“The family that prays together…”

He founded Family Theater Productions in Hollywood, which produced some 600 radio and T.V. shows, airing a total of 10,000 broadcasts. Such film elites as Loretta Young, Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby, and Lucille Ball appeared on his programs. The goal?—to promote prayer and fidelity. The audience?—Christian families. The inspiration and patrons?—Christ and his mother.

“The family that prays together, stays together,” Fr. Patrick Peyton (1909-1992) was fond of saying, coining a phrase that has entered the list of Christian truisms. And, hopefully along the way, it has entered some hearts and homes, too.

With the celebration of a Mass today in Baltimore, reports the LA Times , the official investigation in Fr. Peyton’s cause for canonization will begin:

Three priests from Baltimore’s archdiocese will spend much of their time reviewing the documents and examining witnesses to prepare Peyton’s sainthood case for a three-step process in Rome that requires evidence of two posthumous miracles: a declaration of heroic values, then beatification and canonization, or sainthood.

“Saints are heroes to those of us trying to live our faith,” said the Rev. Gilbert Seitz, one of the priests who will review documents and examine witnesses. “We want to know and learn about them and emulate them.”

The “heroic values” of Fr. Peyton might not make for a thrilling tale or poignant film, no Golden Legend or Scarlet and the Black . His are the heroic values of the living room, and kitchen, and mini-van, and ball field—and they matter no less for that.