Parishioners establish online rosary to strengthen their relationship with Mary

Friday, May. 01, 2020

WEST JORDAN — Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of St. Joseph the Worker parishioners decided to start an online rosary group to strengthen their devotion to Mary.

The group began with “a couple of ladies,” but now there are a dozen “who meet regularly to pray online together,” said Patricia Fontaine, one of the group’s organizers.

The youngest member is 9-year-old Cassidy, but most belong to the parish’s “WOW” (Women of the Worker) group. 

“Laura McDonald who originally started the rosary group and then presented the idea to Gail Lopez and myself, as a way to keep our rosary recitations going through this COVID-19 pandemic,” Fontaine said.

Planning to send an invitation to join the rosary through the Zoom app, the group presented the idea to their pastor, Father Javier Virgen, who agreed to it.

“From there, more ideas grew,” Fontaine said. “We could invite all the parish to join in with us, if we could also livestream it through our parish Facebook. Father Virgen, agreed that this would be a wonderful way to reach out to all parishioners, bringing us together in this time of much needed prayers, and separation.”

The next step was to create an ad inviting all St. Joseph parishioners “to pick up their rosaries and join in with us, in our recitations of the holy rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet,” she said.

Anne Trieb, who participates in the online rosary said that “praying the rosary is important because we are able to strengthen our relationship with Mary, who in turn helps us grow our relationship with Jesus.”

The WOW group has grown from meeting on Fridays to meeting throughout the week.

“We are grateful for the wonderful responses we have had from those who join in with us, fellow parishioners and others, and we are thankful that we are able to contribute to them through the rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet,” Fontaine said. “I am hopeful this will be an ever-evolving prayer group, welcoming the needs of all.”

McDonald, who has been praying the online rosary, said doing so has been part of who she is.

“I’ve been praying the rosary since I was a little girl,” she said. “My mom used to meet up with our neighbors and pray it together. That, and its miraculous and uniting presence has stayed with me my whole life, in good times and in bad ones.”

The rosary is “a powerful resource that works as a shield and a sword against Satan and all that is evil in this world,” McDonald added. “Each mystery reminds us of a moment in Christ’s Passion and Our Mother’s presence for each of the moments.”

For Cassidy Sweeny, the youngest participant in the group, praying the rosary gives her comfort and makes her feel safe through these times, Fontaine said.

For another parishioner, Loretta Lazar, praying the rosary is a way of expressing love to Jesus and devotion to Our Lady.

“Some may believe that praying is not important at all, but I believe it is,” Lazar said. “Whenever we pray, whether our own individual prayers or the most holy rosary, we are abandoning ourselves to Our Lord. We are saying to him, ‘Jesus, I trust in you, please hear my prayers.’ When we pray we may have petitions, asking God to intercede by answering our requests.”

Fontaine invites all who want to participate in the rosary and the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy to join them.

“The rosary was the life raft that I desperately needed, that led me to healing, a renewed relationship with Our Lord Jesus Christ, and Divine Mercy Savior. I had been away from the Church for a long time, and was struggling in many different areas of my life, even to the point that I was being consumed by my struggles, fears and helplessness,” she said. 

To join the St. Joseph the Worker Parish online rosary, can contact Patricia Fontaine, patriciafont63@gmail.com.