Northern Ireland

Priest overwhelmed by reaction to four-hour street rosary

Fr Joe Gormley (pictured) and Fr Daniel McFaul walked through the streets of Creggan reciting the rosary for the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima
Fr Joe Gormley (pictured) and Fr Daniel McFaul walked through the streets of Creggan reciting the rosary for the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima Fr Joe Gormley (pictured) and Fr Daniel McFaul walked through the streets of Creggan reciting the rosary for the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

A Derry priest has said he was overwhelmed by the “reverence and respect” shown during a public rosary through the streets of the city’s Creggan.

Fr Joe Gormley and Fr Daniel McFaul of St Mary’s, Creggan walked through the area reciting the prayers yesterday afternoon to mark the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

Moving through the entire Creggan over a period of four hours, the priests separately stopped in each street to recite a decade of the rosary.

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Parish Priest Fr Gormley said people came to their doors and gardens to join the prayers.

“We would normally have the rosary in the chapel and it can be done on webcam but we felt it was important in the current circumstances that people get a chance to pray together from their own homes.

“As we walked from street to street, people came to their doors and if any were infirm or ill, we stopped and gave them a short blessing,” he said.

Fr Joe Gormley (pictured) and Fr Daniel McFaul walked through the streets of Creggan reciting the rosary for the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima
Fr Joe Gormley (pictured) and Fr Daniel McFaul walked through the streets of Creggan reciting the rosary for the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima Fr Joe Gormley (pictured) and Fr Daniel McFaul walked through the streets of Creggan reciting the rosary for the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima

Fr Gormley said the coronavirus pandemic has revealed a “great hunger” for God and prayer.

“There’s a hunger out there for some sense of meaning. We were overwhelmed by the sense of reverence and respect as we went from street to street.

“One example Fr McFaul came across: as he went into one street there was a group of young people playing music very loud and they couldn’t get to the music quick enough to turn it off for the rosary."