By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic
ALLEN — Beads clicked against tabletops as parishioners threaded them into rosaries, pausing for conversation and laughter as children and adults worked side by side. At St. Jude Catholic Parish on Aug. 26, more than 100 people took part in an effort that combined fellowship and faith, ultimately producing 600 World Mission Rosaries to be donated to people attending the Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in St. Louis, Missouri.
Paula Mattei, a St. Jude parishioner of 11 years and a member of the Diocese of Dallas Diocesan Mission Team, helped organize the effort. Mattei and fellow parishioner Raymond Corral were asked to represent St. Jude on the team, which promotes awareness of The Pontifical Mission Societies, a worldwide network that supports missions and young churches in 1,000 territories.
The Pontifical Mission Societies launched a nationwide effort May 1 to gather 75,000 World Mission Rosaries for people attending Archbishop Sheen’s beatification. The organization encouraged individuals and groups to contribute 1,000 or more rosaries, noting the cost of making or purchasing them in such quantities and asking communities to contribute what they could. Each rosary will be blessed before the beatification.
The World Mission Rosary was designed by Archbishop Sheen in 1951 during his tenure as national director of The Pontifical Mission Societies. Each decade represents a different part of the world where missionaries continue to share the Good News of Jesus.
The rosary uses five colors to represent different parts of the world: green for Africa; blue for the islands of the Pacific; white for Europe, home of the Holy Father; red for the Americas; and yellow for Asia.
Once she learned of the initiative, Mattei approached Father Andrew Semler, pastor of St. Jude, and Mary Boyle, parish administrator, about participating in the national effort.
“The response was overwhelmingly positive,” Mattei said.
Annie Nguyen, a St. Jude parishioner who makes rosaries, also saw an opportunity to bring others into the project. She learned about the national effort from a priest who knew of her rosary making and ordered 50 rosaries to make for the beatification herself.
“Oh, this is amazing!” Nguyen recalled saying. “I think it’s a great opportunity for me and my Welcome Sisters to get together to make it.”
Nguyen and the Welcome Sisters, a group of women who have participated in the parish’s biannual “Welcome” retreat, began preparing for the project. After a trial run, Nguyen joined Mattei in organizing the larger parish effort.
“Annie was very instrumental in helping me,” Mattei said, “and spent many hours of her own time preparing the materials and inspecting them to ensure they were just right.”
Because of the limited time available, Mattei initially suggested that St. Jude’s parishioners make 250 rosaries. Boyle later asked whether the parish could increase the goal to 500 after seeing the enthusiasm for the project.
The parish met that goal, ultimately producing 600 rosaries. Several of Nguyen’s group had already made a total of 50 before the Aug. 26 gathering, while another 50 rosaries came from St. Jude parishioner Laura Ullsphar.
Once completed, the rosaries would be shipped to St. Louis, where they will be blessed and distributed to those attending the beatification. Mattei said attendees will pray the World Mission Rosary before the beatification Mass and can continue using the rosaries after the event.
The Aug. 26 gathering at St. Jude was organized as a come-and-go event. Four stations were set up in the parish hall’s lecture room, with two additional stations in the lobby. As more people arrived, two more tables were added, according to Mattei.
“I was blown away by the response,” said Mattei, who estimated that around 100 people participated. “I was especially inspired and warmed to see men and women of all ages participating as well as families with young children helping.”
Among those families was Krista Kelley, who attended with her children, including 7-year-old Fulton.
Fulton was nearly given a different name, according to Kelley. Two weeks before his birth, the family began looking for a Catholic name and eventually chose Fulton from a list of Catholic boys’ names.
“I had heard of Fulton Sheen. I didn’t know a whole lot about him, but I knew he was a very popular TV figure and just a great evangelist,” she said. “Once we decided to name him Fulton, we started learning more about Archbishop Sheen.”
The connection gave special meaning to the family’s participation in the project, as Fulton helped make rosaries honoring the archbishop who shares his name.
The parish’s participation reflected the missionary focus of The Pontifical Mission Societies.
“One in Christ, United in Mission” is the motto this year for The Pontifical Mission Societies, according to Mattei.
“Including the St. Jude parish community in making these rosaries fit perfectly in connecting our parish to this missionary spirit as well as being a small part of honoring one of the greatest evangelists in American history,” she said.
The effort also connected the parish with The Pontifical Mission Societies’ World Mission Sunday, which will be observed Oct. 18 and is a focus of the Diocese of Dallas Diocesan Mission Team.
Cutline for featured image: On Aug. 26, St. Jude Catholic Church parishioners gathered to craft more than 500 rosaries to be donated to attendees of the Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. (MICHAEL GRESHAM/The Texas Catholic)
