MERIDEN, CT (08-19-2026) –“1,000 ROSARIES?!” Sister Rosario Ongayo exclaimed in disbelief when Mother Miriam Seiferman, Mother General, approached her with the flier requesting religious orders to each make 1,000 mission rosaries for the attendees of the September beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in St. Louis and in Peoria, Illinois. The goal is to give a rosary to each of the expected thousands of people at the beatification.
Why 75,000? When Bishop Sheen was the National Director for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith he wanted Catholics to pray more for the missions in need, so he designed a world mission rosary, each decade a different color for five areas in the world: green for the forests and grasslands of Africa, white for Europe, the seat of the Holy Father, shepherd of the world, blue for the Islands of the Pacific, red symbolizing the fire of faith that brought missionaries to the Americas, and yellow for Asia, the morning light of the East. That was 75 years ago. To honor the legacy of the world mission rosary, the Pontifical Mission Societies USA initiated a rosary-making campaign with a goal of 75,000 rosaries.
Sister Rosario (whose religious name gives a clue to her favorite devotional prayer) has been making rosaries for years, but had never made the mission rosary, and never had such a tall order of 1,000! Characteristically, she took on the challenge with vigor. “Rosary parties” were the latest gatherings at the FSE motherhouse where generous, spirited neighbors, friends, parishioners, Franciscan Apprentices, people of all ages, rose to the cause. Sister Rosario’s enthusiasm motivated even those who couldn’t imagine themselves ever making a rosary. She encouraged all as she viewed rosary-making as a prayer, and this project as a call from the Church to celebrate the holiness of Archbishop Sheen. Her humor and joyful manner made it a fun time for the groups.
During the Sisters’ two-week retreat in July, Sister Rosario galvanized the energy of very skilled Sisters to push the completed column numbers way beyond expectation. “Rosary fever” caught on quickly and the group mission was off and running. Sister Rosario joyfully carried home a few hundred rosaries, knowing the goal was attainable.
Encouraged by the July boost toward the 1,000 goal, Sister Rosario invited families, youth groups and college students to share in the mission and push the project over the finish line.
Today Sister Rosario cheerfully announced,
“I finished the 1000th rosary!”
Congratulations to Sister Rosario
and her diverse team of “rosary missionaries”!
Sister Rosario gratefully acknowledges the many volunteers who answered the call and made the project a success. In her words, “I knew we could do it if the Blessed Mother wanted it done!”
Packaged in groups of 25, the rosaries will be sent off ahead of the September 1 deadline for the beatification events in Peoria, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri, from September 14 to 26. Archbishop Sheen will be beatified at a Mass presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on September 24, in St. Louis.
Click on photos to enlarge.
