Lydia Longley was a young Puritan from Groton, Massachusetts.  She was twenty years old in 1684 when her village was attacked by Native Americans and her entire family killed.  Taken away to Montreal as prisoner, Lydia was ransomed by a French family and saved, both physically and spiritually.  She not only converted to Catholicism, but entered the Congregation of Notre Dame.  Lydia died in 1758, serving as a faithful religious sister for seventy years, and earning the title, "The First American Nun."

On Sunday, September 22, 1946, over 100,000 Chicagoans filled Soldier Field.  They were not present to watch a Bears game.  No screaming or consumption of alcohol occurred.  The large crowd was praying a holy hour; that is, sitting all together in silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.  The occasion was the celebration of the canonization of Saint Mother Cabrini by Pope Pius XII.

As D-Day was occurring Franklin Roosevelt addressed the nation.  It was not a speech he gave, but rather a prayer.  "And so, in this poignant hour,” he said, “I ask you to join with me in prayer." FDR asked God to give the American soldiers strength and perseverance.  He prayed that the Father would "embrace and receive" those who would be killed in action.  He lifted up their family members and everyone else at home. 

I hate to be morbid, but I see a profound message in this anecdote.  I heard recently that a man in his thirties committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.  Afterward, his psychiatrist went with the medical examiner to the dead man's apartment where they found his diary.  The last entry, written just hours before his death, read: "I'm going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump."