Separated by a long police barrier, two groups representing two different worlds assembled at Davis Square on the frigid afternoon of Saturday, December 7, in Somerville, Mass. What was about to take place?
The Somerville Theater was about to present a lesbian version of the Christmas story. We had come to peacefully protest against what we considered to be a most blatant mockery of the Holy Family. To our knowledge, not even Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia had gone so far.
The offending theater performance was called Jesus Has Two Mommies, a portrayal that shows the Child Jesus born to two lesbians, and thus mocks the idea of the Virgin Birth, the virginity of Holy Mary, and the traditional conception of the Holy Family. The “rock opera” casts Mary and “Josephine” who carry on a supposed affair at a lesbian bar.
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There were plenty of reporters on the scene to interview ANF Director Robert Ritchie
The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and its América Needs Fatima campaign responded to the play with a nationwide campaign of prayer and peaceful protest. The American TFP asked 200,000 Catholics from across America to send protest postcards to the Somerville Theater. Many also sent email messages, letters, telephone calls, and faxes to express their complete rejection of Jesus Has Two Mommies.
The TFP also organized our protest in front of the theater. For those who could not make it to Boston, the TFP website promoted an “e-rally” where protesters from around the world sent emails to the theater expressing their desire to be with the protesters in spirit. Nearly 1,000 protesters sent in their protest over the weekend.
Our Saturday afternoon prayer vigil and rally of reparation in front of Somerville Theater marked the conclusion of the campaign.
Protesters were pleased to know that the campaign’s impact had influenced the producers’ decision to cancel the two showings on Friday night, December 6. Reduced ticket sales from the negative publicity prompted promoters to ask the play’s fans to attend the Saturday performances.
Anyone crossing Davis Square in Somerville at 3 pm would have witnessed an intriguing sight. Two very different groups were gathering at the same time. They were separated by more than a stretch of asphalt. They were separated by what seemed to be an infinite distance that extends into eternity.
On one side of the square, under the serene protection of Our Lady’s Pilgrim Virgin Fatima Statue, there was 18-foot tall red and golden crusader standard of the American TFP, with its heraldic lion. A huge banner also displayed our rejection for the show. Around the Blessed Mother, more than 120 devoted Catholics braved the cold, praying the Rosary and singing hymns and carols to honor the Infant Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. Faithful America Needs Fatima members came from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, and even Michigan.
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A small counter-protest crowd gathered in favor of the pro-homosexual play
Across the street, about thirty people gathered under a “rainbow flag,” and the flag of equality (a flag with an equal sign). Besides obviously pro-homosexual protesters, there were the normal smattering of liberals and arts patrons that frequent such upscale neighborhoods. Someone in favor of Jesus Has Two Mommies inexplicably gathered signatures for a petiton against “hate.” It was not clear what he meant by “hate” since those praying and singing across the street were expressing their love of God and His Mother and their desire that sinners convert.
If anything was hateful, it was the man who led the fans of Jesus Has Two Mommies. This agitator was no novice in the art of propaganda. He knew enough about the Catholic Church to know what would offend the protesters.
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The ring-leader of the counter-protest wore a devil’s mask and shouted slogans such as “God is dead!”
In an attempt to highlight the impact of his blasphemies and to discourage the protesters, this agitator put on a hideous devil’s mask. This tragic-comic gesture, however, did not diminish the fervor of Our Lady’s children, nor did it do much to inspire his own crestfallen followers.
While protesters prayed the rosary, he shouted blapshemies against God, Our Lady and the Catholic Church between Hail Mary’s with his bullhorn. In times past, he would have immediately been arrested for public obscenity and for breaking all boundaries of decency and morality. He also screamed provokingly: “Give up, give up! Your God is dead!” and “Jesus lost. Jesus lost!”
However, some participants noticed that he lost concentration when the Ave Maria was sung through the TFP loudspeaker. In truth, his insults only increased the fervor and devotion of those praying and singing hymns of reparation. A six-year-old boy who attended the prayer vigil with his family, later told his father “I think the devil man is going to Hell. He has to stop. He has to go away.”
Exhausting all his mockeries, this imprudent man uttered the supreme challenge to God: “If God is so powerful, may He strike me down right now!” He acted as if he had the power to oblige Almighty God to do his will, even if it be to destroy him! We know that rarely does God intervene on earth in spectacular ways since this would render our Faith meritless. That is why Our Lady’s defenders, nourished by true Faith, ignored him. God has an eternity to reward those who love Him and to punish those who offend Him on this earth.
Frustrated by his ineffectiveness, the agitator and his pro-homosexual followers disappeared.
The prayer vigil continued – calmly and peacefully. It was dark and extremely cold at the close of the TFP-led rally. After Catholics had finished the fifteen decades of the Holy Rosary and sung many Christmas carols, they lit candles and gathered to venerate the Infant Jesus enthroned on a small bed of pine branches and decorated with dozens of poinsettias. There in the silence of the hostile public square the Christ Child was adored by fervant souls. It was a beautiful moment.
The prayer vigil ended at the feet of the Infant Jesus and Our Lady’s Pilgrim Virgin Statue. It was one more victorious spiritual battle in the ongoing struggle between the followers of Lucifer and the children of Mary.
With ever greater fervor, the TFP and America Needs Fatima members present vowed to renew the spiritual crusade against blasphemy. The contrast between the two opposing groups gave special meaning to the Bible passage: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed” (Genesis 3:13-15).