Our Bishops Support and Encourage
The America Needs Fatima Rosary Rallies
‘We thank and pray for all of the Rosary volunteers’
We are living at the crossroads of history. Christianity, in general, is suffering the negative consequences of the secularization process as Christian morals are considered no longer relevant in modern society. The devastating effect of this ongoing process is quite noticeable in the increased rates of criminality, divorces, pornography, drug and alcohol addictions, illicit sex, and abortions consented and paid for by our tax dollars. So today, more than ever, we need to keep the Fatima message close to our hearts and show sincere appreciation for America Needs Fatima’s efforts in fostering and promoting Christian values in the family and society in general.
As a Lithuanian bishop, I wish to take this opportunity to once more express sincerest gratitude to TFP for assisting our nation in those critical days prior to the restoration of independence that helped Lithuania achieve full independence and most important religious freedom. The collection of 5,218,520 signatures worldwide in 1990 on behalf of Lithuania was a welcome aid for beleaguered Lithuania.
No worthwhile task can ever be achieved without the dedication of and sacrifice of hardworking volunteers. Thus we thank and pray for all those Rosary volunteers who will give their all to make the America Needs Fatima a huge success and whose efforts will bring many to their senses through the powerful prayer of the Rosary.
The Most Reverend Paul A. Baltakis, O.F.M.,
Bishop for Lithuanian Apostolate (Ret.) Maspeth, N.Y.
‘May God continue to bless and guide you’
. . . I hope the Rosary Rallies meet with your expectations and that people from around the country attend and benefit by the message of Fatima.
May God continue to bless and guide you, especially in your ministry. Please know that you are in my prayers.
The Most Reverend David L. Ricken, D.D., J.C.L.,
Bishop of Cheyenne, Wyo.
‘Congratulations!’
I was very impressed with your letter of August 3, which just arrived in American Samoa. I have turned all the information over to one of my young priests who is the chaplain for our Diocesan Rosary Society. I am sure that he will follow up on the Fatima anniversary.
Please extend my congratulations to all those who are doing so much and are doing such wonderful public witness of their Catholic Faith.
The Most Reverend J. Quinn Weitzel, M.M.,
Bishop of Samoa, Pago Pago
‘I commend all those involved’
Promoting the devotion of the people to the Rosary of Our Lady is a very worthwhile project. In my opinion, the Rosary is responsible for hauling countless souls from the brink of an unhappy eternity. Meditating on the joyful, sorrowful, glorious and luminous mysteries of the Rosary bring us into closer union with Christ, Our Lord, who is our only hope.
I commend all those involved in this apostolate and ask God’s blessing upon them.
The Most Reverend Thomas G. Doran, D.D., J.C.D.,
Bishop of Rockford, Ill.
‘I want to express my support’
I was pleased to read of the success your Rosary Rallies have had throughout our nation. I want to express my support for this initiative and to assure you of remembrance in my prayers.
The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt Coadjutor,
Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minn.
‘I would like to praise and recognize the many volunteers’
I am pleased that you informed me about the Rosary Rally campaign to pray for America on the 90th anniversary of the Fatima apparition. I would like to praise and recognize the many volunteers who have put tremendous effort toward this cause.
I have often preached and encouraged Catholics to pray the Rosary. As I know, specifically many Vietnamese Catholics, continue to pray the Rosary together in the evening as a family.
May Mary, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, bless your effort in promoting this powerful devotion.
The Most Reverend Dominic M. Luon
Auxiliary Bishop of Orange, Calif.
‘The Church is honored and grateful’
Congratulations to the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property and America Needs Fatima, as well as to all the volunteers who contributed to the various Rosary Rallies in honor of the ninetieth anniversary of the Fatima miracle of the sun.
Your strength of faith, your vitality in spirit and your honoring of the Blessed Virgin Mary provide a true witness of hope and recognition of the many blessings God showers upon us every day. For that, the Church is honored and grateful.
Please be assured of my continued prayers and support as you celebrate this experience of God’s love and embark on this journey of witness to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli, S.T.D., S.S.L., D.D. Bishop of Paterson, N.J.
Rally Captains Write In
About Their Rallies
“The Rosary Rally in Hollywood was held in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre at noon. Ten zealous souls showed up. This wasn’t bad at all considering I just decided to lead the rally a week ago.”
On October 13, at high noon, in the Plaza la Constitution across the street from the Cathedral in St. Augustine, Fla., the oldest city in the country, we had about 200 people participating in the Rosary.”
“Here is the picture of the Rosary Rally, with around 300 attending in Kingstree, S.C. We had Mass with Bishop Robert Baker attending, after the Rosary, followed by a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful, faith-filled day!”
“Here are pictures from our Rally in Keene, N.H. God bless you and thank you. By the way, we had about 120 people there."
“Would you like a picture of the rally we held in Marina, Calif.? St. Jude’s Church Healing Prayer Group sponsored this Marian event. Approximately 200 to 300 people attended. Is there a Public Rosary Rally planned for next year? Would like to begin planning ASAP.”
“The Rosary Rally at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Las Vegas was attended by at lease 300 people. It was inspiring, uplifting and the people didn’t seem to want to leave when it was over.”
“Our Rosary Rally in Ridgefield, Conn., was greatly blessed by Our Lord and Our Lady. It was a perfect day with great weather and almost 200 people in attendance. Ave Maria!”
“The Public Rosary held in Fort Wayne, Ind., attracted approximately 150 people, thanks to the support of Bishop John D’Arcy, advertisements in the local Catholic weekly paper and inserts in the bulletins of the parishes in the diocese.”
“Our Rosary Rally was held in front of the Ave Maria Gift Shop in Odessa, Texas. It grew from thirty at the beginning to over fifty at the end. The rally carried over to two hours and twenty minutes because the group wanted to finish the entire Holy Rosary.”
“I am pleased to report that our Rosary Rally was indeed a success! About seventy-five people participated, including our pastor and deacon,” wrote the Rosary Captains from St. Martinsville, La. “We walked along the one-block Main Street Square several times. The Rosaries and prayers were recited using the microphone and broadcast from the speakers in the bell tower. It was very impressive to see and hear.”
“Here are some pictures from the rally at St. Louis’ Gateway Arch on Saturday. We had seventy-five people in attendance, including two priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and four of their pre-seminarian candidates. It rained intermittently during the event. It was truly a blessed event and the enthusiasm for praying the Rosary in public was evident.”
“The temperature was low and the wind had picked up, but more than forty of us were there, strong and joyful. God is good!”
“Even though Alexandria, Ind. is a small town, we had forty-eight people who came to honor Our Blessed Virgin and ask for her intercession for our country.”
“The Public Square Rosary Rally in Wareham, Mass., was in a very public area: the Town Hall’s Common. I had twelve participants counting myself. It was great opportunity to pray for the conversion of sinners in public. I think the Blessed Mother was very happy.”
“Aloha! How do I submit pictures of our Rosary Rally of October 13 here in Hawaii, island of Kauai? We had a fairly good turnout, more than I expected.”
“There were only four of us, but am glad that I was able to participate as a Captain, and would gladly do so again!”
“We only had thirty-five people show for the Rosary but at least 100 cars passed through the intersection at every light in Denhams Springs, La. So thousands were talking about what we were doing.”
“Eleven of us showed up to pray the Rosary at noon, in one of the busiest intersections in Nogales, Ariz. We were completely visible and could not be missed! Please count us as one more Rosary in the Public Square! We answered the call and gave testimony for Our Lady of Fatima.”
“A group of sixty-five people gathered in Niles, Ill., for a program of hymns, prayers and the Holy Rosary. This is one of the busiest intersections and the site of the Niles Veterans Memorial Waterfall, which served as the backdrop.”
“Dozens of Catholic crusaders processed from Our Lady of the Rosary to the nearby Planned Parenthood and FPA abortion mills in Chula Vista, Calif. The long procession with a Lady of Fatima statue and large banners was an impressive public witness. Surely many graces will come from over 2,000 rallies held at the same time across the country.”
“The devil did all he could to attack this public honoring of Our Blessed Lady. Near forty-mile-per-hour winds eventually ripped our banner to pieces except for the image of Our Lady, which was unharmed and was carried in the front of our column as we walked around the public paths. All of these events confirmed this must have been a noble work for Our Lady, she who will crush his head.”
“The morning started with flooding, earth-shattering thunder and the lightning was pretty impressive. There were 11 people. The rain continued, but about fifteen minutes into the Rosary, the sun came out, stayed there and it didn’t rain until we completed the entire Rosary, prayers and songs. All around us we could hear the thunder and see the dark clouds. As soon as we finished and just got the banner rolled up, the rain came down again. All of us kept thinking about the rain at the miracle of the sun. Our Lady took care of those people ninety years ago and she looked out for us too!”
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a Captain. The rally was really wonderful and was held in the Stone Mountain Park in Georgia and the area we chose was very busy.”
“Accounts from the Rally Captains of the Public Rosaries here in Las Vegas express the same feelings and observations. Participants felt so lifted and overcome with joy that they started clapping their hands, praising God, and thanking Our Lady after the prayers. They lingered a while after the rally, just to talk some more about the event.”
“It was a glorious day to pray . . . and we knew we were blessed to gather on such a day to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of the miracle of the dancing sun.”
“It was such a grace to be able to participate in the rally in our small town and we were all blessed. Thank you for providing the opportunity to take part in this movement of the Holy Spirit.”
“It was a wonderful experience and great response from the attendees; they don’t want to stop these Public Rosaries to honor Mary so we will be organizing them periodically from now on.”
“It was an amazing experience . . . thank you for the honor of being a Rally Captain. It was a pleasure. The program went so well . . . and the day was just beautiful. Even the wind felt heavenly.”
“Our Public Square Rosary was a call to live Our Lady’s Fatima message and spread it across America. I feel Her Immaculate Heart was gladdened!”
Oklahoma State University Student Knights of Columbus
“It was indeed a truly spirit-filled afternoon and brought out Holy Boldness in us. A one-of-a-kind experience we would not have experienced without your inspiration. The event makes us want to repeat this yearly or even quarterly whenever it be in Our Lord’s Plan.”
Thomas Square in Honolulu, Hawaii
“To the eyes of earth, nothing dramatic happened today. Thirty-five people gathered in the parking lot of St. Sebastian’s Church, talked and laughed, then processed back and forth on Washington Street between Broad Street and Main Street praying, singing, and answering a few questions from passersby.
The two hours went very quickly—some of us commented on feeling Our Lady’s peaceful presence and we hope to repeat the Public Rosary Rally next month. . . . It is a privilege to be part of a fellowship that unites a joyful spirit ‘in the light of eternity’ with a realistic approach to the spiritual warfare that is a huge element of all human history. Our prayers and devotion to Saint Michael surely played a part, not only in the outward peacefulness of the day, but in victories which we may never know or imagine.”
“It was different this year; more serious and determined. Now we know each other. We gave away a thousand Rosaries. We had more cooperation from the Bishop and more publicity.”
“With help from Our Blessed Mother, the public Rosaries in Las Vegas went very well last October 11 despite the windy conditions and the extraordinary cold weather that day. “More than 20 public Rosaries were held in various parts of the city including in front of abortion clinics, big casinos and hotels, parks and shopping centers, on sidewalks across the Las Vegas Cathedral and other Catholic churches and landmarks, and on busy major intersections.
One was specially organized as a children’s public Rosary and was well attended and led by young children. We saw a tremendous and very moving display of love for Our Blessed Virgin everywhere.”
“Last year our corner had only four people praying the Rosary; this year, close to 25! Our poor country is in deep trouble and our only hope is going to come from heaven.”
“This is the first year this has been held here with success. We had a surprising turnout. As you can see, even our KOC council got involved with the color guard. We are soooooo looking forward to next year!!!”
“My first Public Square Rosary Rally was a success with 50 people showing up. Do you have a date set for the one in 2009? I would like to start working on it now.”
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