Newspaper Page Text
Father Patrick Peyton
PAGE 9— 1 The Georgia Bulletin, August 2,1984
,1
Double-Sided Sign Sends
Peace Message To Olympics
BY JAMES BACON
Los Angeles Herald Examiner
Dropped out to Family Theater in the heart of
Hollywood to visit with my old Notre Dame classmate,
Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., one of the most remarkable
men I have ever known.
Father Pat wanted to show me a new sign he had
erected for the coming Olympics. On one side of the sign
is the world-famous “The family that prays together stays
together.”
On the other side is the Olympic message - “A world at
prayer is a world at peace.”
Dynamic in its simplicity.
When the Olympic athletes and visitors come here,
Father Pat will be one they all know. He has preached his
Family rosary Crusade in every remote spot in the world
to crowds that have numbered in the millions. His biggest
crowd was in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where 2 million gathered
to hear him preach.
Even in fun-loving Rio de Janeiro where people samba
and sing all night long, he attracted a million souls at a
crusade.
It happened in 1964, and the last time I was in Rio
with Frank Sinatra, people were still talking about it.
I caught Father Peyton just as he was leaving for
Ireland where he will preach at the famous shrine to
Patrick at the Abbey of Knock in his native County Mayo.
This shrine is the oldest continuing church in
Christendom. Mass has been said there every day since the
ninth century.
Remember, I once told you the Irish were saints and
scholars when the rest of Europe were barbarians.
Father Pat, in his quiet, sincere way, is the greatest
salesman I have ever known. Had he sold automobiles or
insurance, he would have been a millionaire many times
over.
He jupt sells devotion to Mary, the Mother of Christ,
which makes you rich only in spirit.
How he launched Family Theater defies credulity to
this day but Bing Crosby once confirmed to me how
Father Pat did it.
Early, Father Pat saw the value of mass communication
in spreading his message. He had a weekly radio program
in Albany, N.Y., in which he recited the rosary.
He decided to go national and walked into the
glass-walled offices of the Mutual Broadcasting Co. in
Manhattan and asked for a free half-hour of network radio
time.
Everybody told him the rosary was bad radio.
But he walked out of there with a half-hour of national
radio time for Mothers Day,May 13,1945.
The network people said he should get a big Hollywood
star to be on the program. He asked who was the biggest
star in Hollywood. Everybody said Bing Crosby, who had
just won an Oscar for playing a priest.
This is hard to believe, especially if you know how
elusive Crosby was in those days even to studio executives
and the press.
Father Pat picked up a phone, dialed the operator and
said: “I would like to speak to Bing Crosby in Hollywood,
California.”
CT. JOHN BAPTISTE MARIE VIANNEY
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ATTENDED CLASSES WITH STUDENTS
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HIS SERMONS ATTRACTED PEOPLE '
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PEOPLE CAME THAT HE SPENT UP TO
18 HOURS A DAY IN THE CONFESSIONAL. A-W
JOHN INTRODUCED FREQUENT
HOLY COMMUNION ANP PIOUS SODALITIES.
HE CONDEMNED DANCING IN THE TAVERNS
ANP STREETS ANP FOSTERED DEVOTION
TO MARY.
ST. JOHN VIANNEY IS PATRON SAINT
OF PARISH PRIESTS, AND HIS FEAST
PAY IS AUG. 4.
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MARY BETH MARINO
Father Pat with his Irish charm got the operator to
locate Bing, who was making “Bells of St. Mary’s.” He
couldn’t come to the phone but promised to call as soon
as he could.
Bing called Father Pat back within an hour.
“This is Bing Crosby,” crooned that famous voice.
“Thanks be to God,” said Father Peyton. “I’m a priest
in Albany. Will you do something for the Blessed Virgin
Mary?”
Bing later told me he said “yes” before he knew what
he was saying.
“I had a feeling that if I turned him down, it would
snow in my living room,” Bing said.
So it happened on May 13, 1945, that Bing Crosby
along with Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Sullivan of Waterloo,
Iowa, prayed the rosary on the first Family Theater
network broadcast.
The Sullivans had lost five sons when the crusier Juneau
was sunk by the Japanese in World War II.
After that, Family Theater, with a format of uplifting
dramatic shows, became a weekly fixture of the Mutual
Broadcasting System. Practically every big star in
Hollywood performed free for the unassuming priest.
And when television came in, Father Pat got into that
with such big names as Princess Grace and Pope John Paul
II praying the rosary.
Soon big backers like Conrad Hilton and the Hearst
Foundation began to help finance his crusades.
Little has changed at Family Theater since those days
except that they now have to keep the doors locked.
Hollywood is a dangerous neighborhood at times.
TELEVISION
The MASS will be celebrated by Monsignor Noel
Burtenshaw on Sunday, August 5 and Sunday, August 12
at:
5:30 a.m. on WSB-TV (Channel 2).
10 a.m. on WVEU-TV (Channel 69) on UHF.
10:30 a.m. on AIB CABLE.*
The choir is from Holy Spirit under the direction of
Ray Lerer. The lector is Julie Houser.
CHRISTOPHER CLOSE-UP: “Industrial Peacemaker”
Called the “Michelangelo of collective bargaining,”
mediator Theodore Kheel, tells hosts Father John Catoir
and Jeanne Glynn how labor and management can work
together for the good of all. Interpreted in Sign Language
by Carol Tipton. Monday, August 6 at 8 p.m. on AIB
CABLE*
“People and Pets” - The enduring bond between
people and pets is described by Susan Cohen of the
Animal Medical Center and John Kullberg of the
American Society for the Prevention of Curelty to
Animals. Jeanne Glynn and Father John Catoir co-host.
Interpreted in Sign Language. Monday, August 13 at 8
p.m. on AIB CABLE.*
INSIGHT: Monday, August 6 and Monday, August 13
at 8:30 p.m. on AIB CABLE *
MOTHER ANGELICA TALKS IT OVER: Wednesday,
August 8 and Wednesday, August 15 at 9 p.m. on AIB
CABLE*
AMERICAN CATHOLIC: “Personal Relationship with
Jesus” - A Christian says Father John Powell, S.J. is
someone who not only follows the teachings of Jesus, but
actually has a personal relationship with Him. He suggests
that this relationship is not something we can will, but can
be encouraged and sustained through an open dialogue
with Jesus. In a candid interview, a family describes how
they found hope and strength through Christ in their
struggle against alcoholism. Wednesday, August 8 at 9:30
p.m. on AIB CABLE.*
“Christians are a Pilgrim People” - Father John Powell
discusses how our life is a Christian pilgrimage.
Wednesday, August 15 at 9:30 p.m. on AIB CABLE.*
*(AIB CABLE is your interfaith channel on Cable
Channel 8 in Alpharetta, Atlanta, College Park, DeKalb
East Point and North DeKalb.)
RADIO
LIGHT YOUR HEART: Weekly radio production of
Sacred Heart Program, Inc. on Sun. at 6 a.m. on WPLO
(590 AM).
RELIGION-WISE: A weekly look at the news through
the eyes of religion with Monsignor Noel Burtenshaw,
Rabbi Don Peterman of Congregation Beth Shalom and
Dr. Ted Baehr, president of Good News Publication. They
will discuss the week’s happenings on Sun. at 6 a.m. and
9:30 p.m. on WGST (92AM).
About Books:
“Thursday's Children" Boy Who Loves Ballet
THURSDAY’S CHILDREN, by Rumer Golden.
The Viking Press (New York, 1984), 249 pp..
$15.95.
REVIEWED BY RUTH ANN HANLEY
NC News Service
It’s hard to be objective about “Thursday’s
Children.”
It has a lilt. Like “The Sound of Music,” it leaves
one smiling.
The story is child-centered. Doone Penny, the
sixth child of an English greengrocer, came just a
mite late, too late to be wanted. And worse than
that, he came equipped with a talent that would not
sit down and be stilled.
Once again Rumer Godden, a veteran novelist,
explore the feelings and complexities of a
little-appreciated child. How incredible that this
child who put a strain on the house (not enough
room) and the time (not getting up for this one;
he’ll fall back asleep) had to add another strain.
How could he dare to pull the limelight from his
lovely and spoiled older sister Crystal and compete
with her in her chosen field of ballet. Boys and
ballet seems a bit ludicrous to his mother, and even
his father, usually in his corner, sees this dancing as
sissy.
But despite his parents’ denial, when Doone feels
within himself the stirring of music and dance, he
responds as naturally as a flower to sunlight.
Enthusiastic, unspoiled and of honest
temperament, he gathers the help he needs from an
assortment of appreciative friends.
From a handyman to the grande dame of the
concert hall, they are as enthralled by him as the
reader will be.
There’s no point looking for flaws in a story this
well-written and engaging. It tugs at the heart, and
it’s sure to please readers of all ages from
grandmother to the youngster in junior high.
Ms. Hanley is a free-lance journalist and author of
articles for both the Catholic and secular press.)