For those close to the Catholic faith, a simple rosary can be a spiritually powerful thing.
That’s why Addison resident John Patrell came up with the idea to handmake rosaries to send to a parish in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for hurricane victims. Three-hundred seventy-five rosaries, to be exact.
‘I hear a lot about people going down, sending food, this and that and this was one other thing that we could do,? Patrell said.
Patrell, who has been a Catholic all his life, is a member of the St. Clements of Rome in Romeo and joined a small Rosary Maker group just four months ago.
The Rosary Makers make large amounts of rosaries and send them to different parishes in countries around the world, like Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
The parishes request the rosaries through a newsletter called Our Lady’s Messenger.
Catholics believe the purpose of the rosary, which is a string of beads used in praying, is to help keep in memory certain events in the history of their salvation, like the birth of Jesus, and to thank and praise God for them.
The group at St. Clement’s was started by Sandy Ritchie and is made up of four people, including Patrell.
He saw a blurb in his church newsletter about the group and decided his years of being in the jewelry business might come in handy.
Patrell was born in Detroit in 1925 and started working as a watch delivery boy for downtown department stores when he was 15.
He would pick up the watches to be serviced and bring them back to a trade shop. ‘I’d stand over a watch maker and watch him do watches and that’s how I learned,? he said.
And so his love of jewelry making began.
When he turned 18, Patrell joined the US Air Corps. and worked on bomb sights, but that didn’t keep him from his love of the jewelry trade.
Once he got out of the service, he continued to repair watches and began making all kinds of jewelry.
Gold rosaries with real emerald and ruby jewels and gold necklaces, beautiful bracelets.
He worked for the old Acheson Jewelers in Oxford and, although he’s retired, continues to repair watches for five different jewelry stores in Rochester, Romeo and Birmingham. ‘It keeps you busy,? he said.
Patrell’s rosaries come in many different colors like blue, red, green and yellow, and are very cheap to make.
Sixty cents will get you a whole bag of beads. Two cents for a cross. ‘You could make hundreds of rosaries for a few dollars,? Patrell said.
He even makes black and white rosaries for those in the military who don’t want their beads to clash with their uniforms.
The plastic beads and crosses are ordered from Our Lady’s Rosary Makers, a national group that is based in Louisville, Kentucky.
A typical rosary begins with the cruicifix on the bottom, and a sequence of two different colored beads, signifying a particular prayer, finishes the rosary.
On the back of each cross, Patrell etches the initials of people he’s come in contact with who need prayers.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Patrell sent 200 of his 375 rosaries to Sister Monica Marie Arroyo in Tennesee, who in turn sent them down to a parish in Baton Rouge.
She sent a personal letter back to Patrell, thanking him for his generosity. ‘What I’m so glad about is that somebody will have this and be able to pray,? he said. ‘Each rosary you make goes to somebody that wants to pray and change their life.?
Patrell has gotten so much joy out of making these rosaries that he’s not going to stop anytime soon.
‘I’m gonna keep making more because I wanna break a record,? he laughed. ‘I don’t know what the record is, but I want to keep doing it.?
He made so many rosaries in the last few months that he joked to one of the other members that he wants a special nickname ? ‘Mr. Rosary.?
The plastic beads and crosses are ordered from Our Lady’s Rosary Makers, a national group that is based in Louisville, Kentucky.
A typical rosary begins with the cruicifix on the bottom, and a sequence of two different colored beads, signifying a particular prayer, finishes the rosary.
On the back of each cross, Patrell etches the initials of people he’s come in contact with who need prayers.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Patrell sent 200 of his 375 rosaries to Sister Monica Marie Arroyo in Tennesee, who in turn sent them down to a parish in Baton Rouge.
She sent a personal letter back to Patrell, thanking him for his generosity.
‘What I’m so glad about is that somebody will have this and be able to pray,? he said. ‘Each rosary you make goes to somebody that wants to pray and change their life.?
Patrell has gotten so much joy out of making these rosaries that he’s not going to stop anytime soon.
‘I’m gonna keep making more because I wanna break a record,? he laughed. ‘I don’t know what the record is, but I want to keep doing it.?
He made so many rosaries in the last few months that he joked to one of the other members that he wants a special nickname?’Mr. Rosary.?