The Woman who Prayed on the Plaza
From 1634 in Maryland to 2025 in Manhattan - The Legacy of Religious Freedom
It was a beautiful, sunny day in New York City as I stepped into One Police Plaza, having just picked up my shiny, new NYPD press credential from the good people at the Press Office.
A little earlier that morning, I had photographed the newly installed statue of Blessed Michael McGivney beneath the majestic domed ceilings of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown.
And even earlier than that, I had attended Mass celebrated by my friends, the Dominicans, at St. Vincent Ferrer, a little further uptown.
And it wasn’t even 11:00 a.m. yet.
Next on my list was catching a ride on the new Staten Island Ferry named for Servant of God Dorothy Day. But before that, I made an unexpected detour to visit the Sisters of Life at their new home at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine, way downtown on State Street.
It was shaping up to be a very, very Catholic day…
As I walked from City Hall to the subway, I passed St. Andrew’s Church, known as "The Printers’ Church," just across the plaza.
One of the many security personnel in the area caught my attention. She walked with a determined stride toward the church. As she reached the police barricade in front of the now-shuttered building, she reached into her pocket and withdrew what looked like a handkerchief.
It wasn’t.
What it was, was unthinkable…
It was a veil.
With quiet reverence, she placed the veil upon her head, bowed, and from another pocket, retrieved a set of Rosary beads.
And she began to pray.
A beautiful and powerful public witness of faith.
People in tailored suits, police officers, and street wanderers alike turned to look as they passed by, momentarily caught in a reality that seemed out of place yet perfectly at home.
I stood in stunned silence, absorbing what I was seeing.
It hit me all at once—there are countries where praying in public could get you arrested. And not long ago, the United States seemed to be veering toward that same dangerous path.
But this land, from its very beginnings, had religious freedom in its DNA…
The year was 1634.
‘America’ wasn’t even a notion yet.
But the First Lord Baltimore, George Calvert—an English Catholic navigating the precarious court of King James I—had an audacious vision: to found a colony in the New World where people could worship freely. A haven, in a time when the persecution of Catholics—and martyrdom—was la norme du jour in England and Ireland.
He would never live to see it.
His sons, Cecil and Leonard, carried the torch forward, turning their father’s dream into reality. They established Terra Mariae—Maryland.
READ: The 390th Anniversary of the Catholic Church in America
From that settlement, the flame of religious freedom was borne, burning brightly through the centuries, a right granted by Our Creator and enshrined in the lifeblood of this nation and the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.
I wondered about that small band of Catholics who braved the tempest-tossed sea in 1634, landing on a tiny island where the Chesapeake meets the Potomac.
Their first act was to raise a cross and celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving.
I wonder if they could have imagined that as they tilled the rich soil and built the city of St. Mary’s, their legacy would one day allow a woman in New York City to stand beneath the towering skyscrapers, boldly lifting her voice to heaven, uttering the words: Our Father, who art in heaven…
I smiled and turned to my left, imagining for a moment that George Calvert, the First Lord Baltimore, was standing by my side seeing what I was seeing.
I can’t know for certain, but I imagine his heart would have swelled.
I know mine did.
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You have my heartfelt thanks for your generosity and support, and please keep me in your prayers and know of mine for each of you. God Bless, Jeff
Thank you! You have captured something rare and beautiful.
I just read of a Catholic woman in the UK who was arrested for praying in public.