One of the most active leaflet distributors of the MICHAEL Journal in the United States, Mr. Peter Sacco, passed away on November 11, 2011, at the age of 76, after an illness of several months.
Mr. Sacco had learned about the Work of MICHAEL about 35 years ago when he picked up a torn leaflet about Fatima lying on the street. From the address found on the leaflet, he immediately subscribed to the "Michael" Journal and remained subscribed ever since.
Once Mr. Sacco understood the Work of MICHAEL and the value of doing the apostolate, he decided to become an active member of the organization himself. He and Mr. Sal Barresi Jr., a close neighbour, organized a group of young people to distribute leaflets house to house in the Everett, MA area every weekend. As they got more experienced, Mr. Sacco and Mr. Barresi, these two giant apostles, teamed up to go around by themselves on bikes and throw the leaflets up to the doors, distributing thousands upon thousands of leaflets on every outing.
Family and friends would come to Mr. Sacco's house during the week to prepare the leaflets for the weekend distribution assaults by putting little rubber bands around each leaflet. Then every Saturday and Sunday morning, when weather permitted, this team was out on the streets in Eastern MA, Southern ME, Southern NH, and Northern RI distributing leaflets. As you can probably guess, they were so well organized that they were able to pass millions of leaflets within a 33 year period. At Mr. Sacco's funeral, the figure of 5 million was given. But looking at our records, it could be much more.
Whatever the figure, Mr. Sacco was a consecrated Slave of Jesus through Mary according to the formula of Saint Louis Marie de Montfort. And he understood that nothing done for the salvation of souls is ever lost. For sure, there were many conversions that took place because of all the leaflets that had been distributed.
I remember Mr. Sacco telling me one time that a Protestant minister decided to become a Catholic after reading several of the leaflets that Mr. Sacco and Mr. Barresi had distributed. And the leaflets on monetary system and against unjust laws also obtained good outcomes.
And not only was Mr. Sacco an active apostle, he was also a man of prayer. Every morning at 4:00 a.m., Mr. Sacco would arise, seven days a week, to make two holy hours in his kitchen before walking to church to open the doors to make another holy hour and attend daily Mass. And he always prayed the Rosary while he drove his van.
What we really liked about Mr. Sacco was that he was not only a good practicing Catholic and an active apostle, but he was always loyal to the Directors of MICHAEL, remaining in humility, a man never to boast about himself. And his house was always open to receive the full-time Pilgrims when they would do apostolate work in his area, a place we could always rely on, Mr. Sacco himself preparing many of the meals. Mr. Sacco was truly a pillar for the Work of MICHAEL in the Massachusetts area.
For sure he will be missed! But we have the consolation of knowing that he lived his life in the service of God and his neighbour. So until we meet him again over the veil, we bid him our farewell with the words: "A job well done, Mr. Sacco!"
Melvin Sickler
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