Father Peyton speaking at a Rally in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, September 12, 1949
I do believe that for the family as a unit – praying together – there is no prayer quite like the Family Rosary. We pray the prayer that Jesus gave us. It reminds us we are all children of the one Father. We pray the prayer addressed to Mary, a prayer gift of the Holy Spirit Himself. When these prayers are prayed in the family circle they have new power to reach the throne of the eternal Father. Prayed daily they create the domestic church – the family church – because in them there is no measure of human selfishness but only the direct expression of the prayerful will of the Holy Spirit. These prayers advance the kingdom of God as no other prayers do.
I know there are many who would like to introduce the Family Rosary into their home life, but are shy and hesitant about how to get it started. Sometimes a father comes home after work too tired to want to lead the prayer; or sometimes a good mother will say, “I’m so distracted and just wish there were someone to lead us…” Statements like this inspired me many years ago to begin praying the Rosary on radio – to bring the Rosary through radio into the homes. Families were asked to take part in these programs. Even celebrities such as Bing Crosby, Gregory Peck and Loretta Young readily accepted to lead the Rosary. As people listened they joined in.
How beautifully God provides modern inventions to help us if only we will use them the way He wants us to.
Where did I get this message that I have proclaimed night and day in all continents of the world over these past thirty-seven years? Where did I receive this message that I share with you who reads this now? I found it and heard it not in the great libraries, nor at the feet of scholars, nor in the halls of universities, nor from priests. No, I discovered the worth of the Rosary, the priceless treasure that it is, in the simple home of my father and mother, the home where I was born and into which I was welcomed, brought up and reared. There, when I opened my eyes as a little one and began to notice, I saw the greatest sight a child could see; I heard the most beautiful sounds and sentences a child could hear; I saw my father kneeling with Rosary beads in his hands; I saw my mother doing the same, with my older bothers and sisters imitating her.
This, dear readers, was my home. This was my spiritual supper. In this atmosphere I grew, my faith was nourished, my love for God and man expanded. This is where I learned the meaning and reality of the words that I would be privileged to bring to families of every faith across our world, “The family that prays together stays together.”