Family Rosary Crusade
Encyclopedia
Family Rosary Crusade is a worldwide campaign that eventually became a Roman Catholic movement founded by Reverend Father Patrick Peyton
, CSC. The endeavor came to be as a personal mission to undertake the promotion of the praying of the family Rosary
by families as a means to bind families together. The inspiration to start a campaign came from Father Peyton's patron, the Blessed Virgin Mary whom he credits as the one who interceded before God
and her son Jesus Christ his miraculous recovery from tuberculosis
in 1941.
The campaign's basic objective is to promote the praying of the Rosary by families, viewed and seen by Father Peyton as the most efficacious form of meditation, in the process, learn and imitate the life and passion of Jesus Christ. Father Peyton rationalizes that together as a family, in unison praying the Rosary, the family is united before Christ and drawn closer to God.
In the spirit of our founder, Servant of God
Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, and under the sponsorship of the Congregation of Holy Cross
, Holy Cross Family Ministries serves Jesus Christ and His Church throughout the world by promoting and supporting the spiritual well-being of the family.
Faithful to Mary, the Mother of God, the Family Rosary and Family Rosary International encourage family prayer, especially the Rosary.
Family Theater Productions directs its efforts to the evangelization
of culture
using mass media to entertain, inspire and educate families.
The Father Peyton Family Institute focuses on research and education in family life ministry and the relationship of spirituality to family.
Upon receiving his first assignment as a newly ordained priest in 1941, Father Peyton was first assigned as a chaplain for a school managed by the Congregation of Holy Cross in Albany, New York.
Obedient to his vows as a member of the Holy Cross community, Father Peyton accepted the duties but his heart was continuously searching on how to bring about his promise to the Blessed Mother.
Father Peyton discovered his mission for the Blessed Mother on January 25, 1942 He was extensively reading the history of the Battle of Lepanto
in 1571.
Soldiers of Lepanto, with no hope of winning the war against the Moors, knelt and prayed the Rosary before a perceived losing battle. A miracle was seen to have happened when the Moors were defeated and pushed back. This incident was attributed the Blessed Mother that would serve as the preliminary foundations of establishing the crusade of prayer.
As a school chaplain in New York, Father Peyton lived a modest life and in his bedroom cell was a small bed, a small study table with an painting of the Madonna and Child by Spanish
painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
.
Father Peyton got drawn to that painting and would serve as the image of the Blessed Mother for the entirety of his Family Rosary Crusade efforts. The image was first used as the cover for a future pamphlet called "The Story of the Rosary."
Father Peyton started writing to Bishops, priests, Catholic lay organizations about the importance of families praying the Rosary and his appeals, rationale was widely accepted by many.
With the help of Holy Cross sisters in Albany and a friend he would meet there, a priest named Father Francis Woods, Father Peyton began his appeals to promote the praying of the Rosary for all families.
His mission to promote the praying of the Rosary needed a much bigger and wider audience and for fifteen minutes, families went on the air on radio to pray the Rosary on a local radio station in Albany, Waby in October 1943.
The efforts of Father Peyton was being noticed beyond Albany and friends referred him to friends who were not necessarily Catholics to have his mission brought elsewhere across America.
In 1945, the Mutual Broadcasting System
, the largest radio network
in the United States at that time, made available a half-hour to broadcast the Rosary. This was dubbed by Father Peyton as "the opportunity of a lifetime". Mutual's owner Ed Kobak set certain requirements in order for Father Peyton to make his broadcast.
On May 13, 1945, Mother's Day
and the same date that the Blessed Mother appeared before three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal
in 1917, Father Peyton aired for the first time his program on nationwide radio on Mutual Broadcasting System
from its studios in Broadway
.
The radio broadcast featured the Sullivan family of Iowa who just recently lost five sons in the Pacific war to lead the praying of the Rosary followed by a live endorsement of crooner Bing Crosby
, patched from Mutual's Los Angeles radio station
.
The mission of Father Peyton has finally gone national and within a year. He focused promoting his mission by continuously sending letters and distributing for free Rosary beads and prayer pamphlets. He also continued to promote the mission using radio as means but network executives at Mutual wanted to air programs of Father Peyton with more than just the praying the Rosary. The example set by Bing Crosby could be repeated with other Hollywood stars pitching the call for families praying the Rosary.
Father Peyton journeyed to Los Angeles, California and started to recruit stars to volunteer to help promote his cause. In his first travel to California, actress Jane Wyatt would serve as his bridge to other celebrities and become lifelong friends.
With the help of Hollywood's famous personalities, Father Peyton started to produce family values oriented radio dramas under the banner of "Family Theater of the Air," from Hollywood for his show on Mutual. The first broadcast was made on February 13, 1947 with guest artists Loretta Young
, a Protestant James Stewart
and Don Ameche
.
The broadcast was acclaimed as the most touching program of all, and the Family Rosary Crusade was launched. What Bing Crosby
did, others would do. Hundreds of them, Pat O'Brien
, Loretta Young
, Grace Kelly
, James Cagney
, Bob Hope
, Irene Dunne
, Gregory Peck
, Lucille Ball
, Henry Fonda
, Rosalind Russell
, Jack Benny
, Raymond Burr
, Barbara Stanwyck
, Margaret O'Brien
, Helen Hayes
, Natalie Wood
, Maureen O'Hara, Jane Wyatt
, Ronald Reagan
. William Shatner
, James Dean
and Shirley Temple
. gave their names, fame, time and talent to glorify the Rosary and dramatize its mysteries on film, on the radio and on television.
The Family Theater radio programs continued to air up to 1969, one of the longest running drama series on American radio history. The program also gave rise to the establishment of the Family Theater Productions
that opened offices in Hollywood with the mission of developing Christian family values film, radio, television programs and outdoor advertising.
-TV, volunteered with Family Theater Productions for 40 years.
In 1947, a Los Angeles outdoor advertising company representative was taken by the slogan, "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together ." He heard in on the "Family Theater" radio series. The company offered to put the slogan on vacant billboards as a public service. The idea caught on with other advertising companies.
Over the years messages included "Troubled? Try Prayer!" "Don’t Give Up! Pray. It Works," "God Makes House Calls" and "God Listens," each one followed by "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together ."
These messages have appeared on more 100,000 billboards throughout the country, courtesy of outdoor advertising associations and companies, and have been seen more than 400 million times, according to outdoor advertising associations’ estimates.
The campaign continues today with three new, contemporary posters designed in 2001, that have received a record number of orders from billboard companies.
The mission that started on radio broadcasts, helped bring forward the mission Father Peyton is best known for with the start of the Diocesan Rosary crusade.
in Canada, the Diocesan Family Rosary Crusade started with the gathering of pledges from families to commit to the daily prayer of the Rosary as a family unit. Endless preaching in various parishes was made and a Rosary rally, multitudes of families gathered together to pray the Rosary were held in individual parishes. The first large scale rally occurred in Saskatchewan, Canada, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
, then under the authority of the Benedictine's of St. Peter's Abbey, and with the blessings and participation of all the Bishops of Saskatchewan,, where 12,000 attended the rally on September 26, 1948.
In 1947, the Diocese of London, Ontario, pioneered the diocesan crusades. From pulpits, classrooms, the media, giant rallies and house-to-house visitations, families came to know who Mary is and about the saving power of the Rosary. At the rallies, the outpouring of people was a measure of their hunger for the message. The multitudes reached the hundreds of thousands. In Manila in the Philippines, a million people came together to pray the Rosary. It happened again and again: in Bogotá
, Bombay, Johannesburg
, Madrid
, New York
, San Francisco, Nairobi
.
Unprecedented were the endorsements and encouragement given to the crusades by several popes and the Second Vatican Council
. In 1987, Pope John Paul II
said, "May the Rosary once more become the accustomed prayer of ... the Christian family."
Though there are no Rosary rallies in the same scale that Father Peyton did during his time but local units all over the world still conducts its smaller rosary rallies.
The process of distributing rosary beads and pamphlets still continue and the mission to bind families in praying the Rosary still remains, still with the aid of mass media.
Patrick Peyton
Reverend Father Patrick Peyton, CSC was an Irish-born Roman Catholic priest, devout promoter of the works & inspirations of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is the founder of the post-World War II prayer movement called, "Family Rosary Crusade"...
, CSC. The endeavor came to be as a personal mission to undertake the promotion of the praying of the family Rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
by families as a means to bind families together. The inspiration to start a campaign came from Father Peyton's patron, the Blessed Virgin Mary whom he credits as the one who interceded before God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and her son Jesus Christ his miraculous recovery from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1941.
The campaign's basic objective is to promote the praying of the Rosary by families, viewed and seen by Father Peyton as the most efficacious form of meditation, in the process, learn and imitate the life and passion of Jesus Christ. Father Peyton rationalizes that together as a family, in unison praying the Rosary, the family is united before Christ and drawn closer to God.
Mission
The modern day Mission adopted for the Family Rosary Crusade under the stewardship of the Holy Cross Family Ministries:In the spirit of our founder, Servant of God
Servant of God
Servant of God is a title given to individuals by various religions, but in general the phrase is used to describe a person believed to be pious in his or her faith tradition. In the Catholic Church, it designates someone who is being investigated by the Church for possibly being recognized as a...
Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, and under the sponsorship of the Congregation of Holy Cross
Congregation of Holy Cross
The Congregation of Holy Cross or Congregatio a Sancta Cruce is a Catholic congregation of priests and brothers founded in 1837 by Blessed Father Basil Anthony-Marie Moreau, CSC, in Le Mans, France....
, Holy Cross Family Ministries serves Jesus Christ and His Church throughout the world by promoting and supporting the spiritual well-being of the family.
Faithful to Mary, the Mother of God, the Family Rosary and Family Rosary International encourage family prayer, especially the Rosary.
Family Theater Productions directs its efforts to the evangelization
Evangelization
Evangelization is that process in the Christian religion which seeks to spread the Gospel and the knowledge of the Gospel throughout the world. It can be defined as so:-The birth of Christian evangelization:...
of culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
using mass media to entertain, inspire and educate families.
The Father Peyton Family Institute focuses on research and education in family life ministry and the relationship of spirituality to family.
Influences on building the Crusade
- Irish Catholic upbringing - Father Patrick Peyton of the Congregation of Holy Cross was born in CatholicIreland at a time of hardships in the early years of the 20th century. His family were basically farmers whose faith is tightly loyal to the Catholic Church. Praying the Rosary as a family was a practice followed religiously by the Peyton family.
- Discovering priestly vocation - As a child, Father Peyton had early inclinations in pursuing a vocation as a priest but due to poverty and the need to help his family in Ireland earn a living, the pursuit for a vocationVocationA vocation , is a term for an occupation to which a person is specially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity.-Senses:...
did not bear fruit until he was already in his twenties when he arrived as migrant to the United States.
- Passion for welfare of families - As a seminarian discovering his personal mission for God in the scenic and rustic surroundings of University of Notre DameUniversity of Notre DameThe University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
in Indiana, Father Peyton was passionate over the spiritual welfare of families especially those living in squalor who were affected by the Great Depression.
- Marian intercession - Discovering that he had an incurable tuberculosis, Father Peyton turned despondent but this did not stop him from hoping for a cure. Father Peyton surrendered himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, leaving his faith to live or die to her intercession. Peyton immersed himself in meditation while praying the Rosary. A few months later, doctors discovered that all traces of tuberculosis in his body disappeared. This miracle would in turn make Father Peyton an intensely devout Marian who in his remaining lifetime would do nothing but promote the Rosary and profess his affection to all towards the Blessed Mother.
- A war destroying families - The war in Europe and the Pacific was sorely dividing and hurting families in America whose sons were sent abroad to fight the war and this inspired Father Peyton to preach a message of hope, the power of prayers.
Key components of the crusade
- Primary objective of the Family Rosary Crusade is to have every family make a habit of reciting the Rosary together, regardless of class or creed and even religion;
- The crusade was a continuing effort of Father Peyton to promote the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother to all, a compassionate and loving Mother, his tribute to her for interceding on his behalf after facing a near fatal illness;
- A continuing process of evangelization, a continuing effort to preach the sacrifices of Jesus Christ who ensured the prophesized salvation of all mankind;
- Utilization of mass forms of communications such as radio, television, outdoor advertising and films through the voluntary effort of artists and workers in these industries. Father Peyton viewed mass media as the more effective means of promoting family prayers, and the Gospel beyond the pulpits of a parish, thanks largely to its wide reach.;
- Introduction to every diocese a massive coordinated efforts to set up a Rosary rally attended by people from within and beyond the diocese. In gathering parishioners and even non-Christian believers to accept Father Peyton's view of the Rosary as a universal tool to bring people together – the voices of many simultaneously praying to God would be heard loudly and more clearly.
The lifelong crusade
Obedient to his vows as a member of the Holy Cross community, Father Peyton accepted the duties but his heart was continuously searching on how to bring about his promise to the Blessed Mother.
Father Peyton discovered his mission for the Blessed Mother on January 25, 1942 He was extensively reading the history of the Battle of Lepanto
Battle of Lepanto (1571)
The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic maritime states, decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire in five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Patras, off western Greece...
in 1571.
Soldiers of Lepanto, with no hope of winning the war against the Moors, knelt and prayed the Rosary before a perceived losing battle. A miracle was seen to have happened when the Moors were defeated and pushed back. This incident was attributed the Blessed Mother that would serve as the preliminary foundations of establishing the crusade of prayer.
As a school chaplain in New York, Father Peyton lived a modest life and in his bedroom cell was a small bed, a small study table with an painting of the Madonna and Child by Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Bartolomé Estéban Murillo
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children...
.
Father Peyton got drawn to that painting and would serve as the image of the Blessed Mother for the entirety of his Family Rosary Crusade efforts. The image was first used as the cover for a future pamphlet called "The Story of the Rosary."
Father Peyton started writing to Bishops, priests, Catholic lay organizations about the importance of families praying the Rosary and his appeals, rationale was widely accepted by many.
With the help of Holy Cross sisters in Albany and a friend he would meet there, a priest named Father Francis Woods, Father Peyton began his appeals to promote the praying of the Rosary for all families.
His mission to promote the praying of the Rosary needed a much bigger and wider audience and for fifteen minutes, families went on the air on radio to pray the Rosary on a local radio station in Albany, Waby in October 1943.
The efforts of Father Peyton was being noticed beyond Albany and friends referred him to friends who were not necessarily Catholics to have his mission brought elsewhere across America.
In 1945, the Mutual Broadcasting System
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
, the largest radio network
Radio network
There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
in the United States at that time, made available a half-hour to broadcast the Rosary. This was dubbed by Father Peyton as "the opportunity of a lifetime". Mutual's owner Ed Kobak set certain requirements in order for Father Peyton to make his broadcast.
- Invite the most famous, loved and revered family to pray the Rosary;
- Ask the most famous Hollywood stars to join them;
- Have the most influential people in the US Church speak; and
- Choose the most fitting day to have the majority of Americans listening eagerly to a religious broadcast.
On May 13, 1945, Mother's Day
Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May...
and the same date that the Blessed Mother appeared before three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal
Fátima, Portugal
Fátima is a city in Portugal famous for the Marian apparitions, recognized by the Catholic Church, that took place there in 1917. The town itself has a population of 7,756 and is located in the municipality of Ourém, in the Centro Region and Médio Tejo Subregion...
in 1917, Father Peyton aired for the first time his program on nationwide radio on Mutual Broadcasting System
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
from its studios in Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
.
The radio broadcast featured the Sullivan family of Iowa who just recently lost five sons in the Pacific war to lead the praying of the Rosary followed by a live endorsement of crooner Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, patched from Mutual's Los Angeles radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
.
The mission of Father Peyton has finally gone national and within a year. He focused promoting his mission by continuously sending letters and distributing for free Rosary beads and prayer pamphlets. He also continued to promote the mission using radio as means but network executives at Mutual wanted to air programs of Father Peyton with more than just the praying the Rosary. The example set by Bing Crosby could be repeated with other Hollywood stars pitching the call for families praying the Rosary.
Father Peyton journeyed to Los Angeles, California and started to recruit stars to volunteer to help promote his cause. In his first travel to California, actress Jane Wyatt would serve as his bridge to other celebrities and become lifelong friends.
With the help of Hollywood's famous personalities, Father Peyton started to produce family values oriented radio dramas under the banner of "Family Theater of the Air," from Hollywood for his show on Mutual. The first broadcast was made on February 13, 1947 with guest artists Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
, a Protestant James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
and Don Ameche
Don Ameche
Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
.
The broadcast was acclaimed as the most touching program of all, and the Family Rosary Crusade was launched. What Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
did, others would do. Hundreds of them, Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (actor)
Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
, Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
, Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...
, Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
, Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
, Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
, Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
, Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
, Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien is an American film and stage actress. Although her film career as a leading character was brief, she was one of the most popular child actors in cinema history...
, Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes Brown was an American actress whose career spanned almost 70 years. She eventually garnered the nickname "First Lady of the American Theatre" and was one of twelve people who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award...
, Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
, Maureen O'Hara, Jane Wyatt
Jane Wyatt
Jane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television comedy Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television series Star Trek...
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
and Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
. gave their names, fame, time and talent to glorify the Rosary and dramatize its mysteries on film, on the radio and on television.
The Family Theater radio programs continued to air up to 1969, one of the longest running drama series on American radio history. The program also gave rise to the establishment of the Family Theater Productions
Family Theater Productions
Family Theater Productions is a film, television and radio production company founded by Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross...
that opened offices in Hollywood with the mission of developing Christian family values film, radio, television programs and outdoor advertising.
Evangelization through mass media
A young ad executive and an accomplished copywriter, Al Scalpone, donated his services to Family Theater in 1947 and wrote the now famous slogan, "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together " as well as "A World at Prayer is a World at Peace " for the radio series. They became the mottos for Father Peyton and his organization. Scalpone, who eventually became a vice president for CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-TV, volunteered with Family Theater Productions for 40 years.
In 1947, a Los Angeles outdoor advertising company representative was taken by the slogan, "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together ." He heard in on the "Family Theater" radio series. The company offered to put the slogan on vacant billboards as a public service. The idea caught on with other advertising companies.
Over the years messages included "Troubled? Try Prayer!" "Don’t Give Up! Pray. It Works," "God Makes House Calls" and "God Listens," each one followed by "The Family That Prays Together Stays Together ."
These messages have appeared on more 100,000 billboards throughout the country, courtesy of outdoor advertising associations and companies, and have been seen more than 400 million times, according to outdoor advertising associations’ estimates.
The campaign continues today with three new, contemporary posters designed in 2001, that have received a record number of orders from billboard companies.
The mission that started on radio broadcasts, helped bring forward the mission Father Peyton is best known for with the start of the Diocesan Rosary crusade.
Diocesan Rosary Rallies
From London, OntarioLondon, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
in Canada, the Diocesan Family Rosary Crusade started with the gathering of pledges from families to commit to the daily prayer of the Rosary as a family unit. Endless preaching in various parishes was made and a Rosary rally, multitudes of families gathered together to pray the Rosary were held in individual parishes. The first large scale rally occurred in Saskatchewan, Canada, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid 13th centuries...
, then under the authority of the Benedictine's of St. Peter's Abbey, and with the blessings and participation of all the Bishops of Saskatchewan,, where 12,000 attended the rally on September 26, 1948.
In 1947, the Diocese of London, Ontario, pioneered the diocesan crusades. From pulpits, classrooms, the media, giant rallies and house-to-house visitations, families came to know who Mary is and about the saving power of the Rosary. At the rallies, the outpouring of people was a measure of their hunger for the message. The multitudes reached the hundreds of thousands. In Manila in the Philippines, a million people came together to pray the Rosary. It happened again and again: in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Bombay, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, San Francisco, Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
.
Unprecedented were the endorsements and encouragement given to the crusades by several popes and the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
. In 1987, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
said, "May the Rosary once more become the accustomed prayer of ... the Christian family."
Global Presence
Transitions, same Mission
After the passing of Father Peyton in 1992, Family Rosary Crusade established itself as living ministry, breathing the legacy of Father Peyton. The Congregation of Holy Cross organized all units and organizations that was founded under the Family Rosary Crusade under an umbrella ministry, the Holy Cross Family Ministries that remains committed to the original cause of Father Peyton.Though there are no Rosary rallies in the same scale that Father Peyton did during his time but local units all over the world still conducts its smaller rosary rallies.
The process of distributing rosary beads and pamphlets still continue and the mission to bind families in praying the Rosary still remains, still with the aid of mass media.