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Venerable Patrick Peyton, C.S.C. Courtesy of Holy Cross Family Ministries. All rights reserved.[/caption] This great celebration of our faith coincides with the very day 26 years ago that Venerable Patrick Peyton breathed his last. It was the early hours of the morning and he lay dying in the tender care of the Little Sisters of the Poor in San Pedro, California. As they customarily accompany all their elderly in the final moments of life, Mother Anthony, superior of the Little Sisters, kept vigil with Father Peyton. She described his last hours as restless tossing and turning, culminating in a few quiet moments of peace and tranquility. His last words, whispered in Mother Anthony’s hearing, were, “Mary, my Queen, my Mother!” What a marvelous closure to a splendid life of faith. Father Pat loved the Eucharist and celebrated it daily with great reverence and devotion all fifty-one years of his priestly life. The Lord Jesus was at the center of his life and he saw Mary as the perfect means of approaching her Divine Son. It was Mary whose mystical “Fiat” opened the passage to our world of the Living Bread come down from heaven. Without Mary we have no Word come down from heaven; without Mary we have no Crucified and Risen Jesus; without Mary we have no Eucharist. Let’s Call her Mary, Mother of the Eucharist! Each weekday, the homily from Daily Mass at Holy Cross Family Ministries is shared online. Visit Family Rosary: World at Prayer and sign up to receive notifications of each day's homily.
Copyright 2018 Fr. Willy Raymond, C.S.C.

About the Author

Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C.

Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C.

Father Wilfred J. Raymond, C.S.C. (Father Willy), a native of Old Town, Maine, is the eighth of 12 children. He joined the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1964 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1971. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stonehill College in 1967 and a master’s in Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 1971. He served in ministry at Stonehill College (1979-1992), Holy Cross leadership (1994-2000), National Director of Family Theater Productions, Hollywood (2000-2014), and President of Holy Cross Family Ministries (2014-2022). In addition to English, he is conversant in French and Spanish. He remains a diehard fan of the Boston Red Sox, even though he has served as Chaplain for the Los Angeles Dodgers.