Rosary Crusade Fountain Square, Cincinnati, Ohio October 12, 2013

by Pat Ashcraft

We commenced the 7^th annual Rosary Crusade in Cincinnati on a spectacular fall afternoon, with bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. We were just one of some 50 Crusades taking place throughout the metro area.

There were over 11,000 Rosary Crusades scheduled world-wide on this date, in recognition of the 96^th anniversary of the Marian Apparitions at Fatima, which culminated with the incredible Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917.

While the overall focus of our Crusade in Cincinnati this year was the encouragement of families to pray the Rosary daily as requested by Our Lady at Fatima, we directed much of our attention to that part of the Fatima message that seems to have been forgotten, if not ignored. The Fatima message contains great hope for mankind, but Our Lady also warned of a severe chastisement if Russia was not consecrated to her Immaculate Heart and if we did not repent and turn our lives back to God.

As for attendance, 400 – 425 people joined us on Fountain Square, which is the heart of the metro area of Cincinnati. Our Crusade commenced with the 4^th Degree Knights of Columbus processed onto the Square with Bishop Joseph Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati; Fr. Cyril Whitaker, S.J.; Fr. Andre-LaCasse, O.P.; and Deacon Amado Lim.

In addition to the outstanding homily on Marian devotion and the riveting talk on the chastisement, we also prayed the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary and the Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Latin Mass Community Schola, headed by Mrs. Fatima Spoor, with musical accompaniment by Mr. Ric Aielli, led us in traditional Marian hymns, closing the Crusade with “Holy God we Praise thy Name.” We also consecrated our lives to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and received a special blessing from Bishop Binzer. While hesitating to speak for others, we personally felt there was something uniquely special about the Crusade this year, with an unusual feeling of blessings, but also a particularly strong underlying sense of the urgency of the Fatima message in our lives today.

We took the opportunity of the Crusade to promote the American TFP’s recent book, Return to Order, by Mr. John Horvat, and were able to distribute about 125 copies of the book, along with numerous Marian periodicals and sacramentals.

As in past years, a DVD of historic Marian images was on display before and after the Crusade on a 30’ x 42’ video screen across from the Square.

We closed the day with a late luncheon at our home for Crusade supporters and workers, as we started strategic planning for next year’s event on October 11, 2014.