After the the success of the 2010 Rosary Rallies, we sent a survey to Our Lady’s 6,000 rally captains to gather feedbacks and repercussions on how to better prepare for next year’s rallies.
It would be impossible to record all responses here so a few excerpts suffice to reveal a cross-section of the respondents’ attitude and feelings about the importance and relevance of the rallies. There were several reasons given why captains opted to participate and many were strikingly similar.
Devotion to Our Lady
An overwhelming majority of captains cite devotion to the Rosary and the Blessed Mother especially under the invocation of Our Lady of Fatima as the motivating factor behind their efforts to organize the rally.
“I did it as a gift to Our Lady for her birthday.”
“It's a privilege to honor our Mother,”
“Our Catholic identity is at an all time low here in the US. Few young people are known to say the Rosary, or have any kind of devotion to Our Lady. She is a powerful advocate and we need to give her the honor due her.”
“I believe in praying the Rosary together and to persuade as many as possible to pray the Rosary together. I believe it's the only way we'll have peace, freedom and God's blessing.”
“When I received the email invitation, I thought: My Blessed Mother has always been there for me and my family. I need to show my love for her publicly, AND more importantly, we need her continued love, support, and intercessions.”
“I feel great love, loyalty, confidence, and trust in our Blessed Mother. I owe her that much and more for her intercession throughout my life. I want to spread the praying of the Rosary.”
The sense of being called
“I felt that Our Lady called me!”
“The Blessed Mother asks for Rally Captains and I could not refuse her.”
“To honor Our Lady who I feel was calling me to do it. Thank you for spearheading this whole project.”
“I think the Holy Spirit helped me decide to do Rosary Rally. Before, I tried to ignore your letters and emails asking to be a Rally Captain. Then it always comes back into mind about doing a Rosary Rally until I finally decided to do it for the sake of our Blessed Mother.”
“Never heard of the public square rosary before and as I clicked on to the form for rally captain, I suddenly found myself filling out the form. I think Mary just called me to do it. I was happy with the response I got and would do it again next year.”
“I felt our Mother's call when I read about it.”
“Felt a strong desire to lead a rosary in the public square.”
“I kept trying to ignore e-mails but, I felt our Blessed Mother was really persistent in wanting me to do this, so I did and was very glad.”
“I felt called to do this. I had not even noticed the materials you sent in previous years but this year, the compulsion to do this was impossible to ignore.”
Hesitant at first
Some were timid and wavering but…,
“When you are called by our Lord and his Mother all you can do is respond, or ignore the call. I'm not able to say no to our Heavenly Mother.”
“I felt I was being called by Our Blessed Mother. I could not refuse her although I was, as I used to in the past 3 years, always hesitant and afraid.”
“I believe it is needed now and because you asked me and I really wanted to do it. I was kind of scared at first but after talking to some people I realized it was what God wanted me to do.”
The Need for Public Prayer
Many feel that Catholics need to show their Faith and praying in public makes this more evident. One respondent wrote that rosary rallies, “publicly help others see that faith and prayer matter.”
“I saw your email and it rang a bell in my heart and I immediately felt called to participate. It is and will be again, a fine idea, to put prayer into the public square, and call prayer to the attention of those passing by.”
“I really do believe that America needs Fatima now, as the country turns its back on God more and more. I believe that we can make a difference as the Blessed Mother hears and answers our prayers, especially in public.”
“A simple way to encourage our Catholic community to express their faith in a public way.”
Our Country Need Prayers, Too
A good number also cited the need to pray for the conversion of America.
“I think the idea of many public rosary rallies at the same time all over the U.S. makes a statement that praying the Rosary for our country is important.”
“I'm concerned that our country is drifting away from God.”
“Our nation needs to change the path it is currently on. We need to turn back to our Lord and repent of the many sins of our nation (i.e. abortion, homosexuality). The rosary rally brings a greater awareness to the community in which we live.
“Spread the devotion of to our holy Mother and ask for Her intercession to save the nation.”
Willingness to participate
“Because our country needs it [the rosary rally] so much, and if not me, then who? I need to be willing before I can expect anyone else to be willing.”
“It was a personal commitment to Our Lord and Our Lady to do whatever I can to bring honor and praise to them.”
“I received an email, and it just seemed like the right thing to do.”
“It was an offer from America needs Fatima which I willingly accepted. I have a great devotion to Blessed Lady.”
“In 2007 it seemed like the thing to do, and I still believe that.”
Concerns over the sad state of affairs of our nation and the world
It is quite palpable that many captains perceive the uncertainty of our times and the impending chaos that will ensue if men do not make an effort to amend their lives.
“I have looked at the world and Our Lady's words at Fatima and know that I can not sit by the side line any longer.”
“Too much violence is happening here in the border towns. We live in a city that needs to see what our religion is doing for our community and the whole world. We are all living a life that is not acceptable by our Mother Mary.”
“For a very long time, I have felt that the world seemed to be spiraling to hell.”
“We are passing thru difficult times in our country because people has forgotten God and we need to spread the rosary.”
Grace and inspiration to act
“I think the Holy Spirit helped me decide to do Rosary Rally. Before, I tried to ignore your letters and emails asking to be a Rally Captain. Then it always comes back into mind about doing a Rosary Rally until I finally decided to do it for the sake of our Blessed Mother.”
“Never heard of the public square rosary before and as I clicked on to the form for rally captain, I suddenly found myself filling out the form. I think Mary just called me to do it. I was happy with the response I got and would do it again next year.”
“I received your invitation at a time when I was asking myself if I was investing my time wisely for the Lord....and that maybe I could do more. I never attempted anything like this before, I am not a leader, but you make it so simple.”
“I was asked by another rally captain to do it but was unsure. I prayed about it and made the decision to do it. It was a blessing I am glad I did do it. We surely felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.”
“I felt it was the right thing to do...cannot explain it, but everything fell in place.”
Reparation and conversion
“To offer reparation and to pray for conversions.”
“For conversion of so many church going but nominal Catholics, who are not catechized on church teachings, even on the Holy Eucharist itself.”
“The need of reparation to our God Who is so grievously offended by the sins of man.”
“I decided that it was time to publicly declare my support for Our Lady and to make reparation for the many ways that she and her Son are blasphemed and offended every day.”
If you would like to become a rosary rally captain in 2011, please fill out the advance registration form on our website at:
http://www.americaneedsfatima.org/PSRR-Articles/2010rrc-signup.html
