April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ROUTE 7
'Rosary Guy' prays for safety of Hoosick Falls commuters
'Rosary Guy' prays for safety of Hoosick Falls commuters
Mr. D'Achille's daily walks along Route 7 in Hoosick Falls worry some relatives and passersby as much as a nicotine habit might. The two-lane road has a 55 m.p.h. speed limit, and scores of semi trucks and commuters speed past each day on their way to and from Vermont.
All of them get a prayer for safety and a shake of Mr. D'Achille's rosary as they pass. For seven years -- ever since his dog died -- the parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church in Hoosick Falls has been walking on Route 7.
In the community, he's become known as "the Rosary Guy."
"I always wave to him," said Christine Guerin of St. Pius X parish in Loudonville, adding that it makes her day to see him during her drive into Vermont for work.
Mr. D'Achille leaves his home along the rural Rensselaer County road each morning and walks a total of two and a half miles, praying the Rosary and the chaplet of Divine Mercy and waving at passing cars.
"I say four Rosaries and the Divine Mercy prayers. That's about one and a half hours," he told The Evangelist.
"If I don't say the Rosary in the morning, there's something missing," he explained. "It's a hole I have to fill up."
Getting in the habit
Mr. D'Achille's devotion to the Rosary began long ago: in 1951, when he left Italy for America with his 12-year-old brother. His mother, Mary, who initially stayed behind, told him: "I have faith in the Blessed Mother, and I have faith these children are going to be OK."
She was right. He ended up living in the Bronx at age 15, and "people were being shot, killed. Nobody did this to me," Mr. D'Achille recalled.
He believes "I had the shield of the Blessed Mother protecting me."
Consequently, Mr. D'Achille has always kept a rosary in his pocket and prayed it constantly.
The young immigrant joined the U.S. Army in the late 1950s; he was stationed in France during the Vietnam War.
"We were in the center of Christian culture," Mr. D'Achille remembered. "My friend Michael and I went to [different] churches every weekend."
The duo also went on a weekend trip to Fatima, Portugal. Mr. D'Achille wrote his name in a book at one church there, pledging to pray the Rosary every day. In the six decades since, he has said between one and 10 Rosaries every day.
Back in France, the soldier visited the Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette. That inspired him to open a bakery in the name of the Blessed Mother when he made it home from the war. In 1964, the La Salette bake shop came to be in New Brunswick, N.J.
All for Mary
Eight years later, the family moved to Hoosick Falls. The D'Achilles bought a small hot dog and hamburger stand and tore it down to build the new La Salette, building a home there, as well, with a connecting garage that became home to a small altar to the Blessed Mother. It became a routine for Mr. D'Achille to light a candle at the homemade shrine every morning.
At that time, the family had three dogs that Mr. D'Achille would walk every day up the side of the mountain in the backyard.
"I used to say the Rosary at the top of the mountain," he recalled. "There's a tree up there [where] I used to hang all the broken rosaries."
When he changed to walking on Route 7, his habit of holding a rosary in his hand evolved into waving the rosary at passing cars.
"If I could get one person a day thinking about the Blessed Mother, that would make my day," he said.
Beep, beep
Many commuters wave or honk their horns at Mr. D'Achille, a response that lets him know people see him praying. Sometimes, people pull over and talk to him, asking what he's doing or if they can buy a rosary from him. For that reason, Mr. D'Achille always carries a few rosaries in his back pocket to give to strangers.
"On many occasions, I have been stopped by the [State] Troopers," he told The Evangelist. The police officers ask whether he's OK, what he's doing and whether he needs a ride. He never accepts, instead choosing to walk in all sorts of weather, from intense heat to blinding snowstorms.
The one thing that keeps the senior citizen indoors is icy roads. He says that, often, his own driveway can be the most treacherous place to walk.
Aside from his strolls, Mr. D'Achille is a catechist and a eucharistic minister at Immaculate Conception and leads an Italian cooking class each year.
"We have fun with that," said Rev. Thomas Zelker, pastor. "I think he wanted to make sauce this year."
Won't stop
The D'Achilles also pray the Rosary in Italian on their way to church for daily Mass, and the Divine Mercy chaplet on their way back.
"Every time we got in the car, my mother said to always say the Rosary" for safe travels, Mr. D'Achille explained. A devotion to Mary is crucial in living a Godly life, he said: "God knows what we need. He tailors us to what we are. We are His children. The decisions you make are based on what the good Lord tells you."
Mr. D'Achille believes the Lord is telling him to Route 7 and pray for passersby.
"I am aware of the dangers that exist on that road," he stated. "I am OK with it. I don't want to get hit -- but, until I am unable to walk, if I could get someone to think of the Blessed Mother, the danger is worth it."
His wife, Carlita, frets, as do the couple's four children and 11 grandchildren.
"You don't know if he falls down. All my kids say the same," Mrs. D'Achille told The Evangelist. But she, too, is confident that the Blessed Mother is watching over her husband.
"They don't want me to do it," Mr. D'Achille said of this family. But "I'm stubborn. I'm 80 years old. What the hell? What do I have to lose?"[[In-content Ad]]
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