Yay! We’re going to pray the Rosary!” one lady shouted. Enthusiasm was tangible in downtown Sacramento, California, as a crowd of over a hundred joyful Catholics gathered to pray the Holy Rosary in front of the State Capitol Building on June 25.
As America faces the coronavirus crisis and the violent riots, the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP) is carrying out a huge campaign to seek Divine help. Since June 2, groups of TFP volunteers have been traveling to every state capital, holding public Rosary rallies asking God for America’s for a return to order.
Rosary Rallies for America
As TFP volunteers began setting up with banners, signs, and a statue of Our Lady of Fatima near the capitol steps, a steady trickle of Catholics arrived on the scene. When the rally began at noon, a large crowd had assembled. Some families came as far away as Modesto and San Diego. Scores of adults and children lined up on the sidewalk brandishing their rosaries. One dad told a TFP volunteer, “We know those red capes. My sons really look up to you.”
A group of university students from the University of California—Davis also showed up. “I’ve protested at Planned Parenthood before,” a student explained. “But you guys have a different vibe. I like it!”
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As the rosary echoed through the streets, young men of the TFP reached out to curious onlookers. One man inquired about the Rosary. He said that “I believe in God and the saving power of Christ, but that prayer is new to me.” The volunteer explained that the crowd was praying the Rosary for America’s return to order. The man was impressed “Everything that’s going on has given me a moment of clarity. When I saw the political system, the media, Hollywood and every major corporation in lockstep, I realized that something major is happening. None of this is an accident.”
One woman was especially excited to be out praying the Rosary. “I’m a convert because of the Rosary. We need more people out here.” She had tried to organize a rally two weeks earlier. “I called our bishop asking for a Rosary rally in Sacramento, but nothing happened. Then I found out that you were doing your Rosary rally, and I was so happy. I want to follow you to each state capital.”
Opposition to the rally was barely apparent. However, some pedestrians brushed past with stone faces of disapproval.
Several TFP members observed a sinister mural on a storefront across the street. The detailed painting depicted scenes of people rioting against the police and carried a sinister revolutionary slogan. It read: “The media is the most powerful entity in the world. It can make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent. It has the power to control the minds of the masses.”
The Rosary rally concluded with over a hundred voices singing the Marian hymn “Salve Regina.” The medieval Gregorian chant melody drifted through the capitol grounds. Many pedestrians paused in wonder and astonishment.
What characterized this rally was a spirit of joy and fervor which animated all who attended. For the grand finale, everyone gathered around the statue of Our Lady of Fatima to take pictures and chant slogans such as “Keep California golden and great! Expel socialism from our state!”
By the grace of Mary most holy, we shall expel socialism and all other evils not only from California but throughout this country so that we will finally be “One nation under God.”