Parish crafters ship 100,000 homemade rosaries worldwide

When Pat and Nick Ferrese traveled to Baltimore in 1995 to see Pope John Paul II and visit family, they cheered as the future saint passed right by them outside Camden Yards. Another spiritual surprise still awaited Pat on the trip.

A relative offered to teach her how to make chain-link rosaries, and Pat eagerly agreed.

She was immediately hooked. Pat now leads a rosary-making ministry at Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Beaver, whose members have made more than 100,000 rosaries. They have been distributed free of charge worldwide.

“We know that in the Bible it says, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ Any success of this ministry is in the hands of the Lord and the Blessed Mother,” Pat said.

When she managed an ear, nose and throat clinic at Children’s Hospital, she received many requests for her homemade rosaries. She is always ready to give them away.

After retiring, Pat joined the Marian Guild of Saint Peter and Paul Parish (now Our Lady of the Valley Parish) and hosted a meeting in 2015 to teach interested people how to make chain-link and corded rosaries.

The ministry now averages 20 members at its twice-monthly meetings at Saints Peter and Paul Church. There, members receive supplies to make rosaries at home and help to package and prepare rosaries for shipping. They also count beads and cut cord to be crafted into rosaries. 

Rosaries are often packaged with prayer cards that Nick creates. Members also make chaplets that honor saints, including Padre Pio, Saint Michael, and Saint Patrick.

Over cups of coffee and rosary beads, life-changing friendships have formed, Pat said. Members talk and request prayer. One woman began bringing her autistic son. He initially kept to himself but, over time, the young man learned to distinguish bead colors, expanded his vocabulary, and now greets Pat with a huge hug.

Pat has given rosary-making demonstrations at other parishes and teaches the craft monthly at Saint Blaise Church (Saint Augustine Parish).

Brighton First, a mental health treatment organization in Beaver, funds many rosary-making materials. Our Lady’s Rosary Makers  in Kentucky provides discounted supplies. Pat’s group returns completed rosaries to them, as well as to the Michigan-based Saint Paul Street Evangelization, for worldwide distribution. They have also sent 2,000 rosaries to the diocesan mission in Chimbote, Peru.

“We responded to the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Mother. That was the call,” Pat said. 

Pat knows the power of the Rosary. Three years ago, she suffered from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, clutching her rosary tightly through all treatments. During a bout of extreme pain, she fervently prayed the Rosary and meditated on the Pieta, the image of Mary holding the crucified Jesus.

“I asked her, ‘Mother, is there room on your lap for me too?’” In her heart, Pat heard the reply: “Ask my Son.”

The pain went away. 

Through the joyful, sorrowful, luminous, and glorious mysteries of the Rosary, Pat said that she has come to better know the Lord and to see His hand in the mysteries of her own life. 

“Mary gave us the Rosary to honor her son. That’s what the Rosary does— it completely points us to her Son. If you want to get to know Our Lord, say the Rosary.” 

Become a Rosary maker

Keating Hall, Saints Peter and Paul Church (Our Lady of the Valley Parish):

• Dates: Oct. 1 and 15; Nov. 5 and 19

• Meeting time: 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m

Saint Blaise Church (Saint Augustine Parish):

• Dates: Oct. 21 and Nov. 25

• Meetings begin after 8 a.m. Mass in the church.