Fr Peyton Mass live on TV

RTÉ Mass among Fr Peyton centenary celebrations


Anna-Marie Flynn

THE 100th anniversary of the birth of ‘The Rosary Priest’ Fr Patrick Peyton was marked with a televised Mass broadcast from Attymass last Sunday.
Hundreds of viewers world-wide tuned in to see the specially-organised outside broadcast from the Church of the Immaculate Conception and St Joseph, Attymass, which was celebrated by Bishop Brendan Kelly.
The broadcast, which saw the famed cleric lauded for his great work on a global scale, was just one of thousands of events scheduled to take place around the world to mark the century since Fr Peyton’s birth on January 9, 1909.
In Boston, CatholicTV included a specially-produced show as part of the series ‘Catholic Saints and Lay People’, on the life of Fr Peyton. For the months of January and February, the television network, watched by thousands of Catholics across the world, will air programmes in honour of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Rosary Priest.
Meanwhile in California, many public activities and events have been organised to observe the anniversary with a special year-long celebration planned throughout the Holy Cross Family Ministries. A spokesperson for the Ministries told The Mayo News: “As part of the plans, families are being encouraged to pray the family Rosary in their homes. Families and individuals can sign up on Holy Cross Family Ministries’ website – www.hcfm.org – to pray this novena and also to list their intentions and to pray for other intentions that have been posted by individuals on the site. Holy Cross Family Ministries has offices in 17 countries and all of them will be observing the Rosary Novena from January 1-9, as well as conducting many public activities during 2009 including Holy Hours, Rosary rallies, Masses and gala celebrations with music, food and dance.”
Fr Peyton was born on January 9, 1909, in Caracastle and was ordained a priest in 1941 after studying in America. From there, he led crusades around the world to promote the Rosary. He died June 3, 1992, and his cause for sainthood was opened on June 1, 2001, bestowing on him the title ‘Servant of God’.
In his 51 years of ministry devoted to the Blessed Mother, her Rosary and to families, he conducted 40 Rosary rallies worldwide that drew 28 million people, including two million in 1964 in Brazil and in 1985 in the Philippines. He also produced more than 600 radio and television programs that featured hundreds of Hollywood stars. His famous slogans encapsulate his mission, ‘The family that prays together stays together’ and ‘A world at prayer is a world at peace.’
In 1998, the Fr Peyton CSC Memorial Centre was officially opened and dedicated in Attymass and has since become renowned throughout the world for its commemeration of the life and apostolic work of Fr Peyton.