By Kimberly Bruce
One of the most famous religious persons to grace the media airways of the 20th century with the Gospel was Holy Cross Father, Ven. Patrick Peyton (1909-1992).
Known as the “Rosary Priest,” Fr. Peyton and his associates penned the well-known mottos “The family that prays together stays together” and “A world at prayer is a world at peace.”
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.
Biography
Born in Attymass, County Mayo, Ireland, 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, Patrick was refused entrance at two different seminaries because of his family’s inability to pay for his education.
Patrick and his brother, Tom, then emigrated to the United States in 1928. Patrick hoped to become a real estate magnate, living the proverbial “American dream.”
The two arrived in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where some of their sisters already resided. 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).
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 ended 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.
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
Father 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 his program! 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 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 weekly running 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.
Father Peyton passed away on Jun. 3, 1992, at age 83. Mother Anthony of the Little Sisters of the Poor, who was Father’s care giver, said his final words were: “Mary, my Queen, my Mother.”
The now Venerable Fr. Patrick 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!
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