The rosary was a nightly ritual in our house as I grew up. My father was ever-faithful to it, my mother somewhat less so.
Saying the rosary in the company of my father was sometimes an unpredictable affair. It was my father who gave out the rosary and maintained a serious tone… most of the time.
Saying the rosary seemed to present him with the opportunity to reflect on the day. If there was something in there that amused him, he often gave way to chuckling about it during the rosary. If he started to chuckle, we all began to chuckle. This breakdown would usually happen in the aftermath of a testing occurrence during the day - a thieving cow or rain on a field of dry hay. It was only in the meditation of the rosary that he relaxed enough to see the fun, or folly, in something he might have said or done earlier. I always felt it was his way of saying sorry.
Our dog, Rover, arrived in our house as a troubled teenager. Reports were that he was boisterous and willful but with a strong instinct for driving cattle. It was also reported that he came from a family of different faith to our own. In order to acclimatise Rover to his new home, he was kept in our kitchen for that first night.
When the rosary started, Rover started. He whined and howled and pawed at the base of the door in an attempt to leave the room. My father’s response, the turf box being his nearest source of missiles, was to intermittently pelt the dog with sods in an effort to convert him to Catholicism. Hail Mary, bang! Holy Mary, wallop! Rover eventually calmed down. I am not sure whether he was converted by the Hail Marys or the hail of sods but after a few nights, he slept happily in his own shed.
The Rosary Priest
I take the road from Foxford towards Swinford and, as I travel along, I spot the sign for the Fr Peyton Centre in Attymass. The approach from this side takes me through the foothills of the Ox Mountains on an ever-decreasing road network.
I imagine coming upon the centre in the middle of nowhere but am pleasantly surprised when the narrow roads widen into the village of Attymass. There, the Fr Peyton Centre presents itself as an oasis of calm, surrounded by the sounds of family and nature.
I quickly get a feel for the place and so my Fr Peyton story begins to unfold. According to the centre’s own information, Patrick Peyton (1909-1992), was born just outside Attymass in Co Mayo, on January 9th, 1909, and the centre provides a very real link to his life and lasting legacy, as this introduction states:
Seeking a spiritual pilgrimage? Our peaceful and serene atmosphere, surrounded by breath-taking mountains and lakes, sets the perfect backdrop for prayer and reflection. This destination is a must-see for anyone intrigued by the life and enduring legacy of Venerable Patrick Peyton.
Simple origins
An American information website, fatherpeyton.com, expands on his family background and his interest in becoming a priest.
Patrick's father's dominant quality was his 'Spirit of Faith' and he practiced this faith each night by kneeling and leading the family in the Rosary. A farmer from a nearby village needed help picking potatoes. While staying with them, Patrick realised that this family is different than his, as there is no 'Spirit of Faith' and no Family Rosary. Patrick decided to share his love for Mary and the Family Rosary with this family and they begin to pray the Rosary nightly.
At the age of nine one of Patrick’s friends, John Barrett, arranged for him to serve Mass. This was a high honor in his parish and Patrick’s desire to become a priest began to form. From age nine to age 17, Patrick’s desire to become a priest grew with each retreat and talk given at St. Joseph Parish in Attymass. However, his applications to the seminary were rejected and he refocuses on a career.
In 1927, aged 18, Patrick decided that he wanted to go to the United States. He already had family members in America: three sisters in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Acquiring his father’s consent to leave home was the hard part. His father agreed that he and his brother, Tom, could make the trip to America and live with their sisters on one condition: “Go down on your knees and make me a promise here before the picture of the Sacred Heart. From now on there will be nobody but yourself to advise you and to decide for you. But your first responsibility will always be to save your soul, and so I want you to promise to be faithful to Our Lord in America.”
While playing with the idea of becoming a successful businessman, Patrick still harboured ambitions of becoming a priest. According to fatherpeyton.com, he and his brother Tom were eventually given the opportunity to get the education they needed to go on to study for the priesthood.
With great joy, in 1929, Patrick and Tom entered Holy Cross Minor Seminary at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. In June 1932, at the age of 23, Patrick and Tom graduated and began the novitiate at Holy Cross. This was an intensive year of spiritual exercises that included living with and learning about the Congregation of Holy Cross. They professed their temporary vows with Holy Cross in 1933 and started studying for a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Notre Dame.
Patrick’s ambitions seemed doomed again when during his final year in the seminary, he got tuberculosis. He became very sick and his medical team gave him little hope of recovery. It was about this time that his deep faith began to manifest itself. Patrick had a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary and so he began to pray to her for healing and recovery. To the amazement of his doctors, his prayers were answered, and his health began to improve. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 15th, 1941.
The Power of Radio
Giving thanks for his miraculous recovery, Fr Peyton pledged to bring Family Prayer to ten million homes in America by urging people to say the rosary each night as he had done at home in Attymass in the early 1900s. He believed that family was the cornerstone of society and that prayer was the key to family unity. He was also aware that more and more families were gathering around their new radio sets at that time. He spotted the advantage of this medium and quickly applied it to his crusade. Using the power of radio, he soon brought his message to the airwaves through his popular radio show.
Fr Peyton presented hundreds of radio and television shows with many of the famous movie stars of the day, including Bing Crosby. These Broadway and Hollywood personalities helped to spread his message of 'Family Prayer'. This was a very clever move on his part: blending the popular with traditional.
During his prayer crusade years, Fr Peyton is estimated to have addressed over 26 million people. His single biggest gathering of people was in Manila in 1985 where he addressed two million people. His famous call to prayer was: “The family that prays together stays together.”
Legacy
For those of you who might like to know more about The Rosary Priest, there is of course the Fr Peyton Centre in Attymass, as well as the previously mentioned fatherpeyton.com website and there is even a full-length 2020 documentary, Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton.
Fr Patrick Peyton died on June 3, 1992, in Los Angeles, California. His final words were “Mary, my Queen, my Mother".