web1_Letter-to-the-editor1.jpg

Your view: CAC, CASA thanks partners, sponsors

web1_mjh.jpg

Life Deconstructed: Peter gets credit, but Mrs. Cottontail does the work

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Flipping through the pages of a scrapbook filled with news clippings and thank-you notes to the St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers, Joan Ott pointed to a picture of a wounded Marine.</p><p>The Associated Press photo from June 2011 showed the lance corporal, who had been shot in the stomach in Afghanistan, clutching a rosary fashioned from plastic beads and a twine cord.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t know if that is one of ours,&#8221; Ott, 70, of Wilkes-Barre, said on a recent Friday afternoon. &#8220;But it looks very similar to the ones we make.&#8221;</p><p>Seeing that photograph, and sensing that the young man drew comfort from the string of prayer beads, has encouraged the rosary makers to continue their work.</p><p>The group has hand-crafted more than 90,000 rosaries since Helen Parduski of the Miners Mills section of Wilkes-Barre established it in 2001, and many of them have been donated to the military, said Ott, who assumed leadership of the group after Parduski passed away in 2009.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll send 200, 500, or 1,000,&#8221; Ott said. &#8220;Whatever the chaplain says they can use.&#8221;</p><p>The group &#8212; which is comprised of about 18 people &#8212; donates rosaries to prisons and shrines, has helped confirmation classes make their own, and recently accepted a request to make rosaries for people in a poverty-stricken region of India.</p><p>They&#8217;re especially happy to be making rosaries in 2017, because it is the 100th anniversary of what many Catholics believe were apparitions of the Blessed Mother to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal.</p><p>&#8220;World War I was going on and the Blessed Mother said we have to pray the rosary for peace,&#8221; Ott said, adding the three children said the lady told them World War I would end but also predicted the coming of another great war.</p><p>&#8220;The world needs a lot of prayer,&#8221; said rosary maker Millie Krokos, 84, of the Miners Mills section of Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;re weapons of peace,&#8221; Mary Yadrnak, of Exeter, said of the rosaries.</p><p>The traditional way to use a rosary is to hold it and pray a short meditative prayer known as the &#8220;Hail, Mary,&#8221; as you progress along most of the beads, alternating with an &#8220;Our Father&#8221; and &#8220;Glory Be&#8221; on a smaller number of beads.</p><p>Some people don&#8217;t necessarily say the prayers but still like to carry &#8212; or wear &#8212; the beads, Krokos said.</p><p>&#8220;Some of us took toys to the Marine Corp&#8217;s Toys for Tots program, and we told one of the Marines we were from the rosary group,&#8221; Krokos said, describing a big, strapping fellow who &#8220;reached into his shirt and showed us he had one around his neck.&#8221;</p><p>That acknowledgment pleased the rosary makers, who also have been happy to receive thank-you letters from military representatives.</p><p>&#8220;On behalf of chaplain services at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre, I thank you for your extremely generous donation of holy rosaries,&#8221; the Very Rev. Joseph Martin wrote in 2009.</p><p>&#8220;Just recently, I received your marvelous gift of the rosaries, and I wish to say thank you,&#8221; pastor Philip J. Briganti from Fort Bliss, Texas, wrote in 2003, calling the gift &#8220;a beautiful testament of faith and love.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Believe it or not,&#8221; Briganti wrote, &#8220;even non-Catholics ask for the rosary.&#8221;</p><p>Suzanne Ott, 72, of Wilkes-Barre, who is married to Joan Ott&#8217;s cousin, said making rosaries is &#8220;peaceful and relaxing,&#8221; and so is praying the rosary.</p><p>&#8220;My grandmother always said, pray to the Blessed Mother,&#8221; said Patricia Koschak, 69, of Wilkes-Barre. &#8220;And she will answer your prayer.&#8221;</p><p>The rosary makers used to meet in St. Francis of Assisi Church in the Miners Mills section of Wilkes-Barre. After that church closed, they moved to St. Nicholas Church in downtown Wilkes-Barre, where they meet in the community room from 6 to 8 p.m. on the second, third and fourth Fridays of each month.</p><p>You can make rosaries at home, too, Joan Ott said, adding that one member, Mary Williams of Hanover Township, makes about 70 a week without coming to all the meetings.</p><p>New members are always welcome, as are contributions to pay for supplies, which can be sent to the St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers in care of St. Nicholas Church, 226 S. Washington St., Wilkes-Barre.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">From left, Verna Stavish, Barbara Stevens, Millie Krokos and Mary Yadrnak string beads to make rosaries with St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers in the community room of St. Nicholas Church in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>From left, Verna Stavish, Barbara Stevens, Millie Krokos and Mary Yadrnak string beads to make rosaries with St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers in the community room of St. Nicholas Church in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Millie Krokos looks over her handiwork, making sure there are 10 beads in each section of the rosary. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Millie Krokos looks over her handiwork, making sure there are 10 beads in each section of the rosary. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Suzanne Ott, of Wilkes-Barre, who is related to group organizer Joan Ott, works on a rosary during the weekly meeting of the St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Suzanne Ott, of Wilkes-Barre, who is related to group organizer Joan Ott, works on a rosary during the weekly meeting of the St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Most of the rosary makers are retirees, but Ryan McNulty, of Lake Winola, is a younger member of the group. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary5-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Most of the rosary makers are retirees, but Ryan McNulty, of Lake Winola, is a younger member of the group. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_woundedmarine-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Although they don&#8217;t know if the wounded Marine lance corporal in a 2011 Associated Press photo was holding one of their rosaries or a similar one, the picture encouraged the local St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers to believe their gifts are appreciated. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_woundedmarine-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Although they don&#8217;t know if the wounded Marine lance corporal in a 2011 Associated Press photo was holding one of their rosaries or a similar one, the picture encouraged the local St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers to believe their gifts are appreciated. </caption4><photoCredit4>AP Photo </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">These are some of more than 90,000 rosaries the St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers group has made. The group has donated thousands of the sets of stringed beads, which are traditionally used to count prayers, to the military. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_TTL042217rosary4-1.jpg</photo5><caption5>These are some of more than 90,000 rosaries the St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers group has made. The group has donated thousands of the sets of stringed beads, which are traditionally used to count prayers, to the military. </caption5><photoCredit5>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Rosary Makers hand-crafted 90,000 so far</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

St. Michael the Archangel Rosary Makers send handiwork to military units