Our Blessed Mother cares deeply about us, her children. Mary intercedes for us as we pray, bringing our petitions to her Son. One of the ways we can connect our prayers with Mary’s is through reciting the Rosary, a powerful prayer and devotion for many Catholics.
Each Sunday morning after 10 a.m. Mass, a group gathers at the front steps of our cathedral. Rosaries in hand, the parishioners pray the Glorious Mysteries, typically alternating between English and Spanish whenever possible.
Patrick McCormick and John Fairbanks help facilitate the gathering.
“We try and get five people to directly participate in leading a decade,” Patrick says. “The general audience varies from a handful to 20 or 25.”
John along with his friend, Charlie Rush, who has since moved to Tennessee, was looking forward to the church opening again after the COVID-19 pandemic forced church closures.
“It seemed to us like the laws would allow for the parish to be able to celebrate Mass inside instead of sitting on lawn chairs outside in the plaza or sitting alone at home and watching it on a tiny screen,” John says.
They decided to begin praying the Rosary for two intentions — the opening of the church and an end to abortion.
“The first Rosary was scheduled for Valentine’s Day 2021, which fell on a Sunday,” John says. “As fate would have it, the church opened that Sunday. So the Rosary slimmed down to a single intention — the end of abortion.”
The Rosary gatherings provide the space for our parish community to come and pray for a united intention. Doing so before (or after) Mass means parishioners need not travel any extra distance to participate.
“This is a great opportunity because we are all going to be there anyway to attend Mass,” Patrick says. “So the 10 a.m. churchgoers can stay after 20 minutes and the 12 p.m. churchgoers come a little early to church to pray.”
“I like the idea of a tightly knit parish and nothing builds community like praying together,” John says.
The Rosary gathering is sponsored by the Cathedral Knights, the Cathedral ACTS ministry as well as the Cathedral Pro-Life group. All are welcome to join in praying the Rosary on the Cathedral steps each Sunday around 11:15 a.m.
For more information, contact John Fairbanks at john@capitolmr.com.
