2008: Internationally Known Rosary Shrine Celebrates 70 Years of Ministry!

In November 1938, Sr Marcella Landwehr was approached by her superior, Mother Inviolata Beran, asking that she take charge of the newly constructed Rosary Shrine at the motherhouse. Sr Marcella says, “I felt honored, but quite inadequate.”

The shrine the original convent, occupied 1902 to 1940, and devotions to Our Lady were strongly promoted by Rev. John Smith OP, the convent Chaplain at the time.

Sr Marcella tried different methods to get the Rosary Shrine going.  Rosary novenas were begun and the laity were encouraged to send in their requests and petitions.  “I was given twelve petition requests and $5.25 to burn votive lights before the Shrine.  I was now ready for ministry!” said Sr Marcella in her history of the Shrine.  “Trial and error” was her method, but she succeeded.   The rosary Shrine became her full time ministry.  Sisters published rosary books, and bought stationery and machines to help with the Rosary Shrine mailings.  For fifty years Sr Marcella sent thousands of handwritten letters to those who asked the sisters’ prayers.  Her letters went all over the world and soon the Shrine became known internationally. 

Individuals and families worldwide felt the power of prayer as thousands of poor, sick, lonely, elderly, and/or needy in other ways found in Sr Marcella a person with whom they could communicate.  She took the time to listen to them, to encourage them in their struggles, to write to them.  “The purpose of any Shrine whether in a famous Basilica or in a very humble chapel or room, is to help people feel someone is praying for them, and to carry to them the Gospel Message,” said Pope John Paul II.

When Sr Marcella retired from Rosary Shrine ministry after its first fifty years, the Shrine was placed in the able hands of Sr Miriam Schremmer.  For ten years she corresponded with our rosary clients, adding her own touch of attention and gentleness to the many requests for prayers.  In 1998, Sr Miriam passed the ministry on to Sr Frances Biernacki.  Sr Frances, after having given twenty years of service to our Nigerian mission, was enthused about being — in her words — “the correspondent for the Rosary Shrine.”  She loved to pray, and loved to write letters!

Today, the Rosary Shrine ministry continues under the gentle leadership of Sr Geraldine Eakes.  A perpetual Rosary Novena continues at the motherhouse where sisters join in the four Rosary Novenas each year which are announced at the top of this page, and in each Grains of Wheat newspaper.  The rosary is also prayed daily by the sisters as they gather for Evening Praise.  In our convent chapel, the Dominican Chapel of the Plains, fifteen perpetual votive lights burn.  Similar lights burn at the Rosary Shrine, also.  These keep you and your intentions constantly before us.

If you haven’t let us know the needs of your family and friends lately, we welcome you to do so; we always enjoy your letters and notes.  Our prayer ministry for you and for the needs of the world is a vital part of our gospel call to care and to heal.

If you have never been part of this global ministry, we invite you to join us. Together our prayer encircles the world and its peoples.  We will be interceding for you and all of the hurting peoples of the world in a special way.  We are blessed by all of you who join us in this ministry.

¨ Dominican Chapel of the Plains

¨ Rosary Shrine

¨ Retreat Centers

Text Box: St Dominic and the Rosary A legend accepted in the writings of many Popes connects St Dominic with the beginnings of the Rosary Devotion. According to tradition, an Albigensian heresy ravaged Christendom, particularly in southern France during the latter part of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuries. Distressed by his lack of preaching success in countering the heresy, St Dominic turned in frustration to the Mother of God for help. It is said that Mary appeared to him saying: “Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine grace. When God willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter composed of 150 Angelic Salutations and 15 Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest.” “Our Blessed Lady,” Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP explains, “made known to St Dominic a kind of preaching till then unknown; which she said would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and in future difficulties.” St Dominic preached the mysteries of salvation (Incarnation, Redemption and Eternal Life), and as instructed by the Virgin Mary, he had ten Hail Marys recited after each instruction. Dominicans, under the leadership of Alan de la Roche OP, started the Confraternity of the Rosary, asking it’s members to pray the 15 decades of the Rosary during the course of each week. Pope Pius XI described the Rosary of Mary as the principle and foundation on which the very Order of St Dominic rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others.

 

Our Next Rosary Novena

June 14 - August 9, 2008

 

Let us all join our hearts in prayer for peace in our troubled world.  Send your petitions to be united with others at our Rosary Shrine.

 

We offer the Eucharistic Liturgy each week at our motherhouse for all our benefactors and for our Rosary Shrine clients.

 

Ever since the Rosary Shrine was founded in the 1930s, our motherhouse has been a powerhouse of prayer, where we consistently remember you, your families, and your special needs.  We pray for you whether you know your special needs or not, and we always enjoy the letters from you which tell us of your special needs. 

Rosary Novena Prayer

Before the recitation of the Rosary

By Sr Elaine Osborne OP

 

Leader:              Provident God,

Community:    we gather attentively

                                                to recite Mary’s beads.

                               Open our mouths to bless Your holy Name.

                               Cleanse our hearts from all uncharity.

                               Inspire us to pray 

                                                only for Your honor and glory.

 

                               Blessed Mother Mary,

                               in our tradition

                               you gave the rosary to Saint Dominic

                               as a simple prayer for your people,

                               as a powerful prayer in our need,

                               as a means of preaching

                                                the life of Jesus in our daily lives.

                               Give us the love you have for Jesus,

                               and hear us as we pray our Rosary prayer.

 

                               Holy Father Dominic,

                               on earth you opened your heart

                               to the sufferings of all men and women

                               and your hands were strong to help them.

                               Now in heaven your love and your power

                                                are not lessened.

                               Present our prayer

                               to the Queen of the Rosary and to her Son.

             

                               We pray

                               for our Church and its leaders.

                               (Pause)

 

                               We pray

                               for our family, friends, and benefactors.

                               (Pause)

 

                               We pray

                               for grace to live a holy life,

                               to do our part to alleviate

                                                the suffering of our world,

                               and for the concerns we now mention

                                                in our hearts.

                               (Pause)

 

                               We place

                               all these needs, without anxiety,

                               in the Presence of the God we know hears

                               our prayer and loves us unconditionally.

Rosary Novena Prayer

After the recitation of the Rosary

By Sr Elaine Osborne OP

 

Leader:              Queen of the Rosary,

Community:    we know our world and its peoples

                                                are suffering.

                               We know our sin

                                                has added to the world’s problems.

                               We call upon you to watch over us,

                               and to ask your Son to bless us.

 

                               We want to add our prayer of praise

                               to those of all the angels and saints,

                               and we know that the solutions for our

                                                worries, concerns, and needs

                               are part of the divine plan of care for us —

                               for God is with us and cares for us

                                                today, and always.
Text Box: Mysteries of the Rosary The Rosary is made up of 20 mysteries: Joyful Mysteries are recited on Mondays and Saturdays. The Annunciation The Visitation The Birth of Our Lord The Presentation in the Temple The Finding of Jesus in the Temple Mysteries of Light are recited on Thursdays. The Baptism in the Jordan The Wedding Feast of Cana The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God The Transfiguration The Institution of the Eucharist Sorrowful Mysteries are recited on Tuesdays and Fridays. The Agony in the Garden The Scourging at the Pillar The Crowning with Thorns The Carrying of the Cross The Crucifixion Glorious Mysteries are recited on Wednesdays and Sundays. The Resurrection The Ascension The Descent of the Holy Spirit The Assumption The Crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth