By Cesar Franco
July 23, 2016
Today we visited the San Miguel Mission in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Built in 1610, the mission is famous for being the oldest church in the United States.
We prayed to our tour patron, Saint Michael, to bless our campaign in Santa Fe. During our visit to the mission, we saw an old Spanish bell dating back to the 1300’s. At that time, the Spanish were engaged in the Reconquista of their homeland against Muslim invaders. After the special assistance received from Saint Joseph to win victories against the Moors, the bell was made in gratitude to him. It was later brought by the Franciscans to Santa Fe. We were overjoyed, to say the least, to have the privilege to ring that same bell today.
We then campaigned in the plaza close to the Saint Francis Basilica. Most of the public were American tourists. Several were from other countries.
When we arrived, very loud music blared in the plaza. We set up on a corner off the square, raised the TFP standard and prayed, then noticed that we were in front of a very strange store that had odd human animal-like figures in front of it with diabolical overtones. The owner came out immediately and accused us of being brainwashed. “I bet you’re Catholics!,” he said, “You are just like the Muslims! Why don’t you become more open-minded?”
Defending the Unborn Amidst a Crisis of Faith
This sort of opposition was characteristic of some of the business owners in the plaza. We found a better corner with a lot more foot traffic. Here we shouted our slogans, prayed the rosary, and sang hymns.
Soon another business owner from one of the stores appeared and he was very angry. He demanded to know if we had a permit. We told him the First Amendment gave us all the permission we needed to assemble peacefully in public. But he insisted that we needed a permit and were breaking the law. We politely told him we were within our rights. He got angry called the police. We continued our campaign. Then he threatened us with a lawsuit.
When the police didn’t come, he physically tried to prevent TFP volunteer Zechariah Long from giving out flyers about Our Lady of Fatima. He ripped the flyer out of the hands of another TFP volunteer. Again, he got into Zechariah’s face.
The police appeared. They were kind and professional. I told them we were exercising our First Amendment rights without blocking traffic or sidewalks. They said they had asked people about our presence and confirmed what they themselves had observed: TFP volunteers were peacefully following the law. They said we were fine.
After a brief conversation about the reasons we were praying rosaries for our country, the three police officers agreed that America is at a crossroads and needs prayers. One of the officers then said, “It is safe to say that we are now in crisis.”
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After the police left, the belligerent shopkeeper never showed up again. In the meantime, many people thanked us for our public action. One man said he wouldn’t take the flyer because he wasn’t Catholic, but agreed with our campaign and thanked us.
We gave out nearly 1,000 Fatima flyers.
A second business owner appeared and told us we had to be 50 feet away from the stores. When asked why the police thought what we were doing was fine, he accused us of lying. He said he was watching the whole time and never saw the police. When a TFP member explained that this is America and we were expressing our First Amendment right, he just cursed and yelled: “Don’t you tell me about America! I am more American than you are.” He shouted more expletives.
The TFP campaign continued.
The harassment lasted a good while. But by the time the campaign ended, the plaza had become very calm, surprisingly calm. It was an angelic calm. All the agitation had vanished. Was it our prayer to Saint Michael?
After we finished the campaign, we went to pray before the image of Our Lady La Conquistadora. This is a centuries-old statue that came to the New World from Spain, one of the oldest Catholic shrines dedicated to the Blessed Mother in America.
Taken with permission from content seen on TFP Student Action
Read about the rest of the St. Michael Prayer Tour here:
#1 Young TFP Volunteers Start Multi-State Prayer Tour – July 16
#2 Policeman Tears up Seeing so much Report at TFP Prayer Rally – July 17
#3 Bringing Fatima to the Bible Belt – July 19 & 20
#4 Rosary Prayer Tour Reaches Oklahoma – July 21
#5 Prayer Tour Passes Through North Texas – July 22
#7 Over 850 Favorable Honks – July 24