Our Lady’s Rosary Makers/Become a Rosary Maker

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The 15 promises of the rosary

  1. “Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive powerful graces.”
  2. “I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.”
  3. “The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.”
  4. “It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.”
  5. “The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.”
  6. “Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.”
  7. “Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.”
  8. “Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.”
  9. “I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.”
  10. “The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.”
  11. “You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.”
  12. “All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.”
  13. “I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.”
  14. “All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.”
  15. “Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.”

Our Lady’s Rosary Makers was founded in 1949 by Brother Sylvan Mattingly, C.F.X. This Xaverian Brother taught people to make rosaries on the premise that they would make rosaries and distribute them freely to missionaries. Our Mission, set forth by our founder, Brother Sylvan, who envisioned a world in which all God’s children, possessing an instrument of peace and comfort, would work to fulfill Our Lady’s requests at Fatima, to pray the Rosary daily, is to provide those in need of a Rosary with one.

OLRM provides low cost materials, resources, and support in the spirit of Br. Sylvan’s mission and vision. We are a member driven, non-profit, Catholic lay apostolate within the Archdiocese of Louisville. Our diverse and active members spread devotion through the Immaculate Heart of Mary by making and sharing the Rosary with the world’s spiritually needy.

OLRM publishes FREE instructions for making rosaries. How to make a rosary instructions are available for cord and wire rosaries. In addition to these two there are some instructions for variations on these methods.   Printable, online, and video instructions of making rosaries are offered directly on this site below.You may also order FREE copies in bulk, or a DVD for $8.50, through our Online Rosary Parts Catalog.

OUR HISTORY 

Long haunted by the urgency of Mary’s words at Fatima, Brother Sylvan, C.F.X., decided in May 1949 to do something extra for Our Lady. He began to teach children how to make rosaries for the missions.

Inspired by Our Lady’s words, and having seen letters from missionaries around the world, he knew of the great need for rosaries in the mission fields.

He thought: The missionary can teach his people Christianity, he can offer the Mass for his people, but what happens when he’s off caring for others? With a few rosaries arriving he could now leave a symbol of the Faith to his people. Even though they could neither read nor write, they could pray the rosary.

Letters began pouring in from missions all over the world. The need was really greater than anyone had imagined.

Brother made a trip to Denver to teach ten people there. This group grew and spread the word to others as far away as a small town in Minnesota. Inspired people of Detroit started a group which today sends over 100,000 rosaries a year to the missions.

He set up a small office in a basement room at St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky and named his slow-forming club “Our Lady of Fatima Rosary Making Club.”. An elderly couple donated $25 for a typewriter to communicate with missionaries and club members.

In 1951 Brother asked Father Bertrand Rapp, newly ordained parish priest, to take over the duties as Chaplain to the Club. On a cold winter night in December, after working all day to build a fieldstone “Grotto for Mary”, Brother Sylvan died.

Father Rapp worked tirelessly to continue Brother’s work. Teaching here, arranging for volunteers somewhere else. He spent his vacations in Rosary Club endeavors, unselfishly working for Mary. By 1954 membership had grown to 2,500 adults and many children in schools across the nation.

With growth came the need for more capacity to serve our members. Brother Sylvan had a difficult time raising that first $25 for a typewriter, and with growth, there were more expenses. Thirty-four thousand dollars for a bead mold; twenty thousand for a die to mold the needed crucifixes and centers. Wire had to be bought in half ton lots for maximum economy. Where does all the money come from?

Our Blessed Mother inspires, but she doesn’t make it easy; yet the answer came simply enough. The deficit is made up by the Club making catalog sales to those rosary-makers who wish to make a nice gift rosary for a friend or relative. The profit from these catalog parts help make up the mission loss.

Annual members dues of $2 help pay for our newsletter, Our Lady’s Messenger, with the remainder going into the deficit fund. Invariably when there is need, someone helps with a small donation; sometimes a large one.

Today the club has grown from its humble origins to be the world’s leading mission Rosary apostolate. A new International Rosary Center was built in 1968.  Today the center is more than double its original size. OLRM staff work diligently five days a week processing and filling orders for rosary supplies, as well as, connecting members with missionaries and missions in need of rosaries.

The International Rosary Center houses our operations, showroom, and Our Lady’s Chapel – in which we pray our morning rosary. The Blessed Sacrament is present and we have a monthly Mass on the First Saturday in honor of Brother Sylvan and all Club members

Mother of Sorrows

Sorrows_Small_Image

Mother of Sorrows
Patron of: Grief

When we are overwhelmed with grief, we turn to Mary, Mother of Jesus for help in our suffering. Throughout her life she endured much pain and sorrow and is fully able to empathize with anyone’s personal anguish. She endured the shame of being pregnant and unmarried, being poor, homelessness and having her only son unjustly imprisoned and executed. Most astonishing, Mary knew what was to befall her son yet had to see these events from God’s point of view and have faith that this was all for the good of mankind.

By meditating on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, a devotion from the Middle Ages, which uses scenes from the life of the Virgin Mother as a meditation on accepting the sorrowful part of life with grace.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are:

1) The Prophecy of Simeon. As a young child, when his parents presented him in the temple, Jesus was met by the holy man Simeon who predicted everything that would happen to him in his address to Mary: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted – and you yourself a sword will pierce so that thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35).

2) The Flight into Egypt. In Bethlehem, after the birth of Christ, Joseph had a vision of an angel warning him of the impending slaughter of any male child under the age of two by King Herod in order to prevent the coming Messiah. The Holy Family had to travel a secretive route to Egypt and remain in that country until Herod died. Mary not only worried for the welfare of her own son but mourn for the murdered children left behind.

3) The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple. While on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the 12 year old Jesus vanished from his family. His heartsick parents finally found him three days later, arguing with elders in the temple.

4) The Meeting of Jesus with His Cross. Mary watched helplessly as her son was ridiculed and mocked as he stumbled, carrying the cross he was to be executed on.

5) The Crucifixion. As he was nailed to the cross, most of his disciples ran away. Mary never wavered as she stood at the foot of the cross, witnessing her son’s agony and death.

6) Jesus Taken Down from the Cross. Mary held her dead son’s wound covered body. This, her greatest sorrow is known as the “Pieta”.

7) The Burial of Jesus. As the stone was rolled, closing up his tomb, Mary had to say her final goodbye to her earthly son. Her faith had to be sincerely tested as there was no hint of the resurrection to come.
Prayer

Most holy and afflicted Virgin, Queen of Martyrs, you stood beneath the cross, witnessing the agony of your dying son. Look with a mother’s tenderness and pity on me, who kneel before you. I venerate your sorrows and I place my requests with filial confidence in the sanctuary of your wounded heart. Present them, I beseech you, on my behalf to Jesus Christ, through the merits of his own most sacred passion and death, together with your sufferings at the foot of the cross. Through the united efficacy of both, obtain the granting of my petition. To whom shall I have recourse in my wants and miseries if not to you, Mother of Mercy? You have drunk so deeply of the chalice of your son, you can compassionate our sorrows. Holy Mary, your soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow at the sight of the passion of your divine son. Intercede for me and obtain from Jesus (mention your request) if it be for his honor and glory and for my good. Amen.