Pat Moertl was headed to Washington, D.C., on Friday, driving from his home in the Wisconsin Dells to attend the National Rosary Rally. It is set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, and will be led by Bishop Joseph L. Coffey, Monsignor Charles Pope and Father Richard Heilman.

It’s the latest in a series of spiritual events for Moertl, who retired from his career to devote himself to working for spiritual and patriotic events across the nation. He sees a country starving for moral guidance, and suggests there is one sure way to provide that.

“I think for us, as the Catholic faithful, we recognize the power of prayer,” he said.

Pat Moertl | Submitted

The National Rosary Rally is part of Triumph Tour 2020!, Moertl explained to American Catholic Tribune.

It started Feast of the Archangels on Sept. 29, and continued with a series of peaceful, prayerful events across the country. It’s organized by The Coalition of Eucharistic and Marian Apostolates.

“Join in prayer with thousands of others for this virtual tour of unifying prayer for our families, our nations, and our world,” its website explains. “From points all across North America we will turn our hearts toward heaven together. Join each day, or just a few days, from Sept. 29 through Oct. 20.”

While people are invited to attend the events, they also can take part via Zoom. Moertl said while hundreds, even thousands will attend in person, a much larger audience will be watching and praying with them.

He said it’s crucially important for people of faith to come together. He joined Unite Our Nation after meeting its co-founder, Kevin O’Brien, in 2007. They met through their jobs, and later both were members of Men of Christ, a Catholic men’s apostolate based in Wisconsin.

“He’s been pretty pivotal with Men of Christ, and pivotal in getting me started with Unite Our Nation,” Moertl said.

This year has been filled with “craziness,” he said, with the COVID-19 pandemic, racial unrest, demonstrations and rioting, there was a need for something to offer peace and hope.

“What can I do? The first thing is to pray and put it in our Lord’s hands,” he said. “There is power when we pray in large groups. We needed to go out in public and do something with our faith.”

After Heilman organized a procession on State Street in Madison, Wisconsin on Sunday, June 14, with 300 people joining together to pray at the same place angry rioting had taken place a short time earlier, the idea for a larger event was hatched.

“It was very peaceful and prayerful and powerful,” Moertl said. “Observers were very respectful. We were led by the blessed sacrament ... it was just very, very powerful.”

They decided to build on that and hold a Eucharistic procession and patriotic rally on Aug. 15. About 3,000 people attended.

After first forming a group called Unite Wisconsin, they realized there was a bigger demand, a larger mission and a greater purpose. That’s when Unite Our Nation was formed.

“It came together as an idea,” he said. “It was incredible. And then that became viral. All of a sudden, we got responses, not just across Wisconsin, but across our nation.”

Moertl said 47 events are on the Unite Our Nation website. Some have been held and others are planned, including 20 this weekend.

“Men of Christ brought together the manpower,” he said.

Moertl said taking part in the processions is a moving experience. He has been to majestic churches, shrines and other holy sites. There is an awesome feeling at those locations, and he felt it at the Aug. 15 procession as well.

“It was just so beautiful and peaceful. The level of peace that comes upon you,” Moertl said. “That was really what I thought that today. There was a sense of peace in the midst of all this chaos and anarchy. I was just so proud to be part of it.”

As his interest in Men of Christ grew, he decided to retire from the Molson Coors Beverage Co. after more than 36 years in the beer marketing business. Moertl, who will turn 64 this month, said it was a decision he talked over with his wife, Katie.

The couple, who live in Grand Marsh, Wisconsin has two married daughters, 29 and 28, and are awaiting grandchildren they can dote upon. They also had a son who passed away at 16 months.

Children are at the core of Moertl’s involvement in Men of Christ and Unite Our Nation. He said abortion is the “preeminent moral issue of our time” and one reason he thinks the 2016 presidential election turned out as it did, and why he thinks it’s important that President Donald Trump be reelected in 2020.

“Obviously the national election looms large,” Moertl said. “It certainly did in 2016. That election was turned on prayer ... the power of Catholic prayer.”

He said “a few thousand prayer warriors” grew to an army of 25,000 who want to return “our country back to holiness.”

One national party – the Republican Party – is opposed to abortion, he said, while Democrats are pro-choice. That’s why he thinks God had a hand in Trump’s win four years ago and why he holds out hope for divine involvement this year.

While the Unite Our Nation events are promoted as nonpolitical, Moertl said opposing abortion is a crucial issue for Catholics. He said their “faith, doctrine, dogma and tradition in our catechism” compels them to take a stand against abortion.

He said the Unite Our Nation marches are an “apolitical prayer campaign” to help achieve their goals.

The crowd on Sunday may not be massive – Moertl said most of the people there will, like him, travel from other states – he thinks the message will be powerful.

“We are there praying for our nation to return to God and holiness,” he said.

When the “glorious mysteries of the rosary” are said simultaneously across all time zones on Sunday afternoon, it can help awaken the nation. He implores people to pray together with their families, their prayer communities and in other groups.

“And just think how powerful that is, all those people in unison praying together,” he said.

Moertl said no matter the outcome of the Nov. 3 election, his involvement with Unite Our Nation, Men of Christ and other organizations and efforts he believes in will not end. There is a lot of work to be done to heal the nation’s wounds.

“No, this not going to end after this election,” he said.

Moertl said it also extends beyond the U.S., as organizers have reached out to Canada, Poland, the United Kingdom and Ireland. They built and maintained relationships and eventually more than 60 countries were holding rosary rallies. There is a craving for spiritual awakening, he believes.

Moertl is dedicated to helping that happen.