, 1909, Patrick was the sixth of nine children. His faithful parents prayed the Rosary each evening with their children, led by Patrick’s father. Patrick considered his home “the best school, library, hospital and even church.”
Each day, young Patrick walked three miles to serve as an altar server at his parish’s two morning Masses. Wishing to be a priest, he was refused entrance at two different seminaries because of his family’s inability to pay for his education.
Patrick and his brother, Tom, emigrated to the United States in 1928. With his hope of becoming a priest dashed, Patrick looked to become a real estate magnate, living the proverbial “American dream.”
The two brothers arrived in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where some of their sisters already lived. Tom began working in a coal mine. Patrick was given a job as a janitor at a local church.
When some priests from the Congregation of the Holy Cross preached a parish mission in their church, Patrick again felt the call to the priesthood. So did Tom. The two subsequently entered the University of Notre Dame’s minor seminary, together, in Indiana.
Studies and sickness
From there, Tom and Patrick went on to study at Washington, D.C.’s Catholic University. Shortly thereafter, Patrick developed a deadly case of tuberculosis. A year into unsuccessful treatment attempts, he was told by doctors, “You had better try prayer. All that we have tried is not working.”
Fellow priest Fr. Cornelius Haggerty then challenged Patrick: “Mary is alive right here and now, Pat. She is a 100 ‘percenter,’ if you only believe it! You know how dedicated the Irish are to the Rosary. Well, pray it yourself, believing that Mary is alive and able to give you 100 percent of what you ask.”
Saint Faustina, too, was reminded of the power of the Rosary, as she recorded in her Diary:
During the Rosary today, I suddenly saw a ciborium with the Blessed Sacrament. The ciborium was uncovered and quite filled with hosts. From the ciborium came a voice: These hosts have been received by souls converted through your prayer and suffering (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 709).
Power of the Rosary
Invigorated, Patrick did as Fr. Haggerty challenged him, promising Our Lady he would dedicate his priesthood to her if cured. He began a Rosary Novena that concluded on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, 1939. That day, Patrick declared himself healed, which doctors confirmed via tests: There was no longer any sign of tuberculosis!
Returning to his studies, he and Tom were ordained to the priesthood on June 14, 1940.
For his first assignment, Fr. Patrick Peyton moved to Albany, New York, to serve as chaplain of the Brothers of the Holy Cross who worked as teachers.
Fancying himself “Mary’s Donkey” in 1942, Fr. Peyton began promoting the “Family Rosary” in thanksgiving to Our Lady, through whose intercession he had been healed. He would go on to host 540 Rosary rallies around the world, attended by millions of people.
Holy Cross Father Willy Raymond remarked on Fr. Peyton’s holiness, saying he “really exemplified that in his personal life. Whenever I saw him, he always had a Rosary wrapped around his fist. If you ever went on a trip in a car with him, you knew you were not only going to pray one Rosary, but all 15 mysteries.”
To the media
In 1945, Fr. Peyton soon desired to bring the power of the Rosary to an even larger audience via the radio, which was now in almost every American home. The head of programming for the Mutual Broadcasting System, however, told Father he could only have radio time if he was able to enlist a Hollywood celebrity to be on his program.
Undaunted, Fr. Peyton made a phone call and got none other than Bing Crosby, one of the biggest stars in his day, to come on. This was followed by other recruits such as President Truman, Loretta Young, Grace Kelly, James Cagney, Jimmy Stewart, and Cardinal Spellman of New York, to name a few.
Said actress Loretta Young, “I never met a man so in love with a woman as Fr. Peyton was in love with the Blessed Mother.”
“Father Peyton’s Family Theater” became one of the longest-running weekly programs on radio, spanning 22 years. Father went on to travel the globe hosting Rosary Crusades, rallies, making religious films, television specials, documentaries, and variety programs. These programs, even today, continue to be aired on the EWTN television network.
“Mary, my Queen”
Father Peyton died on Jun. 3, 1992, at age 83. Mother Anthony of the Little Sisters of the Poor, who was Father’s caregiver, said his final words were, “Mary, my Queen, my Mother.”
Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley of Boston opened Fr. Peyton's cause in 2001. Declared "Venerable" by Pope Francis on Dec. 18, 2017, the now Ven. Fr. Peyton needs a verified medical miracle to be beatified, the next step in the canonization process of becoming a saint in the Catholic Church.
Today, Holy Cross Family Ministries continues in Father’s memory spreading devotion to the Rosary, holding retreats, and many other ministry outreaches.
We, too, can follow in Fr. Peyton’s footsteps by using various media outlets to spread devotion to the Rosary and educating one another in the faith, remembering: “The family that prays together stays together” and “A world at prayer is a world at peace.”
Venerable Father Patrick Peyton, pray for us!
For more information, visit www.fatherpeyton.org.
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