HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE -- For nearly 20 years, a group of women at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Hot Springs Village has gathered at 10 a.m. each Thursday to pray and help others.
Over homemade snacks and pleasant conversation, they sit at a table and make rosaries by hand.
They send the rosaries all over the world in bundles of 10, with 300 rosaries to a box. Each one takes around 15 minutes to make, but "longer if we are laughing and having a good time, and we love to laugh. We are a really happy group," group member Marge Newburn said.
It's not just compassion that compels them to make the prayer beads; it's religious devotion as well, they said.
"I feel that we love our Blessed Mother, the mother of Jesus Christ. And we love making the rosaries," said one of the women, Mary Lucas.
In addition to Newburn and Lucas, members of the group include Suzie Arnold, Cindy Calhoun, Carol Cruz, Sandy Darnell, Joanne Dejanovich, Jackie Fayman, Carleen Ferguson, Mary Freeman-Moothart, Ann Hooper, Rose Kutsch, Jean Krantz, Elsa Naegar, Tina Overton, Debbie Ritchey and Margaret Bridget Uridge.
The members said making the rosaries becomes comforting once the person is familiar with the beading and knotting processes.
Several in the group make rosaries while watching television.
They say they also enjoy the creative aspects of the process: choosing the colors and shapes of the beads and overall design.
The women cite an unusually high number of little "miracles," when they grab the exact number of beads needed to make a single rosary out of a large bowl of beads.
Each lightweight, plastic rosary features a crucifix and alternating groups of large and small beads meant to be used during prayer to recall specific episodes in the life of Jesus. The women always keep the wearer in mind, making sure to leave the primary loop of the rosary large enough to fit over a person's head.
They said that's important because recipients of the prayer beads often have very few, if any, belongings and want to keep their rosary safe. Each completed piece costs less than 12 cents to make. The group makes three distinct types of rosaries: the typical Advent style, chaplet rosaries for Lent, and knot rosaries.
Once completed, these gifts begin their journey to their new owners. Some go to Christians in foreign countries -- such as India, several South American nations, and even an entire village in Tanzania.
Black, nondescript rosaries are sent to American troops overseas. Prison inmates as far away as California receive white rosaries, so as to avoid association with gang allegiances. They also send prayer beads to orphanages.
However, the women said they will happily make rosaries for anyone who wants them, including nearby churches, neighbors, friends and even strangers close to home.
Lucas said she always keeps at least five rosaries that have been blessed by a priest to give to anyone who wants one, and that anyone, regardless of denomination, can have a rosary.
The group has a thick scrapbook full of heartfelt thank-you letters from grateful rosary recipients around the world. Many of the notes are painstakingly written in careful, broken English. One page even features a delicately, colorfully painted image of Jesus Christ on a leaf from one of the many thankful.
Demand for the rosaries has been so great that the group just recently celebrated making its 100,000th rosary. Once a new batch of rosaries reaches a destination, the group almost always receives a request for more. They know where to send their creations because of a newsletter circulated internationally among other similar rosary-making groups.
One of the challenges the women face in their mission is the high cost of international shipping, they said. This is especially true of remote areas in developing countries. When possible, they try to send as many rosaries as they can with missionaries traveling to such regions so the beads can be taken on their person or in carry-on bags in airplanes.
Though the current participants are all members of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, church membership is not a requirement for joining the group, and they welcome new people.
Metro on 12/26/2018