News

Guild reaches goal of 100,000 rosaries

By Ann Bretl
Special to The Compass

MAPLEWOOD -- Members of Holy Name of Mary Parish and the Marian Rosary Guild in this rural Door County Parish have done their best to put the rosary on the lips and into the hands of many prison inmates for over a decade.

Their journey began in September 1997, when women of the parish made and mailed an initial 150 rosaries. The following month, they made and mailed 300 rosaries, and the numbers continued to increase every month. More than 10 years later, they have reached their goal of mailing over 100,000 rosaries.

That goal was achieved thanks to many women, but by one in particular, Virgil Doell, who made more than 60,000 rosaries. Since the rosary guild started, it had more than 17 members.

The rosary work began after Fr. Wilbert Buhl, the pastor who retired last year, urged the parish's Spiritual Life Committee to become involved with prison ministry. Members of the committee decided to make rosaries for prisoners.

Linda Soukup helped parishioners start the prison ministry and also made the banner that the rosary makers used.

The committee sent the rosaries to the Charles Nichols family at Houlton, who, in turn, sent the rosaries where they are needed.

Nichols, a former prison guard in the Minnesota State Prison system, first gave rosaries to eight prisons. His family now provides rosaries to more than 500 prisons in the United States and other countries through "The Prison Rosary Gang." They also sent rosaries to Mother Angelica at EWTN in Alabama.

The guild also made rosaries available to hospitals, parishioners and wherever they were needed.

Now that the Marian Rosary Guild has reached its goal, the group has decided to stop making them. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed by Holy Name of Mary Parish, which has publicly honored them for their work.