WASHINGTON — On Sunday, Oct. 9, a eucharistic procession will make its way from St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., to the National Mall not far from the U.S. Capitol, where a rosary rally will be held to offer prayers for a nation that participants say is under spiritual attack.
The procession, which begins at 2 p.m., kicks off the annual Rosary Coast to Coast initiative that unites thousands of Catholics across the country who will gather to pray the rosary together.
The event will be livestreamed here.
While these “prayer warriors” won’t form an actual physical chain across the continental United States, they will be united in praying for the nation.
“Our Lady certainly was adamant at both Fatima and Lourdes that the faithful pray the rosary daily. It’s a kind of a weapon waged against the evils of Satan that work in the world,” Monsignor Charles Pope, pastor of Holy Comfort and St. Cyprian Church on Capitol Hill, told CNA.
“We’ve got to set loose some grace in the middle of a world that’s really quite literally, in many ways, gone mad, with all this crazy talk of transgenderism, and all these things that are just madness,” said Msgr. Pope, who is scheduled to speak at the National Rosary Rally.
Sister Deirdre Byrne of the Sisters of the Little Workers of the Sacred Heart in Washington, D.C., will also be addressing the rally. A surgeon and retired U.S. Army colonel, she stepped onto the world stage with her pro-life address at the Republican National Convention in 2020, where she referred to the rosary as her “weapon of choice.”
“We can clearly see that we are in a battle between Our Lord and the devil,” Sister Byrne told CNA. The battle, she said, is “ramping up and getting worse.”
“The highlight of Our Lord’s victory just recently with the overturning of Roe v. Wade has ended abortion. It’s just gone into the states’ hands, but that vote seemed to ramp up the devil’s anger,” she said.
“Our Blessed Mother has given us this gift and powerful weapon that is gentle yet powerful to help fight the evil that’s in the world today,” Sister Byrne said.
The Rosary Coast to Coast initiative makes clear on its website that the National Rosary Rally is not a political event. That won’t stop Sister Bryne and others in attendance from praying for the souls of elected officials.
She suggests praying a “Patriotic Rosary” for politicians “who say they’re Catholic, but they’re not living their Catholic faith. This president is saying that it’s a sad day in America now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, but what Catholic would say that?”
“We pray, because I’m not only pro-life, I’m pro-eternal life, and I want the president to go to heaven. I want to go to heaven, and I want him to join me in heaven. And so the best way to try to make that happen is to beg Our Lady and Our Lord to help them to convert back to their faith, to live their true Catholic faith and to be able to be true supporters of life from the natural life, from the womb to the tomb,” she said.
The event follows a 54-day Novena for Our Nation and coincides with the end of the International Week of Prayer and Fasting.
In addition to Sister Byrne and Msgr. Pope, the event’s speakers include Bishop Joseph L. Coffey of the Archdiocese of the Military Services, USA; David Carollo, executive director of the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA – Our Lady’s Blue Army; Father Richard Heilman, president of Holy League and founder of U.S. Grace Force; Father Stephen Imbarrato, a well-known pro-life activist, and Doug Barry, founder of Radix – Battle Ready.
At 2:45 p.m., participants at the rally by the Capitol as well as those at rallies across the country will begin to pray the Glorious Mysteries of the rosary. The Rosary Coast to Coast initiative suggests that people pray for “respect for life at all stages of development, especially the unborn; the sanctity of marriage and families based upon God’s creation of man and woman; upholding constitutionally protected religious freedom; and the return of our nation to God and holiness.”
To find a rosary rally near you, visit the interactive map at the Rosary Coast to Coast website.