Father Fred Jenga, C.S.C., Ph.D.        
President, Holy Cross Family Ministries

Honoring Our Past and Re-envisioning Our Future – Part 1

Dear Friends in Christ,

We pray this note finds you all well! We are grateful for your interest and contribution to the work of Holy Cross Family Ministries that continues the work of Venerable Patrick Peyton.

In my last note through this newsletter, I shared with you six guiding principles that I think will be important for Holy Cross Family Ministries as it honors the past while re-envisioning the future. The elements included a renewal of our founding trust in the power of prayer, re-centering the Rosary as our organizing principle, rekindling our missionary spirit to families, giving attention to contextual realities, better stewardship of our resources, and closer collaboration with the Congregation of Holy Cross and the broader Church.

In this edition, I share briefly about two of these guiding principles – the renewal of our founding trust in prayer and the re-centering of the Rosary as our organizing principle.

As you might be aware, the Family Rosary Crusade was founded in gratitude for a healing that then Seminarian Peyton received through the intercession of our Blessed Mother. When dying with tuberculosis and the medical doctors had given up on a healing for Peyton, Father Cornelius Hagerty, C.S.C., challenged the ailing Seminarian Peyton to question himself and find out whether his faith (Peyton’s) was a “sham or a reality?” (Peyton, 2019, All for Her, p.78). Father Hagerty challenged Peyton to renew his faith in the power of prayer, especially through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother. “Our Lady will be as good as you think she is. If you think she is a fifty per-center, that is what she will be; if you think she is a hundred per-center, she will be a hundred per-center”(Peyton, All for Her, 2019, p. 78), Father Hagerty told Seminarian Patrick Peyton. Peyton prayed with conviction through Our Blessed Mother, and he received a healing.

An innocent and, in a sense, radical belief in the power of prayer is what triggered the apostolate we currently have. As an organization, we need to renew our founding trust in the power of prayer and be bold about proposing it to others, especially families.

In the element of re-centering the Rosary as our organizing principle, I am simply proposing a contemporary return to the part of our heritage as an organization. We have always been a Marian organization, and the Rosary is at the center of what it means to be Marian. The Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Paul VI Marialis Cultus(1974, #42, 54) notes that “If the family is to maintain its character as the domestic Church, family prayer needs to be at its center. The Rosary should be considered as one of the most efficacious prayers in common that the Christian family is invited to recite.”

The Rosary is rich in its message, convenient to use, and can speak to people in relatable ways, but it needs to be unpacked. Situating ourselves in the Rosary, we can use the Rosary to do catechesis about our faith, increase love and veneration of Our Blessed Mother, and we can use the different sets of the Mysteries of the Rosary as themes for retreats, days of prayer, or workshops. We can use the Rosary to create entertaining and inspiring faith-based media content for families as well. Re-centering the Rosary and using it as our organizing principle will focus and explain what we do in the areas of faith formation, nurturing the practice of family prayer, alongside other forms of support we provide towards the well-being of families.

In the next edition of the Newsletter, I will briefly share with you the need to rekindle our missionary vision and impulse, and the need to pay attention to the contextual realities of the families we serve.

Together in Mission,

Father Fred Jenga, C.S.C.

Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., looking at statue of Our Lady of Providence in the Albany office, 1950s

Father Fred Jenga, C.S.C., celebrating mass with Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C., and Father Boby John, C.S.C. 

The statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary welcomes all to the Father Peyton Center, N. Easton, MA, USA 

Inspired by our founder, Venerable Patrick Peyton, the Try Prayer! It Works! contest is inspired by Father Peyton’s message: "The family that prays together stays together."

Try Prayer Contest 2023 (familyrosary.org)