EDITOR’S NOTE: World Mission Rosaries made by Rochester’s Discalced Carmelite Sisters and others in the Rochester Diocese will be available at the Sept. 29 Mass during which Bishop John S. Bonnici will receive a relic of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen from the Diocese of Peoria, Ill.
Fifty nine thousand beads.
One thousand pieces of cord.
That’s what the Rochester’s Discalced Carmelite sisters needed for a special mission this summer.
Their task — create 1,000 World Mission Rosaries that will be donated to people attending the Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in St. Louis, Mo.
Carmelite sisters asked to make 1,000 rosaries for beatification
The Carmelite sisters, whose monastery is located on West Jefferson Road in Pittsford, received a letter in May from the Pontifical Mission Society, asking if they could make rosaries for Archbishop Sheen’s beatification. The society was asking monasteries around the U.S. to make at least 1,000 rosaries each, explained Mother Therese Marie of Jesus Crucified, prioress of the Rochester Carmelites. The Pontifical Mission Society needed a total of 70,000 rosaries to distribute at the beatification.
After reading the letter, Mother Therese approached the sisters at the monastery.
“They said, ‘Well, let’s get started. We’ll try,’” she said of their response.
Since the sisters make rosaries throughout the year, they already had such supplies as beads, cord and crucifixes, but they had to order more for the large quantity of rosaries needed.
Women around the diocese lent a hand to the sisters
As the sisters began their task of making 1,000 rosaries, they received a phone call from Kathleen McMahon, secretary for the Offices of the Bishop and Vicar General for the Diocese of Rochester. She read about the nationwide rosary-making effort in an article online and wanted to join the cause, given that Archbishop Sheen was the sixth bishop of Rochester. When Bishop John S. Bonnici and his priest-secretary Father Aaron Kelly told her about the Carmelite sisters’ task, she reached out to them offering some help. Mother Therese said McMahon told them that she knew quite a few people who make rosaries, and that she would be glad to get some people together to help them.
“I thought, ‘Let’s get a few people together and see if we can help them to make that goal,’” McMahon explained.
“So we said, ‘Sure, that would be great,” Mother Therese said of McMahon’s offer.
McMahon reached out to her Bible study groups as well as the women she worked with years ago to organize the diocesan women’s conference. There were women from the Cathedral Community in Rochester, St. Louis Church in Pittsford, Holy Spirit Church in Webster and St. John of Rochester in Fairport who agreed to make rosaries.
“The word kind of spread, and we had about 20 people at least working on rosaries,” she said. “It was really across a lot of (geographical) boundaries.”
McMahon also taught a few rosary-making classes, and within five weeks, she had gathered quite a few rosaries. She even had a friend who had moved from Rochester to Columbus, Ohio, making and sending her rosaries.
Rosary-making group joins in to help Carmelite Sisters
Meanwhile, St. Patrick Church’s Rosary Making Group in Victor also heard about the rosary-making project for the beatification. The group — which started in October 2021 in honor of Mary during the month of the Holy Rosary and has made 3,000 rosaries to date — had already made 200 rosaries for the beatification. So when members heard about the Carmelite sisters’ undertaking, they joined in to make rosaries to help them to reach their goal.
Two of the rosary-making group’s members, Donna Walkley and Rita Martens, remember growing up watching Archbishop Sheen’s television series, “Life is Worth Living.”
“He was very ahead of his time. He was very relevant to those times as well as now,” Martens said of Archbishop Sheen.
“My father would have us all gather and listen to him every night,” recalled Walkley, who grew up in a family of nine. ” His message was always something very positive, and he also always left us laughing and smiling because he had a great sense of humor the way he delivered his message.”
Martens said making the rosaries for the beatification is a way of honoring him.
“It’s going to be special when these (rosaries) are given out to people. It’s so thrilling to be a part of making them for this,” she said.
The Carmelite sisters reach their goal
With St. Patrick’s Rosary Making Group and the various others making rosaries, the Carmelite sisters reached their goal and then some by the end of August.
“I think we’re actually up to 1,100 (rosaries),” McMahon said.
While the majority of the rosaries were boxed up in early September and sent for the beatification, extra rosaries will be available for the public at the monastery.
“So people who are not going to be able to go to the beatification in St. Louis or the festivities in Peoria can still be part of it and have these mission rosaries to pray with as well,” McMahon said.
While the Carmelite sisters are grateful for the many hands that helped them to craft rosaries, they also are honored to have played a role in this special occasion.
“It’s been a real joy to be able to do this,” said Sister Paul.
Tags: Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, Mary, Monroe County East, Religious Orders
