Editor's Desk: Rosary Makers Needed

By Michael F. Flach
Herald Editor
(From the issue of 10/28/04)

As the Month of the Rosary comes to a close, a special appeal is being made for volunteers to help provide 200,000 rosaries to missionaries worldwide.

The Family Rosary is joining forces with Lewis & Company, a rosary parts supplier in Troy, N.Y., in addressing the urgent need for rosaries to help missionaries. The two groups will provide a free missionary rosary kit to all people who would like to help the missionaries. This is part of Lewis & Company’s 55^th anniversary and a thank you for years of success. Anyone interested in participating in the Missionary Rosary Project can call 800-342-2400 and a free rosary kit will sent immediately.

Susan Wallace, the Family Rosary’s director of marketing, said her group distributed more than 800,000 rosaries from June 2003 through July 2004. "However, we had requests for more than 1 million and could not fulfill them due to inadequate supply," she said. "We know that this program through Lewis & Company will help achieve the goal of filling each and every request for rosaries from around the world."

The Family Rosary’s "Rosaries for the World" program was started by Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., also known as the "rosary priest." Father Peyton founded the Family Rosary in 1942 in Albany, N.Y. The organization is now part of Holy Cross Family Ministries based in North Easton, Mass. It promotes family prayer, particularly the rosary, in 16 counties worldwide. Father Peyton, who is a candidate for sainthood, believed that "the family that prays together stays together."

Lewis & Company is a family-run business that does not have the manpower to put thousands of rosaries together. But it does have supplies and is willing to donate them. The company has committed $5,000 to the rosary project but needs volunteers to assemble the rosaries. The rosary kit includes beads, crucifix, centerpiece, spacers, cord and instructions. After assembling the rosary, the participant can mail it in the pre-addressed envelope. Lewis & Company will then send all finished rosaries to the Family Rosary for distribution to needy families around the world.

For more information on Lewis & Company, visit www.rosaryparts.com. The Family Rosary can be found at www.familyrosary.org.

Bishop Loverde Issues Strong Challenge

On page seven in last week’s issue, Bishop Paul S. Loverde issued a strong challenge to diocesan Catholics as they prepare to perform their civic duty on Nov. 2.

"To be a faithful Catholic necessarily means that one is pro-life and not pro-choice," the bishop said. "To be pro-choice essentially means supporting the right of a woman to terminate the life of her baby, either pre-born or partially born. No Catholic can claim to be a faithful member of the Church while advocating for, or actively supporting, direct attacks on innocent human life. In reality, protecting human life from conception to natural death is far more than a Catholic issue. It is an issue that cuts across denominational lines. It is an issue of fundamental morality, rooted in both the natural moral law and the divine law. Because of this, no other issue is objectively more important. Therefore, both as citizens and as Catholics, we can never give up our efforts to eliminate the killing of innocent, defenseless human beings."

Bishop Loverde also has written a pre-election letter that appears on page three in this week’s issue. The letter will be inserted in parish bulletins this weekend as well. — M.F.F.

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