Archives and Records
1956: Rosary Crusade at UW Stadium
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On October 21, 1956, fifty thousand people braved unseasonably cold temperatures to attend the “Family Rosary Crusade Rally” at the University of Washington Husky Stadium. The rally was the culmination of an Archdiocesan-wide rosary campaign, led by “Rosary Priest” Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., known for his rosary crusade slogan, “The family that prays together stays together!” The crusade rally included a procession of various religious and lay groups and a “living rosary” comprised of Catholic high school students.
Marian devotions in private and public life were very popular in the Catholic devotional life of the 1950s, especially given the events of the decade, such as the definition of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven and the celebration of the Marian year in 1954.
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