Milwaukee the persistently faithful --- 460 months ago, and now continuing

I did promise an answer to yesterday's quiz question.

One of the many multitudinous signs of the faithfulness, vitality and vigor of this oft-maligned Church is its faithfulness in little things, and in constant prayer.

About 460 months ago, the Holy Father, then Paul VI, asked the entire world to undertake Eucharistic vigils, to pray for justice and peace in the world, and preparatory to the Pope's upcoming admonition to the United Nations. And many places held vigil on that first Saturday. Quite a few places kept up that prayer until after the United Nations address. Some continued for a while, until life intruded. Milwaukee still does, for, after all, there is not yet overwhelming justice or peace in our world, and the forces of death are still putting up a fight, so how can we stop the defence until the war is won?

So, the All-Night Vigil I went to on Hallowe'en night, that then had me sleep through All Saint's Day after, was the 459th consecutive one. Yes, Vietnam is over, and the Berlin Wall is down, and our pet South American oligarchs and dictators are killing believers now by handfuls instead of hundreds. But, we've got a whole new set of wars and persecutions and oppressions and societies (including our own) that believe that killing people solves problems. So we, faithfully and obediently, continue to pray and plead in the Presence, for pece and for justice and for the restoration of a culture that loves and respects human life, every human life.
.