Shrine Offers Unique Rosary

By Lisa Briggs
The Catholic Times

BROOKLYN — For people at St. Joseph Shrine Parish, praying the rosary is
more than fingering beads and reciting prayers. It’s physical — as in
arms, hands, legs and feet — it’s scenic and, as some would say, it’s
fun.

Five years ago the parish installed an outdoor rosary garden of
patio stones representing the beads of a rosary.

"A person can actually walk to each stone in the rosary garden," said Diane Dover, director of religious education. "They can physically walk and pray the Hail Mary and Our Father on each stone."

This walking rosary started when Dover’s catechetical team approached her about creating a hands-on way for students to learn to pray the rosary. She was surprised by what happened next.

"We talked about different ideas," she said. "We heard about using
chalk on the cement or using flashlights. We wanted to come up with a
simple rosary path for the students to learn about the rosary in a
concrete way. When the word got out about the idea, a group of
parishioners expanded it and took the project to where it is today."

Parishioner Joe Herr, who worked on the project, said the outdoor rosary
is designed in the shape of a shamrock and covers roughly a 150-by-60-foot
area. The shamrock shape is no accident.

"We started with the existing statue of St. Patrick that is on the grounds," Herr said. "We thought a shamrock would be fitting around the St. Patrick statue. The stoned rosary path is outlined in the shape of a shamrock and in the center there are flowerbeds."

Near the road is a crucifix made of white stone that begins
the rosary. A trail of crushed stone leads to each bead. Each decade of
the rosary is marked by round stones for the Hail Mary beads (150 in all)
and square stones (6) denote an Our Father bead. Other decorative stones
signify the Apostles Creed, Glory Be and Hail Holy Queen beads. As the
design splits off into decades, blooming flowerbeds surround it.

"There are probably 12 different kinds of hostas and other flowers that were donated and planted by parishioners," said Herr. "Everything was brought in from people’s home gardens. We have daylilies, peonies, daisies and recently we put in some mums.”"
"The entire garden is maintained by a committee of people in the parish who rotate, taking turns weeding, clearing and tidying the area," Herr said.

The rosary garden is beneficial to all grade levels.

"Throughout October, each class will go out to visit the garden," Dover said. "The catechists will introduce the rosary to the younger children and let them explore the area. The older students walk and pray the entire rosary. It’s a great learning tool."

In addition, parish officials schedule noontime opportunities to
pray the various mysteries of the rosary during the month of October.
Rosary booklets and prayer aids are distributed to those who need them.
For example, on Wednesday, Oct. 4, participants centered on the glorious
mysteries; on Thursday, Oct. 12, the luminous mysteries; Friday, Oct. 20,
sorrowful; and Monday, Oct. 23, joyful.

"It’s a rosary everyone can enjoy," said Dover.

After the rosary is prayed guests are invited to eat a sack lunch in the garden area. A meditation bench overlooks Iron Lake.

"As a parish, we’re very proud of this project," Herr said. "It started out as
a request for the children at St. Joseph to learn about the rosary and
grew from that — a lot of people spent a lot of time on this. It turned
out to be a parish-wide project. It’s very impressive."

Reprinted with permission from The Catholic Times.

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Person to Contact:
Diane Dover, Director of Religious Education
Saint Joseph Shrine
8743 U.S. 12
Brooklyn, MI 49230
Phone: 517-467-2106
email: sjshrine@frontiernet.net