prayed the Rosary before a perceived losing battle. The Moors were defeated and pushed back. This incident, attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Mother, would serve as the preliminary foundations of establishing the crusade of prayer. Peyton began writing to bishops, priests and Catholic lay organizations about the importance of families praying the Rosary. With the help of the Holy Cross Sisters in Albany and a friend, Father Francis Woods, Peyton began his appeals to promote the praying of the Rosary for all families. Evangelization through mass media Radio In October 1943, in order to reach a wider audience, Peyton arranged for fifteen minutes of air time for families to pray the Rosary on a local radio station in Albany, WABY. In 1945, the Mutual Broadcasting System, the largest radio network in the United States at that time, made available a half-hour to broadcast the Rosary. This was dubbed by Father Peyton as "the opportunity of a lifetime". Mutual's owner Ed Kobak set certain requirements in order for Father Peyton to make his broadcast: Invite the most famous, loved and revered family to pray the Rosary; Ask the most famous Hollywood stars to join them; Have the most influential people in the US Church speak; and Choose the most fitting day to have the majority of Americans listening eagerly to a religious broadcast. On May 13, 1945, Mother's Day, Peyton's program debuted on nationwide radio on Mutual Broadcasting System from its studios in Broadway. The radio broadcast featured the Sullivan family of Iowa who had lost five sons in the Second World War to lead the praying of the Rosary, followed by a live endorsement from crooner Bing Crosby, patched from Mutual's Los Angeles radio station. Peyton promoted his mission by sending letters and distributing free Rosary beads and prayer pamphlets. He continued to promote the mission using radio but network executives at Mutual wanted to air programs of Father Peyton with more than just the praying of the Rosary. The example set by Bing Crosby could be repeated with other Hollywood stars pitching the call for families praying the Rosary. Father Peyton journeyed to Los Angeles to recruit stars to volunteer to help promote his cause. In his first trip to California, actress Jane Wyatt would serve as his contact for other celebrities; they become lifelong friends. Family Theater With the help of Hollywood personalities, Peyton began to