A Little Penance Goes a Long Way
Three years ago my wife went to confession and was given the penance of saying five Hail Marys.
“Sorry,” Jennifer told Father Michael, our parochial vicar. “I can’t do that. I can’t pray to Mary.”
Over time, from various books and teachings originating outside of the Catholic Church, both my wife and I developed the belief that praying to anyone other than the Blessed Trinity was wrong. Not the saints, not angels, and certainly not Mary. Fr. Michael, always smiling and rarely flustered, suggested, “Well, pretend you’re talking to a good friend.”
Again, Jennifer declined, prompting what ended up being the first and only penance negotiation I’ve ever known to take place in a confessional.
Her original penance, however, had a lasting effect on both of us. Fr. Michael continued to recommend the Rosary to us in his most gentle of ways and more importantly he prayed for us, that we would develop acceptance of Mary’s prayer of the Gospels.
Over the next few weeks, the Blessed Virgin became the focus of conversations Jennifer and I had with others. Books and articles kept finding their way to our nightstands and email inboxes. The people we talked to, the things we read, all worked at softening our hearts to the mother of God. Timidly, we prayed a Hail Mary, then tried a decade, and quickly made our way to praying a complete Rosary, focusing on the Mysteries and growing closer to Jesus in the process. As a cradle Catholic, it was a practice I hadn’t participated in for years, but for my wife who was fairly new to the faith, it was a landmark event. Where we once considered it borderline blasphemous, we began to see the Rosary as a beautiful blessing.
An Army for the One
During my own visit to Fr. Michael’s confessional the following summer, his all-twine, knotted Rosary caught my eye. Shortly thereafter, in September of 2002, I tried making a similar Rosary and was instantly addicted. My love and excitement for the Rosary and the Mysteries it contains multiplied a thousand fold.
In the following months I tried to enlist others to also make these kinds of Rosaries, but no one was interested. I’d talked with my friend, Ken Dawson (who refused to make even a single knot), about wanting to produce high-quality Rosary-making instructions and providing a way for people to request all-twine, knotted Rosaries for free. It seemed impossible, but then our Blessed Mother took charge.
In March of 2003, Ken and I were invited to work on a teen retreat focusing on the Rosary and Pope John Paul II. During the retreat I pointed out to Ken how I started making Rosaries in September of 2002 and then in October our great pope declared the Year of the Rosary.
Ken said, “I wonder how many other people Mary got to start making Rosaries.”
At that moment, Rosary Army was born.
A Year of Rosaries
In our first year of operation thousands of free, all-twine, knotted Rosaries were distributed around the world to anyone who requested one from our website. At the June 2003 Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta, Georgia, Rosary Army gave away nearly 800 all-twine, knotted Rosaries in a single day. We've made custom Rosaries for disabled people, sent bundles of Rosaries free of charge to Catholic college students making missions to foreign countries, and provided Rosaries for soldiers, patients, religious orders, and lay people. Our Rosaries have been sent to all fifty of the United States as well as Malaysia, Africa, South America, Europe, India, Haiti, Iraq, and elsewhere.
More importantly, we’ve taught others how to do the same thing. Our Rosary-making workshops, online videos and instructions have taught hundreds of people how easy it is to make these types of Rosaries to freely give away to others.
Our goal is to remove every obstacle a person may have to praying the Rosary, including giving them a free Rosary of their own. We do this by living by our motto: Make Them. Pray Them. Give Them Away.
In an effort to keep in motion the momentum set during the Year of the Rosary, we welcome new soldiers interested in making, praying, and giving away all-twine, knotted Rosaries. For more information about this Army for Christ, please visit their website.
Greg Willits is the executive director and co-founder of Rosary Army, a non-profit Catholic apostolate dedicated to making, praying, and giving away all-twine, knotted Rosaries, and encouraging others to do the same. To have Rosary Army visit your parish or group to present a talk and Rosary-making workshop, visit their website or contact Greg at greg@rosaryarmy.com.
