Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the World Mission Rosary
By Elizabeth M. Brown | Director of the St. Cloud mission office
After reading a Catholic magazine one evening while traveling for work, Marlyn was looking for something to fill his time away from his family and home.
Sparked by an idea in the publication, in late Fall 1978, Marlyn taught himself how to create wire rosaries, 47 of them, which he gave away as gifts to family, Knights of Columbus members and a youth faith formation class. Little did he know that he had begun a metro-wide ministry that has quite literally reached all corners of the world.
When asked if he thought this ministry of rosary making would grow so big and touch so many, his eyes grew big and he humbly smiled.
“No way. Not at all,” he said.
Since Marlyn began this ministry, at least 16 groups and countless individuals have participated and contributed to making rosaries, including a man named Alvin he met through the St. Augustine’s/St. Mary’s Knights of Columbus in 1996. Marlyn recalls that Alvin “took off running” with this new skill, carrying rosary making supplies with him always and making his beloved rosaries wherever he went. Alvin even took the ministry of rosary making to Country Manor (a care center in St. Cloud) to the Alzheimer’s unit where the guests would count and put on the beads and Alvin would tie the knots.
More family members took up the craft and began making rosaries together as a ministry. When Carl brought Mary into the family, she also joined in the rosary making, which may even have been a subtle hint from her future father-in-law for a Friday night date. Well, it worked and Mary was hooked! 
Carl and Mary in turn shared this beautiful ministry with their own family, continuing to create and share hundreds of rosaries with individuals and groups throughout the diocese, United States and the world. When Carl and Mary’s son, Adam, brought Angela to meet the family 20-plus years ago, she was very intrigued by what the family was working on together. Angela decided she wanted to join this wonderful ministry and rosary making was a date night for the two of them.
Now, Adam makes the wire rosaries and Angela makes the cord rosaries “like an Energizer bunny,” the family jokes.
The next generation has joined in with all four of Adam and Angela’s children participating in the process each night while they read together a chapter in a novel before their bedtime.
Mary, who learned rosary making from her husband and step father-in-law, Alvin, is the regional representative responsible for four individual groups of rosary makers who make rosaries all year long. Mary showed me in her binder (gifted to her by Marlyn when she inherited the ministry in 2017) how each group has a separate tab and file kept on record since 1978. The binder includes the type of rosary made, quantities made by individuals in the groups, distribution sites and other significant data.
The people who create these beautiful rosaries are just as colorful and diverse as the rosaries themselves.
Among them are Al and Carol of Little Falls, a husband-and-wife team who dedicate their efforts exclusively to crafting all-black rosaries for prison ministry. Another group, led by Marcia, produces an impressive 5,000 rosaries each year. And then there is Laverne, a dedicated rosary maker who, at age 95, recently passed along her final batch to Mary after declining vision made it difficult to continue.
The St. Rose of Lima Rosary Makers began in 2018 at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Sartell. The ministry was founded by Nita, a Texas native who brought her passion for rosary making with her when she moved to Minnesota and wanted to continue the work in her new parish. After placing a notice in the parish bulletin, interest quickly grew. When it came time to name the group, St. Rose of Lima seemed a natural fit. The saint is the patron of embroiderers, gardeners and florists, and Nita herself shares Rose as a middle name.
Mary and members of her family soon became enthusiastic supporters of the ministry, helping promote the effort throughout the parish and inviting others to participate. Before long, women from across the community began joining the group, including Jill, June, Jane, Althea, Connie, Jennie, Joan, JoAnn, Joanne, Joyce, Julie, Lori, Nadine, Nancy and Renee.
Jill was the very first member to join and remains active today. Joyce and Althea laugh when asked how long they have been involved.
“Four or five years? Five or six years?” they said. “We just enjoy coming.”
Twin sisters Renee and Nadine have been part of the ministry for five years. They were initially drawn to the group because their mother’s name was Rose. Today, they bring along 14-year-old Andy.
Currently, 16 women gather twice each month, on the first and third Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. in Xavier Hall. Several members also continue their rosary making independently at home.
For Mary, the relationships formed through the ministry are just as important as the rosaries themselves.
“Unity is key for us when we are doing our ministry together,” she said. “We can share our faith. We share life experiences. We share joys and challenges. We pray with each other and for each other.”
Since the ministry’s beginning, Knights of Columbus Council 961 has provided funding for supplies purchased through Our Lady’s Rosary Makers, including beads, crucifixes and cording. Creativity has also played a role in the process. The group discovered that pieces from old umbrellas make inexpensive yet effective tools for threading beads. The Knights additionally cover shipping costs, helping ensure the rosaries reach people around the world.
This year alone, rosaries have been distributed to hospitals, nursing homes, homeless shelters, Homeland Security personnel, churches, schools, the St. Cloud Mission Office, prisons, military members and Hispanic communities. They have also been sent to Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America, Haiti, Cuba, Canada, Alaska, India, China, Japan, Africa, Poland, Hungary, the Philippines, Russia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well as to World Missions and the Legion of Mary.
Together, these four current groups, along with Marlyn and several earlier rosary-making ministries, have produced more than half a million rosaries.
Mary hopes the ministry will continue for generations to come.
“I would hate to see the ministry of rosary making die away and be lost,” she said. “It does take a little time to learn, but only two two-hour sessions are needed. Uniting people in prayer around the world is huge.”
In the end, that global mission begins simply, one bead at a time.