EASTON -- The Virgin Mary is Maureen Casey's best friend.

Her granduncle was Venerable Father Patrick Peyton, the famed "rosary priest" who brought prayer to millions through his Holy Cross Family Ministries and global media "crusades." Casey learned a lot from her uncle's devotion to Mary. He used to say that she is "a person, she's a mother, and you can talk to her and she will listen."

"Having spent so many quiet moments with Father Pat made Mary very real to me," she said.

Casey and her sister Kathy Kearney are the only relatives of "Father Pat" remaining in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Venerable Father Peyton resided after coming to the U.S. from Ireland. She accompanied her granduncle when he visited North Africa for his evangelization work.

"Father Pat had a distinctive aura that was magnetic," she said. "It drew people in on many occasions."

Casey and Kearney were present at the opening of the renovated Father Peyton Center in Easton on June 6. With a Mass and celebration that day, the Holy Cross Fathers who operate the center blessed and dedicated a new Lourdes grotto with an altar, a new Marian garden, a rosary walking path replicating the one on the Notre Dame campus, and a chapel containing the earthly remains of Venerable Father Peyton for veneration. Hundreds of people filled the leafy pathways surrounding the grotto for the dedication.

"This has been a labor of love that has taken a lot of planning, a lot of meetings, and a lot of generosity from many people," said Holy Cross Father Fred Jenga, president of Holy Cross Family Ministries.

The Father Peyton Center serves as the headquarters for Holy Cross Family Ministries. It contains a chapel, garden, a Museum of Family Prayer, and exhibits on Venerable Father Peyton's life and work. Holy Cross Family Ministries has gone from Venerable Father Peyton's dream to a presence in 18 countries.

"At the core of who we are, we simply exist to attend to the spiritual needs of families," Father Kenga said.

Father Pat Peyton, Venerable Father Peyton's nephew, was also present at the reopening. As a boy, he accompanied his uncle on rosary rallies in Western Ireland. The younger Father Peyton recalled how his uncle spent one month in his home, greeting visitors from 6 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. He kept the family so busy, the younger Father Peyton joked, they were happy when he left. Each night when Venerable Father Peyton returned from a rosary rally, there would be dozens of people at the door waiting to receive a blessing from him. He would go to villages and visit every single house.

"He was so committed to his devotion to Our Lady," the younger Father Peyton said, adding, "I say to you on his behalf, keep Mary in your heart, because she is there already, but it's up to each of us to acknowledge that."

In keeping with Father Peyton's maxim, "The family that prays together stays together," local families helped lead the rosary at the Lourdes grotto.

Holy Cross Fathers spread out throughout the campus to bless the renovations. Holy Cross Father Neil Wack sprinkled holy water in the dazzlingly white foyer, the rotund chapel where Venerable Father Peyton's remains rested in a large casket, and the statues of Venerable Father Peyton and Mary in the garden outside.

Mass was celebrated by Holy Cross Father Bill Lies, and the homily was preached by Father David Marcham, director of the prayer guild advancing Venerable Father Peyton's cause for canonization. The homily was supposed to be preached by Holy Cross Father Willy Raymond, former president of Holy Cross Family Ministries, but his death in February required Father Marcham to step in.

"I reflected on Father Willy's priestly leadership and vision for this beautiful grotto and rosary walk and welcoming center, whose heart is in the veneration chapel of Father Peyton," he said. "Today, on this beautiful day, I can imagine Father Willy's beaming smile as he sees the completion of this project."

As a seminarian, Venerable Father Peyton became seriously ill with tuberculosis and prayed for Mary's intercession. He was healed, inspiring him to launch his global rosary crusades on radio, film, and television.

"Father Peyton clearly saw God's hand at work, and it was those experiences and countless others that were signs that he was on the right path in building up the kingdom one family at a time," Father Marcham said.

"Father Peyton, like Mary, went in haste throughout the world," he said. "And as he did, he brought hope, healing, and the presence of Christ to millions through his preaching, through rosary prayer, and his media outreach."

He called the renovated center a sign of "God's presence in our world" and a reason to be hopeful. He asked the assembly to pray for Venerable Father Peyton's canonization and for his intercession.

"I invite you to reflect on the signs that God has given to each of you, perhaps even today," he said. "I invite you to consider the ways he has revealed his presence and his plan for you and your family, and how you are called to carry and pass the torch of faith to your family and friends."