Zoom Rosary Recitation becomes Supportive Community

Each evening at 7 p.m. the Lamb family gathers around a Zoom screen to pray the Rosary with Father Adam Potter and about 400 other people who have become their spiritual community during the coronavirus lockdown.

“It’s a family Rosary. It’s not a bunch of Benedictines praying the Rosary,” Philip Lamb said, recounting the time a bug landed on one of the eight Lamb children, setting off a round of screeching mid-prayer.

He and his wife, Maria, have always led a family Rosary at that hour. Now many others are joining them. In some cases, families whose members are separated by thousands of miles come together in prayer during the videoconference.

On April 28 – the feast of St. Louis-Marie de Montfort – they began following the Rosary with the 33 days of spiritual preparation for consecration to Jesus through Mary. In addition, each Sunday and Wednesday the prayers are followed by “Late Night Catholic Q&A,” a freewheeling session in which people try to stump Father Potter and Father Joe Freedy with questions about the Catholic faith.

The prayers, consecration and questions are open to anyone who wants to participate at
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/214787306 with meeting ID: 214 787 306.

The video Rosary began before Father Potter achieved the unwanted celebrity status of being the first – and, prayerfully, only – priest in the Diocese of Pittsburgh diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus. His case was mild enough for him to continue leading the video prayer group during quarantine. Father Potter is leading the consecration, combining a popular retreat format, “33 Days to Morning Glory,” with other prayers and devotions.

Sometimes known as the “Totus Tuus” consecration, it “allows Our Lady to bring us closer to her Son,” Lamb said.  “It’s 33 days of preparing yourself for the depth of what you are consecrating yourself to.”

Each video conference opens with requests for prayer.

“Some are very heart rending, some are very personal,” Lamb said. When the number of participants was somewhat lower than it is now he calculated the number of prayers in each Rosary by the estimated number of participants.

“I figured there are 10,000 Hail Marys being prayed every night with these intentions imprinted on them,” he said.

The Sunday and Wednesday question-and-answer sessions have drawn young adults who ordinarily attend Theology on Tap, Lamb said. While some questions are about Church teaching, they have  also raised issues concerning the Church’s response to the pandemic.

“The frustration that people have with the shutting of the churches has come out in the questions. To be able to ask a priest has helped a lot of people,” Lamb said. “To say that this has been beautiful has been an understatement. People are being healed.”

Photo: The Lamb family, who prays the Rosary weekly with a virtual community.