Abel Le\u00f3n dreaded saying goodbye to his mother, Josefina Le\u00f3n. Last month, Mr. Le\u00f3n and his sister quietly celebrated their mother\u2019s 70th birthday in Springfield, Ill. Mr. Le\u00f3n, 44, who lives in Chicago, wasn\u2019t sure when he would see his mother again amid social distancing. To prolong their goodbye, Mr. Le\u00f3n suggested they say a rosary, a prayer that his mother has said every day for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw how much that seemed to give her some peace,\u201d Mr. Le\u00f3n says. Then inspiration struck. \u201cI said, \u2018you know mom, we could stay in touch doing rosaries.\u2019\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The following evening, March 16, Mr. Le\u00f3n and his three siblings joined their mother on a video conference to begin their new daily practice of saying the rosary, following along with a string of beads that represent the cycle of prayers. \u201cThis was a way we could just check in and be together as a family,\u201d says Mr. Le\u00f3n. \u201cMom is a widow and everyone worries about her.\u201d<\/p>\n
As word spread throughout Mr. Le\u00f3n\u2019s large extended family\u2014his mother is one of 12 siblings\u2014the rosary video-call quickly grew to include relatives spanning Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, California, North Carolina and Mexico. Mr. Le\u00f3n, who works as a corporate-compliance investigator, offers the group technical support. Since his relatives are familiar with different video-conferencing services, Mr. Le\u00f3n props up his iPad in front of his laptop screen, allowing people calling in through different services to see each other. \u201cThey can definitely all hear each other so it ends up working out,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
It takes around 15 minutes for a critical mass of people to join the call at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n On a recent Sunday night, some 25 members of Abel Le\u00f3n\u2019s family dialed in to pray the rosary together https:\/\/t.co\/DpCNRPi62j<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jorge Luis Lopez Esq (@lopezgovlaw) April 22, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n