Editor’s note: this is the third of a four-part series by Michelle Iurman, founder and director of Full of Grace Productions, on her “calling” for a major motion film production titled All For Her. Based on the autobiography and heroic life of Venerable (Fr.) Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., whose prayerful slogan was “The Family That Prays Together Stays Together,” the film will feature the famous Rosary priest’s unfailing devotion to the Blessed Mother. This film will include and reveal how the forgotten “Canadian connection” was providential for the fruition of Fr. Peyton’s saintly mission. 

Upon arriving home to London, Ont., from the Big Apple after turning down what was supposed to be my “big break” into showbiz, my dear parents knew that I was completely discouraged because it all came down to compromising my soul for fame. 

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Reality set in even further when a job offer came only a few days after my arrival (considering the fact that I hadn’t even told my friends yet that I was coming home), and the job was in music ministry at a downtown church named St. Mary’s — now I really felt like I was going backwards fast! 

In her wisdom, my dear Mom handed me a worn out paperback book with what looked like half the face of Our Blessed Mother, and the title All For Her written on the front cover. She asked me if I had ever heard of Fr. Patrick Peyton. I was barely listening but responded “no,” as I was hoping that that would be the end of the conversation. But in truth it was just the beginning. 

My Mom continued and asked me if I ever heard of the slogan, “The Family That Prays Together Stays Together,” and about the worldwide Family Rosary Crusades and Rallies? I had but she informed me that the very first one was held in our diocese after the idea for a Rosary Crusade was given to Fr. Peyton by the priests at St. Mary’s Church when he preached a Triduum there in November 1947. I was shocked and wondered why I had never heard of this Canadian story before — which is the very same reaction I get from the majority of people I talk to today about Fr. Peyton.  

My Mom then told me three things: that the book was Fr. Peyton’s autobiography, that I was going to do something special with it and to take the job at St. Mary’s Church. I somehow knew in my heart before even reading his book that I was going to do a film on his life. And that was how my life collided with Fr. Patrick Peyton — our two paths crossed because Our Lady had a special reason for this to happen!

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While reading his book I was truly touched about how in gratitude, this holy and humble Irish priest, who had a miraculous healing of tuberculosis through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, wanted to devote his priestly life to promoting the strengthening of family life through the daily prayer of the Family Rosary. 

I was amazed how a national broadcast on the radio in New York City in 1945 soon led him to Hollywood and working with all the famous movie stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood as Fr. Peyton founded one of the longest running radio programs, Family Theater of the Air, that started in February 1947. He had all of Hollywood in the palm of his hand and yet the story did not end there.

Fr. Peyton wanted to do something more with the Family Rosary on a diocesan-wide basis. The opportunity came in Canada when Archbishop Alexandre Vachon of Ottawa called a Marian Congress in July 1947 to discuss the latest developments in Marian theology and he set up a booth there for his radio show. 

Two priests from the Diocese of London — Fr. John T. Maloney and Fr. John McCormack — invited Fr. Peyton to St. Mary’s Church (yes, the same church where I had been offered a job) to preach a Triduum. Finding out what Fr. Peyton’s aspiration was, Maloney told him of the “blueprint” that the bishop had executed the year before to help raise much-needed funds on a diocesan-wide scale that Fr. Peyton could use. Instead of collecting pledges for money, they could utilize the same plan and collect pledges for families to recite the daily Rosary. 

By February 1948, the Rosary Crusade began and people throughout the city and beyond, including non-Catholics, worked cooperatively for the common good. A special newspaper was even designed, making the Rosary Crusades and Rallies known throughout the world as they made their rounds.

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What stemmed from a foundation of faith in Ireland, to a miraculous healing and vocation in the United States, was this critical “Canadian connection” that linked it all together and made Fr. Peyton’s priestly mission come to fruition and put him on the path to sainthood. Little did I know that my journey would soon follow a similar trajectory with my own mission and film project for Mary.

(Next Week: The Greater Blessing that Comes from Serving Mary!)