Hollywood actor J. Omar Castro will be present at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria on Sunday, May 3, for a Marian prayer event that includes the screening of a segment of the new release “Rosary Stars: Praying the Gospel.”

Family Theater Productions announced this week that Castro — one of 21 young adult celebrities featured on the new DVD praying the rosary and reflecting on its importance in their daily lives — has agreed to travel to Peoria to give a witness talk in both English and Spanish at the service.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, has invited all Catholics of the diocese to the cathedral for the special rosary prayer event that begins with a procession at 3:30 p.m. The service — part of the period of preparation for the diocesan Year of the Rosary that opens Aug. 15 — will also include prayer of a decade of the rosary as screened from the film, Marian hymns, and Castro’s witness talk.

Castro has appeared in nine feature films and 14 television shows, including “The Young and the Restless,” “Desperate Housewives,” and “Without a Trace.” Those attending the May 3 event may greet Castro and purchase the DVD at a reception with cookies and punch to follow the service in the new Spalding Pastoral Center. The events are free and open to the public.

The new DVD was released in February by Family Theater Productions, which is a member ministry of Holy Cross Family Ministries. The ministries — founded by the “Rosary Priest” and Catholic media pioneer Father Patrick Peyton, CSC — are assisting the Diocese of Peoria with the Year of the Rosary, its preparatory period, and a major celebration of the rosary that will climax the year in 2010.

Other celebrities featured on “Rosary Stars” include Major League baseball players Jeff Suppan and Mike Sweeney, actress and former Miss America Ali Landry, and Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculee Ilibagiza.

The DVD includes personal reflections by all 21 celebrities, interactive teaching tools and historical timeline of the rosary, and each celebrity praying a decade of the rosary. It is designed to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Rosary and the Mysteries, especially among teenagers, young adults and families.

Those are similar goals to those set by Bishop Jenky for the Year of the Rosary in the diocese.

“I ask all of our pastors, with their parish leaders, to begin prayerfully discussing ways to make the rosary a more essential part of our lives,” Bishop Jenky wrote last August. “Rather than creating new initiatives or programs, I am asking all of the faithful to consider ways that the rosary can be more a part of our current ministries, and more a part of our daily lives.”

More information on the Rosary Stars event and preparations for the coming Rosary Year is available from the diocesan Office of Family Life, (309) 671-1550.

More information on the DVD, including a trailer of the new release and information on purchasing, can be found online at www.rosarystars. org.