An upcoming movie about the “Rosary Priest”, Venerable Father Patrick Peyton, is “more timely than ever”, CatholicPhilly.com says.
“Father’s life connects with our contemporary crisis in many ways,” said Susan Reynolds, Father Peyton’s first cousin and a member of Presentation B.V.M. Parish in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.
Born in 1909, Father Peyton emigrated from Ireland and settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where many family members had already settled. Originally he came to America to seek fortune like the rest of his family, but could not ignore a constant pull to become a priest. After suffering from tuberculosis, he began a lifelong promotion of Mary’s intercession through the Rosary, to which he accredited his cure. His resilient faith caught the attention of Hollywood and Pope St. John Paul II.
The film shares the life of Father Peyton through archival footage and contemporary interviews.
Father Peyton founded Family Theater Productions in 1947 and Holy Cross Family Ministries, based in Easton, Massachusetts, which is “dedicated to inspiring, promoting and fostering the prayer life and spiritual well-being of families throughout the world.”
Holy Cross Father David Guffey, executive producer of the film and director of Family Theater Productions, said the film is designed to be more than a movie, but also a “prayer movement”.
Father Peyton, who was declared “venerable” by Pope Francis in 2017, is known for popularizing the phrase, “The family that prays together stays together.”
The movie, Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton, is currently showing at the Water Tower Cinema in Montgomeryville, Pa., ahead of its scheduled nationwide release in October.