Keepers of the Fire did just that Oct. 24 outside Transfiguration Church in Oakdale, where throughout the afternoon and into the evening, men gathered around the parish fit pit and prayed for young people in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who at the same time were attending the annual archdiocesan youth rally in downtown St. Paul.

“I’m here because I believe in the power of prayer,” said Chris Marsh, 34, a technical instructor for computer company Cray. “Prayer absolutely matters.”

Six, 10, 12 or 15 men circled the flames at various times, praying aloud together, praying privately, and listening as individuals offered prayers. Thousands of young people simultaneously were praying, singing and otherwise taking part in the youth rally at Roy Wilkins Auditorium at St. Paul’s RiverCentre.

Marsh, a Transfiguration parishioner who is the father of a toddler and an infant, said, “You have to be blind not to recognize the need for something to help teens today. It’s overwhelming how much teens have to deal with, how anti-Catholic our culture has become,” he added. “We’re praying to a God who is willing and able to help us out.”

Lyle Kubat, 74, a retired repair technician for IBM and Kodak, had spent several hours around the fire in the late afternoon and early evening. Father of two, grandfather of six and great-grandfather of four with one more on the way, he said he and the group of men had been praying “for our sons and daughters . . . so that they would be faithful to Jesus Christ and good Catholics for a lifetime.”