Prayer Vigil...

[From Fox 411]

Whitney's Mom to Lead Prayer Vigil on Drugs

Whitney Houston's mother is taking a stand on her children's substance abuse problems.

Cissy Houston, the great R&B and gospel singer, is leading a prayer vigil next Monday night in Harlem. In a simple announcement on New York radio station KISS-FM Houston called the two-hour event "mothers praying for healing."

"Let us pray for healing and deliverance," Houston said in the recorded message, "for our children affected by substance abuse."

The event will held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Abyssinian Baptist Church. Sources tell me that by Monday Houston and others involved in the planning should have quite a team of performers, celebrities and clergy who will participate. My guess is that Cissy's cousins Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, as well as many other notables, will attend.

For Cissy Houston, who is also a deacon of her own church in East Orange, N.J., this is a heroic decision. Both of her sons have had problems with drugs. Most famously her daughter Whitney is in a downward spiral involving drugs and denial. Two weeks ago she supposedly checked into a rehab facility in Atlanta, only to check out after five days. My sources — as reported here — say she never even went into the program. It's unclear where she is, or who's taking care of her 11-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina. Whitney's husband, Bobby Brown, has spent time in two different jails in the last two months.

So let's pray for Cissy Houston, and hope her candor and courage will be a beacon for lots of other mothers with similar problems — and for Whitney, too.

NEWSFILE: 30 MARCH 2004