On Saturday, October 14, a peaceful Public Square Rosary was held at noon outside St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Brentwood, MO, at the intersection of Manchester Road and Brentwood Boulevard.
Three parishes – Holy Redeemer, Immacolata, and St. Mary Magdalen — came together to plan and organize the event, which was advertised to many neighboring parishes and schools in central St. Louis County.
The purpose was to pray for America and for peace in the world. St. Mary Magdalen Church’s location on the busy intersection was selected due to its high visibility. Approximately 200 people attended the Mass at 11 a.m., followed by the peaceful recitation of the Rosary on the street, led by Fr. Jack Siefert, pastor of St. Mary Magdalen.
New this year was an effort to make this an evangelization event. With help from the Archdiocesan Evangelization Office, members of the St. Paul Street Evangelization team from the metro area handed out Rosaries and pamphlets on how to pray the Rosary to people in their cars from the median separating Manchester Road. Team members came from as far away as St. Charles and Illinois to pass out Rosaries to people sitting in their cars in the turn lanes.
Fr. Jack noted, “I was overwhelmed by the faith shown on Saturday. Who knows the good that will come from this evangelization effort. To see cars stopped at the light accepting rosaries from sidewalk evangelists and the crowd of 200 at Mass and the crowd to say the rosary was just good!”
The event was very family friendly. Participants were all ages – including a group of approximately 30 students and parents from St. Austin’s School in West County. Schoolchildren from St. Mary Magdalen made signs with the theme of peace. Sound systems provided by the Coalition for Life St. Louis and the Respect Life Apostolate helped Fr. Jack’s prayers travel to the people in the cars stopped at the intersection. Many people honked, smiled, and gave “thumbs up” as they drove by or as they waited at the stoplight. The weather also cooperated – it was 85 degrees and sunny. Many who participated in the rally commented on how positive the experience was.
