If you already read the story of the Rosary Makers of Weston, you know how they helped me begin to understand what One Million Rosaries in One Million Hands could look like.
Their work inspired Mater Rosae to support the making and distribution of missionary Rosaries. But it also planted another idea in my heart:
What if we could do something similar here in Rye?
I wanted to bring people in our own community together to make Rosaries, to pray, to serve and, ultimately, to help put more Rosaries into more hands.
I just needed someone who knew how to make them!
And Then Came Karen
I met Karen Granucci through Walking with Purpose at the Church of the Resurrection in Rye.
As our friendship grew, I learned that Karen had been making Rosaries and rosary chaplets herself. She would sometimes leave them at churches, especially near statues of Our Lady, hoping that someone who needed a Rosary would find one.
I immediately saw the connection.
I told Karen about my desire to bring Rosary Makers to Rye and invited her to join me.
And so we started very simply.
After our Walking with Purpose sessions, we would stay together and learn how to make missionary Rosaries. We practiced the knots, worked with the beads and cord, made mistakes, tried again and little by little learned together.
And soon, opportunities began to appear for us to share what we were learning with others.
Bringing Rosary Making Into Our Community
One of our first opportunities was with middle school students preparing for Confirmation. I invited Karen to join me, and together we taught the students how to make missionary Rosaries as part of their community service.
We later brought rosary-making to an Aging Gracefully gathering here in Rye.
These were relatively small experiences, but they showed us something important.
Rosary making could bring together different generations around faith, service and community.
And we wanted to keep going.
Then Came Our First Big Project
We learned that volunteers across the country were being asked to help make 75,000 World Mission Rosaries in preparation for the Beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
The World Mission Rosary has a particularly beautiful connection to Archbishop Sheen because he created it himself in 1951 as an invitation to pray for the entire world.
We decided to make a commitment:
1,000 World Mission Rosaries from Rye.
One thousand!
Once again, the number felt a little crazy.
And once again, the pieces began to come together.
A generous parishioner, Juan, donated the supplies needed to make the 1,000 Rosaries possible.
And our community began responding.
People joined us to make Rosaries. Others picked up supplies and made them from home. Cindy Dapolites generously opened her home to us, giving the Rosary Makers a place to gather, make Rosaries together and continue working toward our goal.
Little by little, more people began contributing in different ways.
What started with Karen and me sitting together learning how to make missionary Rosaries began to involve many more hands.
And that is exactly what I had hoped Rosary Makers in Rye could become.
And This Is Only the Beginning
The 1,000 World Mission Rosaries are our first big project, but they are not the end of Rosary Makers in Rye.
Beginning with the 2026–2027 school year, we will gather on the first Saturday of every month to make Rosaries together.
Students preparing for Confirmation will be able to participate and earn community service hours, and we welcome anyone in the community who would like to learn, make Rosaries and help us put them into more hands.
For Mater Rosae, this is another beautiful step toward One Million Rosaries in One Million Hands.
Through the Rosaries we have already helped distribute and this commitment of 1,000 World Mission Rosaries, we are on our way to placing approximately 4,000 Rosaries into people's hands in our first eight months.
Four thousand is still a very long way from One Million.
And yet, when I think back to the day during Adoration when I first said, “OK God, let's do this,” I had absolutely no idea how even the first few thousand would happen.
Now I am beginning to see.
Weston showed me what was possible.
Karen helped me bring the idea home to Rye.
Juan made this first big commitment possible.
Cindy opened her home to help us keep going.
And now many more hands are joining us.
This is how the Mission grows.
We are not just making Rosaries.
We are making instruments of prayer.
We are building a bridge between hearts and God.
And we are placing our work into Mary's hands.
One Rosary at a time.
One pair of hands at a time.
One Million Rosaries in One Million Hands.
