A local gathering of Americans Pray the Rosary will be held at noon Saturday at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, Bertsch St., Lansford.

People will be praying in Panther Valley at the same time and elsewhere.“We believe Blessed Mother wants us to pray in public so other people can see us pray, and pray with us,” said organizer Pat Rabayda of Summit Hill. “Especially at this time in America, we need prayers. We have, all around us, people who are trying to take God out of our nation. We need to put God back into our nation, into our government. We need to not be afraid to say the name of Jesus Christ. We are here in a free country, but our freedoms are being taken away from us. We need to pray for all of that.”