When you lose your rosary beads, it gets your attention. In my case, it strengthened my faith in our community bonds, and the mysterious ability of our Blessed Mother to intervene in our lives in miraculous, unexplainable ways beyond what our eyes can see.
Regularly, I bring my rosary beads to church and Mass with me. In August this year, my beads went missing after I attended the first Tuesday evening Mass offered. I had just purchased my rosary beads in spring from St. Mary’s parishioner Joe Plummer who creates the beautiful prayer strands with his own creative spirit and hands. Father Benjamin blessed them on May 10, 2023, and they were engraved by a local Moscow merchant who told me, ‘Nothing is Impossible’ when I picked them up (the small cross made it challenging to engrave). Glory be to that comment!
Oddly, I wasn’t concerned about their disappearance. I prayed to Mary for their safe return but the message I heard was to rest easy and not get too attached to possessions on earth because they don’t go with your soul to heaven. My prayer instead was guided to their good—that whoever found them would love them as much as I did and use them to serve our world in peace. I was comforted and not anxious.
Within five days, more than a dozen pairs of hands and hearts in our community touched, connected, and came together due to my lost beads. To note, I carry my beads in a small, red colorful pouch that was my Italian Grandmother Meme’s and I have a handwritten note inside explaining its origins which mentions our St. Mary’s Church. It was this note that led the kind Samaritan woman in the Coop Store parking lot to call St. Mary’s church. Lauren answered and the kind stranger offered to bring them by the parish “because they must have been special” to someone. In amazement, she said she witnessed cars run over the beads, yet they sustained no damage. The beads found their way back to the Parish Center door carried by this woman. I’m so grateful.
In the end my holy vigil waiting offered hope and wonderous reminders. I saw my community show up for me (Faith); my beads returned home (Strength); and good prevailed with Mother Mary leading the way (Love).
Side note: These are the first set of rosary beads I’ve owned and I’m 61 years old. I’m learning to pray the Rosary though it is a new form of spiritual devotion for me as an adult. Every morning I place my beads around my neck in hopes my words and the love in my heart unite me closer to Mary and ultimately Jesus’s will.
– Lisa Ormond