Family Prayer Night Green Bay
St. Agnes Family Prayer Night 1990-Present
The Inaugural Model for Weekly Family Prayer & Adoration
By Val Bessert, Volunteer Coordinator

St. Agnes Family Prayer Night is held Monday evenings at St. Agnes Church in Green Bay. It is known as “Family” Prayer Night because it offers a “prayer rich environment” to enable families to incorporate more prayer into daily life and to grow in relationship with the Lord. Come alone or accompanied by family members, come and go as you please, and as your schedule permits. When you come, you are also united in prayer with other families present in a relaxed, prayerful, peaceful atmosphere.

Approximately two hours of prayer are scheduled. Perhaps you would like to take advantage of the *Sacrament of Reconciliation that is offered from 6:30 - 6:55 p.m. or come to pray one decade of the Rosary that begins at 6:30 p.m. in the main church. Maybe you would like to stay for all 5 decades! *Mass is always a beautiful prayer to participate in! This begins at 7:00 p.m. If some quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament calls to your heart, come at 7:30 p.m. for a few minutes, or stay to continue praying additional mysteries of the Rosary or Chaplet of Divine Mercy with us.

*(Note: Family Prayer Night strives to schedule priests to hear confessions and celebrate Mass each time we meet. However, the availability of a priest is not always possible. Call St. Agnes Church office if you wish to check if a priest is scheduled for the night you plan to attend.)

Family Prayer Night is also a great resource that fits our bishop’s initiative in the diocese to increase and deepen the prayer life of individuals, families, and community. It is a place of “healing graces” through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Eucharist, and Adoration of the Blessed . Jesus is waiting for us to come and deepen our relationship with Him and with our special devotion to her, Mother Mary leads the way.

Family Prayer Night has always had a special devotion to Our Lady. We honor her in May with a procession and May crowning and promote the devotion of the Brown Scapular. We have a “one of a kind” statue of Our Lady – under the title of “Mother of All Peoples, Mother of the Eucharist”. It was gifted to us and was carved from wood by Mr. Leo Moroder from the Province of Bolzano, Italy. Her mission is to bring graces for the healing and restoration of families the world over and to bring us to conversion and reconciliation with her Son, Jesus. We also have a life-sized photographic image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Divine Mercy Celebration

After years of devotion to Mary “Mother of Mercy”, it is not surprising that Our Blessed Mother led Family Prayer Night to “Jesus of Mercy” by sponsoring the first “Celebration of Divine Mercy”. From 1995, five years before it was an official Church feast, until 2019, Family Prayer Night sponsored a Divine Mercy Celebration at St. Agnes Church. It became well known and well attended, with our Bishop, David Ricken as the celebrant in the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Through those who attended and the dissemination of Divine Mercy materials to area parishes and schools, the message of Divine Mercy was promoted over the past 24 years! It is our hope that through our efforts, the Divine Mercy Message and Devotion became better known.

Additional Family Prayer Night Activities

• Hosted a Marian Movement for Priests Cenacle with Fr. Gobbi in 1994
• Hosted special Healing Mass with Fr. Chris Crotty
• Regularly donated funds to Paul’s Food Pantry, the Carmelite Nuns, and an Adopted Parish in India
• Offered a group retreat Consecration to Merciful Love by Fr. Michael Gaitley
• Distributed Fatima Centennial Prayer/info packets to the families of Holy Family School
• Distributed Divine Mercy Prayer/info packets to students/families at Holy Family, St. Joseph, and Holy Cross Schools in Green Bay
• Held an “Our Lady of Guadalupe” Celebration/procession
• Hosted a “Mother of Mercy Messengers” Evening
• Sponsored the National Traveling Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima at St. Agnes in partnership with the Holy Rosary Society
• Planned and attended Eucharistic Rosary Processions in partnership with the St. Agnes Holy Rosary Society

Other Fruits of Family Prayer Night

Other fruits of Family Prayer Night have been evident in the works of members who have been inspired by Our Lord or Our Lady to do their work. Thus, from members’ efforts and other like minded people came a Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Sts. Peter and Paul Church these last 20 years; organized bus trips to Marian Conferences and healing Masses; The Rosary Confraternity at St. Agnes (5 years old) that is the fastest growing in the nation and the largest in the Midwest Region; and volunteer support for scheduling, making Adoration possible at St. Agnes Church.

Most touching of all however, are the personal testimonies of people who have been drawn to Family Prayer Night and have experienced peace and conversion and/or healing in their spiritual journeys. Within these stories, one can also see how interconnected we as the “Family of God” and how our relationships within our own individual families as well as our extended “Family of God” are becoming more loving and holy.

Thank you, Holy Mother for your inspiration, guidance, and gentle hand in leading us to closer relationships within our families through a closer relationship with you and your Son Jesus!


Prayer Requests

When you submit a request, you can be assured that your intentions are being prayed for over our Family Prayer Night prayer chain.

Submit Prayer Request




Come Pray With Us


Family Prayer Night
St. Agnes Catholic Church
1484 Ninth Street
Green Bay, Wisconsin 54304
Mondays (Check Bulletin)
Doors open at 6:00 p.m.
Confessions are available.
Rosary at 6:30 p.m.
Mass at 7:00 p.m.
Adoration at 7:30 p.m.