By AnnaMarie Prono
The Brooklyn Queens Diocese supports a Lay Ministry Program in conjunction with local parishes. It’s a wonderful opportunity to deepen your faith and to understand the many aspects of the Catholic Church, and most importantly, the Bible. One of the goals of this three-year program is to prepare participants to be lay ministers within their parishes. These new lay ministers will join existing parish ministries or start their own ministry, fulfilling the needs of their parish.
A friend and colleague, Martha Rickey, is considering a Rosary Ministry. She offered to teach interested members of our class. A month after our classes finished, we met for a lesson in crafting the prayer beads. More than half the class showed up, some bringing friends. Rosary 101 began with the Hail Mary, followed by the singing of “Ave Maria.”
Martha came to the classroom armed with faceted beads, waxed cord in three different colors and crucifixes, also in three colors. Passionate about her craft, Martha, a retired school teacher shared her experience. After a fellow parishioner at St. Margaret’s Church, Middle Village, taught her how to string beads, she has constructed over 700 rosaries. She gives them to friends and family, and created keepsakes for the Confirmation class at St. Margaret’s. Very organized, she has devised her own assembly-line system at home, where she puts together rosaries.
Martha gave us the basic requirements for one rosary:
- Six feet of waxed cord
- One crucifix
- Six beads for the Our Father prayers
- Fifty-three beads for the Hail Mary prayers
She showed us how to make the basic knot using a plastic rosary-making tool by Our Lady’s Rosary Makers. This is also where she buys the waxed cord and crucifixes, all of which she generously supplied for our session. After the first knot, we added 10 beads for the first decade, followed by a knot and an Our Father bead and another knot. The remaining four decades followed this sequence. Martha introduced another type of knot to use to close the loop, and the cross was added in this last step.
Most of us completed one or two full rosaries and Martha encouraged everyone to take home supplies from her abundant rosary ministry stash. She explained that the goal is to put more rosaries into the hands of others and encourage devotion to Our Blessed Mother. And she cautioned, “You never charge anyone money for a rosary.”
There are various Rosary Ministry Projects from which one can choose. Some support prisons, soldiers and missions. And there is always the opportunity to start your own.
Although Martha shared that she is also considering other ministries, she imparted her zeal for the craft on the people she taught. It will be interesting to see where the Spirit leads others and how many Rosary Ministries sprout up.
AnnaMarie Prono and Martha completed the first year of the Lay Ministry Program. They have two more years to go.