Lansing Sun

When Sandra Sherwood felt called to alleviate the suffering, confusion and uncertainty caused by COVID-19, she was certain that joining Unite Our Nation was a way to make a difference.  

“I hope that people who see our gathering will gain hope, know that they are loved by God, and know that people really do care about them,” Sherwood told the Lansing Sun. “I think that so many people are desperate for love, real love, and they try to find it where it doesn’t exist. I just want people to come to know and love God as he knows and loves them. We also felt that our state and our nation have been losing their reliance on God, thereby letting evil gain a foothold as never before.”

Sherwood organized a rosary rally for Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Michigan Capitol on North Capitol Avenue in Lansing, starting at 3 p.m.

“Unite the Nation is doing exactly what I had in mind when I started putting this together,” she said. “They are spreading this idea throughout the country. While we are not having a procession, we are coming together for the same purposes.”

Sherwood is among a small group of Catholics who have gathered at the state capitol on the 13th of each month since May to pray the patriotic rosary along with Father Christopher Derda.

“The selection of the 13th day of May through October came from our devotion to Our Lady of Fatima,” Sherwood said. “We Catholics believe the Mother of God appeared to three young shepherd children in six visions in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. She appeared to them on the 13th of the month from May through October, excepting August. A great Miracle of the Sun took place at the October apparition.”

The Lansing event is among 30 planned nationwide, including Detroit and Little Rock, Arkansas on Oct. 17; Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Oct. 31; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Nov. 1; and Atlanta on Nov. 7.

“Our greatest weapon against these things is our God and we wanted to call out to him in prayer,” Sherwood said. “We want to pray for our leaders, for the citizens of Michigan, for a conversion of hearts to God, and for reparation for sin.”

Open to the public, the rally is part of the nationwide non-partisan and family-friendly Unite Our Nation movement. Sherwood says she found out about the Unite the Nation processions a few weeks ago through an email from another group promoting prayer.  

“We want to ask for peace for our country, an end to violence, an end to hatred, and a turning back to God,” she said. “The upcoming election will have a huge impact on these issues, which makes our cry to our God, through the Blessed Mother, all the more necessary and vital.” 

The event will take place on the front lawn of the Lansing state capitol where Derda will lead participants in the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Fatima Chaplet, the patriotic rosary for Michigan counties, and a litany for the conversion of the United States.

Attendees are advised to bring a rosary, lawn chairs and drinking water.

For more details or to be involved as a participant, volunteer or organizer, visit Unite Our Nation or Rosary Coast to Coast.