Thursday December 7, 2006
Orange County Catholics
give "Prayer Breakfast" a new definition!An event review by Patrick O'Neill
Photo by Howard DeCruyenaere <hdphoto@mac.com>Organizers for the first annual Orange County Catholic Prayer Breakfast knocked one out of the park this morning. For 750 early risers, the mega-event held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Garden Grove began with a jump start. A recitation of the rosary started promptly at 6:30 A.M. with everyone in place.
Morning Mass followed at 7:00 A.M. with Bishop Tod D. Brown, Bishop Jaime Soto, Bishop Dominic Luong, Abbot Eugene Hayes, Msgr. Lawrence Baird and a dozen other priests concelebrating the Mass at a portable altar set up in the ballroom.
Immediately following the Mass, an elegant sit-down breakfast was served in the main dinning room. By 8:00 A.M. all 750 attending had been served a tempting breakfast of fresh orange juice, knish-tart, premium sausage link, two strips of smoked bacon, assorted muffins with butter and honey on the side and plenty of fresh hot coffee. Hats off to the Crowne Plaza Hotel chef for pulling that one off.
Breakfast intros included the Pledge of Allegiance led by Bill Campbell, Chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the Star Spangled Banner sung by California Conservatory of the Arts vocalist Madeline Moore, the blessing for the meal by Fr. Patrick Moses of St. Irenaeus Parish in Cypress, CA.
The keynote speaker, Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput, Archbishop of Denver delivered a riveting address; Click here for the full text.A number of prominent celebrities were among those attending the entire program including national talk show host Hugh Hewitt and other Orange County notables. Chairman for the 2006 event, Ric Brutocao said "We got the idea of hosting this prayer breakfast after one of our members attended a similar breakfast in Washington D.C." He also mentioned "A Los Angeles Catholic group established their Prayer Breakfast two years ago with great success. Their last attendance was around 720, so with today's attendance, we think we're off to a rather good start."
Event sponsors Gaye and Art Birtcher, JSerra Catholic High School, together with an impressive list of co-sponsors and organizing committee members are assured of the success of this annual event knowing that it's now among the top list of Orange County meetings not to be missed.