The Hidden Story of Fr. Peyton and His Family That Prays Together Stays Together

You’ve heard his mantra — but you probably don’t recall the story of the future saint who touched 28 million

You know Venerable Father Patrick Peyton’s famous slogan but far fewer recall the man who inspired Hollywood — and the world — to pray.

His most famous words: “The family that prays together stays together.” The phrase was written for Father Peyton by a non-religious copywriter, one of his many creative colleagues. Peyton regularly sought “the radical help of God.”

The opposite of today’s culture wars? Harnessing Hollywood

Today, 30 years after his death, he is largely forgotten, but a new documentary, Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton, movingly tells his story.

Our friend Lorrie Peck has a unique ministry gathering crowds to see Catholic films. So when she announced a local showing, the trailer alone grabbed me — I wound up ordering the DVD.

Peyton used his “family that prays together” slogan in every talk and on billboards, radio, TV, and film. But he also declared he didn’t have time to speak of anything except “what exalts, man.” So he focused on his mission — getting families praying together — rather than the modern political norm of focusing “on what are you against.”

Calling himself “Mary’s donkey,” all were welcome. But, asked, “do you want to work with that person,” whenever someone seemed controversial or perhaps not a “good fit” faith-wise, he would say, “oh no, it will be good for them to work with us.”

His inspired Hollywood friends helped root his message firmly into our cultural memory, an all-star list including Bing Crosby, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Stewart.

His global travel and speeches to massive rallies helped him speak to more than 28 million in his various public appearances. He evangelized from Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard, crafting a message, recruiting the biggest stars, and starting a production company (still in business) that produced thousands of hours of family-oriented content.

Peyton asked: “That question, ‘Where does prayer fit in today?’, I’d say where does your heart fit in your body? Where does the air fit in when you breathe? It’s an essential dimension in our very lives.”

Father Peyton’s first miracle: He prayed to heal himself from tuberculosis

The Rosary Priest (1909–92), Father Peyton miraculously moved Hollywood’s top names so that they leaped to his cause. Before he caught Hollywood’s attention, he suffered, struggled — and was saved by a miracle.

The poor, uneducated Irish immigrant set sail for America at age 19, arriving in 1928. Looking for work in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he found a job as a janitor and cleaning the cathedral rekindled a dream of being a priest. Instead, he entered a minor seminary the following year.

He was diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis by age 29 while still a seminarian. A year later, doctors told him he now had only two options:

• A risky surgery (with little expectation for success or survival).
• Pray.

Father Cornelius Hagerty showed him St. Paul’s message about faith being transmitted from mother to son, urging him to tap into the power of his mother's faith. And Payton’s aunt added, “Your mother’s constant prayer was that your sufferings would come upon her, that you would get well and go back to your work.”

So Father Hagerty urged Peyton to pour his prayers into asking for the intercession of Blessed Mother Mary: “What she asks for and insists on, she obtains.”

Harnessing complete trust, young Peyton, with all his might, called to Blessed Mother, and on October 31, 1939, he felt certain his TB was gone. His feelings of depression, darkness, and loneliness transformed into a joyful hope.

The prayers worked. Peyton’s medical team took new X-rays showing he had been wholly healed: Peyton’s tuberculosis was gone.

“When I needed her and her power and her friendship, she didn’t forget that ever since I had been a little child and could open my mouth, I had used that power to say the Rosary,” Peyton explained. To repay the Blessed Mother, he vowed to dedicate the rest of his life to working to get families to pray the Rosary. He advised:

“What love you could get for your little sacred home if you gave 10 minutes out of 24 long hours to your family.”

Cold-calling Bing Crosby, the most famous singer of the time

Ordained a priest in 1941, Father Peyton set a goal of getting 10 million families to pray the Rosary together. By 1945, he got a meeting with the Mutual Radio network and a non-religious woman producer, who gave him the hope of air time if he could attract “big stars” to be on his show.

“The Rosary has saved the world in the past. It will save the world now by saving the family,” Peyton believed.

So the young priest “cold-called” Bing Crosby, one of the most prominent singers in history. Crosby agreed to appear.

Peyton’s first radio program debuted on May 13, 1945, the 28th anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima. The all-star show garnered record ratings and included:

• New York Archbishop of Francis Spellman.
• President Harry Truman.
• Bing Crosby.
• The parents and sister of the “Fighting Sullivans,” the five Iowa brothers who died in a single Navy attack. The Sullivan family led the Rosary.
• Father Peyton then made an emotional plea for all families to pray the Rosary for peace.

The first show was so successful that executives wanted more, leading Peyton to travel to Hollywood to track down and recruit more stars. After arriving by train, he went to the nearest basilica and prayed, then asked priests how they could connect him with stars.

He routinely asked, “Will you pray the rosary with me,” without asking whether someone was Catholic. Most agreed, including the non-Catholics.

“Believe one sentence: God is on your side,” Peyton told a growing number of supporters.

He persevered when Vatican II reforms tried to draw more Catholics to the liturgy and sacraments while de-emphasizing the Rosary. On December 8, 1985, he drew more than 2 million people to a rally in the Philippines, saying he “never felt a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”

And just two months later, many of those supporters advanced the peaceful overthrown of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Father Peyton died on June 3, 1992. His final words: “Mary, my queen, my mother.”

Today, we often leave God on the shelf, only going to him when we are in dire straights. But Father Peyton had a completely different attitude: If something is given to you by God, Peyton stressed, then find a way to do it. Don’t ask, “why me?” God put you there to handle it — so handle it.

“I believe in God the Father Almighty. This is the greatest sentence your heart or mouth will ever speak as long as you’re alive.” — Father Peyton.