by Katie Vasquez
A moment of prayer, as a crowd of 30 people gathered with rosary beads in hand outside the portal, a live stream connecting New York City and Dublin.
“I think it’s so cool to share in the rosary with people across the world. you know, you don’t get to do things like that very often and the church is universal,” said Hope Hansen who prayed at the portal.
The first portal rosary took place on May 31st with a small group.
Catholic influencer Franco Fernandez got the idea from a friend and connected with Dominican priests in the Irish capital.
“He was like, hey, who’s going to be the first to put the rosary through the portal? and so as soon as I saw it, i’m like, ‘I have to do this asap,” said Fernandez.
“Straightaway, I said, let’s do it, because collaboration, I think, is really important among catholic content creators and influencers online. so i realized this guy, he’s the real deal,” said Father Conor McDonough, OP, a Dominican Friar of the Irish Province.
The day starts by praying the first decades at St Vincent Ferrer Church on the Upper East side.
“It is drawing people from around the world together to pray with our lady as we’re asking her to beseech the lord on behalf of our needs and the needs of the world,” said Father Peter Martyr Yungwirth, OP, the pastor of St Vincent Ferrer Church.
The group then takes the subway downtown to the Portal which is located across from the Flatiron Building.
Mel Alegre, a parishioner of St Bartholomew Church, learned of the event through social media and felt it was a good way to put his faith on display.
“It’s just not to be ashamed of my faith. like, don’t be. don’t ever be ashamed of what you believe in,” said Alegre.
The portal was briefly closed in May because people on both sides displayed inappropriate behavior.
Franco and the Irish Dominicans hope bringing prayer to the space will counteract that.
“They might make them just rethink and rethink the catholic faith and and recognize, gosh, maybe there’s a bit of life in the church that i didn’t expect,” said Father McDonough.
“It’s like when you watch a good movie and you just want to share it to as many people as possible,” said Fernandez.
They plan to be back the 22nd of every month, sharing their faith with others.