Rosary makers work to provide prayer beads for all

Outside St. Anne’s Catholic Church at 1813 S. Maryland Parkway, a group of women gathered to sell baked goods and crafts for a cause dear to their hearts, the rosary.

Groups dedicated to crafting rosaries meet all over the world monthly or as often as weekly. They pay dues and raise money to pay for the purchase of beads, wire and cord to create rosaries. The rosaries they make are distributed free of charge to students in religious education programs, to missions for outreach efforts, to prisons and to people in need.

In the Las Vegas Valley, the art has been passed from members at one parish to another with artists from St. Bridget’s Catholic Church at 220 N. 14th St. teaching members from St. Anne’s, and makers from St. Anne’s passing the art on to those at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church at 2300 Sunridge Heights Parkway in Henderson and others.

St. Anne’s rosary making group meets from 8:15 to 11:30 a.m. every Wednesday. Members say the rosary prayer together, pick up supplies and enjoy coffee, cake and conversation. A few will make a rosary or two at the meetings, but for the most part, members spend their spare time at home assembling them. Simple rosaries can be completed in as little as 20 minutes, more complicated cord, knotted versions can take three hours.

St. Anne’s group member Mary Blaylock said she has no idea how many rosaries she has made during her 19 years in the group. “A friar says we don’t count the number, but as a group I’m sure we’ve made over a million rosaries,” she said.

Blaylock said over the years that the makeup of the group has changed. When she started, members were primarily Caucasian, retired women. Now the group has members of all backgrounds, from Hispanic and Asian to one member from Kenya. And it’s not an all-girls’ club anymore either.

“We have two men there with us most of the time,” Blaylock said. “Every time we’ve lost some people I credit our Blessed Mother with sending more people.”

Rosary makers don’t even have to be Catholic.

“The truth is we’ve had quite a few people who are not Catholic show up and make rosaries,” Blaylock said. “I just assume that our Blessed Mother who wants everyone to say the rosary, she sends people. She taps them on the shoulder and says, ‘Why don’t you go check that out.’ ”

“We’ll teach anyone,” said 18-year St. Anne’s rosary maker Wanda Holman. “And they get to keep the first rosary they make.”

Holman said she used to make about 100 rosaries a week. She injured her hand a while ago but still manages to make 10 a week.

“I like the fact that I’m helping spread the word,” she said. “And it’s a nice group we have here. We’re very diverse as you can see.”

Reasons for joining the groups vary.

Chu Fink has been a member of the St. Anne’s group since 2006. Her primary reason for joining the cause is a love for Mary.

“And the rosary is the gateway to heaven,” Fink said. “And I like the colors. They make me relax. And I have time.”

Maria Ochinang started making rosaries in 2008. She also volunteers as a catechism teacher.

“There are a lot of reasons,” she said. “For me personally, I have a devotion to the Virgin Mary. It’s my way of trying to connect with her. I love to pray the rosary.”

Olive Llave, the youngest member of the St. Anne group, balances rosary making with raising kids.

“My mom came to me one day and said I heard about the rosary group at St. Anne’s. And we just started coming since 2011,” she said.

At St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Henderson, close to 60 members contribute work to the rosary makers group, which meets from 9 to 11 a.m. every first and third Tuesday of the month.

“Usually we send out every month about 1,600 to 2,000 rosaries around the word,” the group’s leader, LeeAnn Capone, said.

Just like the St. Anne’s group, the rosary group at St. Francis is self-sufficient, supported by member dues, bake sales and a big annual rosary sale. The group can’t sell rosaries made from mission beads, those are reserved for donation. But many pull out all the stops to create fancy one-of-a-kind heirlooms.

“We make different types with chain, some with all-cord with knots, those are nice,” Capone said. “One of our rosary makers makes them out of pearls. I love my pearls.”

Other offerings at the annual sale in December typically include rosaries made with gems and crystals. The rosaries sent out to missions are humble, made with mission beads crafted from plastic or glass and sold to rosary makers at-cost for mission use.

“They go out all around the world — India, the Philippines, Africa. It’s promoting prayer,” Capone said. “It makes people feel better. Sometimes the only thing they have is a rosary. Going into poor countries, it helps give people some hope, some faith.”