Hand crafted rosaries. Shared Stories. A Journey of Faith.

Our Newsletter is here to share more about our mission, faith and the story behind what we do and what we make. We hope you join us each week to learn more about how this mission impacts our lives and those we serve.

THIS WEEK...

Our Founding Story

In this debut edition we thought it was fitting to tell you about how and why we founded Hearts Rosary Company.

Rosary Reflection

We are highlighting the Hearts Rosary Chaplet and the story behind its creation.

A Thought to Carry with You

Something to ponder or journal on

A Prayer for Your Week

Heavenly Father, through the intercession of St. Henry, help us to use whatever influence and resources we have to serve others justly. Through the prayers of St. Kateri, grant us the courage to stand firm in our faith despite isolation. And under the maternal mantle of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, protect our hearts and draw us closer to the heart of Your Son. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saints of the Week

A short reflection on the Saints of this week.

Monday - St. Henry
Tuesday - St. Kateri Tekakwitha
Thursday - Our Lady of Mount Camel

Along the Way

Linda takes us back to her journey to place in Italy called San Bartolomeo's Hermitage

The Founding of Hearts Rosary Company

The devotion to the rosary is deeply rooted in both our families, so when the opportunity to start our own business became a reality, we decided on a rosary business. John has been making rosaries for many years, so the skill was already there and Hearts Rosary was the perfect outlet. The inspiration for calling our Company, Hearts Rosary, came from a prayer group that John has been a part of for over 30 years. It is dedicated to the Hearts of the Holy Family, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, The Immaculate Heart of Mary and Most Chaste Heart of Joseph. With the help of the Spiritual Father of the group, John was able to compose a prayer that later became a chaplet prayer, inspired by the hearts of the Holy Family. We decided to extend this devotion to our Rosary Company and Hearts Rosary Company was born.

Since the founding of Hearts Rosary, we have learned how to make many different styles of rosary beads. Most from special requests, some from curiosity and some for special occasions. The most meaningful, by far, are the memorial beads made with flowers from special occasions. Whether from a wedding or funeral, making beads that hold such meaning is a powerful experience. To share in the joy or grief and be able to offer a permanent reminder is such a gift to us. Originally we outsourced the making of the beads themselves, but with some online research we found that we could make them ourselves. It was a bit of a learning process at first but it sure paid off. We are now able to be involved in every aspect of making these keepsakes, and it has allowed us to make some really unique rosaries, chaplets, bracelets, and more.

Some of the special requests we have received over the years has resulted in some of our best selling items. Like our Blessed Mother beads and our Saint Charbel Chaplet. It is such a joy to take someones inspiration and make it come to life. And through the grace of God, they always seem to create themselves and come out even more beautiful that we imagined. Jesus loves an open and listening heart, right!

We make our beads to last. We want them to be used, often, and for a long, long time. Recently we have been able to source stainless steel wire and have been using it in most of our beads that use wire. We have always used a higher gauge wire for it durability, but stainless is so much stronger. We are confident that our beads will last a lifetime. For the same reason, we love making paracord rosaries. Paracord rope has a tensile strength of 550 pounds, so it is safe to say that these are the toughest beads around. And the endless color combinations allow for many unique styles.

Olive Wood is very special to us. Some of the first wire rosary beads John ever made were with olive wood beads. And before we even really knew each other, Linda’s spiritual father gave her a pair of olive wood beads and let her know that John had made them. So you might say that the rosary is one of the things that brought us together. When we gave ourselves to each other in the Sacrament of Marriage, those same olive wood rosary beads were wrapped around Linda’s bouquet as she walked down the aisle. We have been fortunate to have found a vendor in Bethlehem, Israel for our olive wood beads. It is just one more way we can honor the Holy Family.

Prayer is at the heart of who we are and what we do. It is very hard not to pray while making beads. We strive to make the very process a prayer. Sometimes we know the person we are making the beads for and most times we don’t. We have been blessed to have received orders from around the globe, some places we had never known of before. What a blessing.

So check our website, hearts rosary.com, to see all the beautiful items we have to offer. Or if you have an idea for unique set of beads, reach out to us and help us make the next best selling item in our shop!

The Weekly Saints | Mid-July Reflections

Welcome to this week's edition of The Weekly Saint. As we cross into the heart of July, the Church's liturgical calendar brings us a powerful collection of witnesses whose lives remind us that holiness is found in every corner of the world—and in every state of life.

This week, we look at three incredible models of holiness whose feast days fall between July 13th and July 18th. Whether you are seeking deeper wisdom, a firmer anchor in times of trial, or the grace to show mercy, these guides are walking right alongside you.

Monday, July 13: St. Henry (973–1024)

Integrity in Leadership and Daily Duty

We begin the week with a saint who held the highest earthly power of his time. Henry II was the Holy Roman Emperor, meaning he had immense wealth, vast political influence, and constant worldly distractions. Yet, alongside his wife, St. Cunegundes, Henry viewed his crown not as a privilege, but as a heavy spiritual responsibility.

Henry is remembered for his deep sense of justice, his efforts to renew the Church, and his habit of establishing monasteries and dioceses to help care for the poor. What makes his holiness relatable is that he lived his faith exactly where God placed him—in the messy, high-stakes world of statecraft and leadership.

Patronage: Monarchs, the childless, and those rejected by religious orders.
Takeaway for the week: You don't have to flee the world to be holy. Whether you are managing a household, running a small business, or leading a team, performing your daily duties with total integrity is a direct path to sanctity.

Tuesday, July 14: St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656–1680)

The Lily of the Mohawks

On Tuesday, we honor the first Native American to be recognized as a saint.

Born in what is now upstate New York, Kateri was scarred and left with impaired vision by a smallpox epidemic that took her family when she was just four years old. When she chose to be baptized at age twenty, she faced intense mockery, isolation, and threats from her village due to her radical new faith.

Despite the pressure, Kateri remained unshakeable. She eventually escaped to a Christian community in Canada, where she lived a quiet life of intense prayer, manual labor, and deep devotion to the Eucharist. She died at the young age of twenty-four, and moments after her passing, the smallpox scars completely vanished from her face, leaving her beautiful and radiant.

Patronage: Ecology, the environment, people in exile, and those ridiculed for their piety.
Takeaway for the week: When practicing your faith feels lonely or goes against the grain of the culture around you, lean on Kateri’s quiet fortitude. Your worth is found in Christ, not in fitting in.

Thursday, July 16:

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Under the Protective Mantle

Thursday is a major liturgical celebration focused on our Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This feast is deeply tied to the Carmelite Order and the mountain in the Holy Land where the prophet Elijah defended the true faith. Tradition holds that in the 13th century, Mary appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite monk, and gave him the Brown Scapular—a small woolen sacramental worn as a sign of dedication to her Son.

The scapular isn't a magical charm; rather, it is a spiritual garment. It is a daily, wearable reminder of Mary's maternal protection and a commitment to follow her example of listening to God's word and keeping it.

Patronage: The Carmelite Order, those in distress, and protection in spiritual warfare.
Takeaway for the week: Mary always points us directly to Jesus. If your prayer life has felt a bit dry or scattered lately, ask our Blessed Mother this week to wrap you in her mantle and ground your heart in her peace.

A Prayer for Your Week

Have a blessed and beautiful week of prayer!

A Rosary Reflection

Let's Take A Closer Look At The Hearts Rosary Chaplet

Heart of Jesus, Make me Holy

Heart of Mary, Teach me to Love Jesus

Heart of Joseph, Teach me Purity of Heart

This is the Hearts Prayer. This is where it all started. As we talked about in our founding story, John composed this prayer with the help of the spiritual father of the prayer group. From there it was expanded into a full chaplet prayer that can be prayed on a regular pair of rosary beads. Originally it was to be prayed on a chaplet with only 33 beads to represent the 33 years that Jesus walked the earth. When it was introduced to the group, John made a pair of olive wood beads for each member. Later it was decided that the chaplet would be more accessible to everyone if it were able to be prayed on a regular set of rosary beads. That is when it was introduced to our Cursillo community and other groups at our local retreat house.

Sometimes we pray this chaplet for someone else, usually as palanca for a Cursillo. When we do this we substitute the “me” in the prayer with the person’s name. It’s beautiful either way and many in our community love this prayer.

If you would like to learn how to pray this chaplet, we have instructions on our website. There is a link right on the home page. Pictured above is our Hearts Rosary Chaplet beads. It features the Sorrowful Mother Crucifix, Holy Family Center, and heart shaped Our Father beads with our Hearts logo on it. The beads are red for the blood of Christ that, still to this day, is being pumped through his Risen Body by His Sacred Heart. It’s the perfect way to pray the chaplet and focus on the beautiful hearts of the Holy Family. Check it out on our website today!

Along the Way

San Bartolomeo's Hermitage

As the sun began to set over the Maiella Mountains, I stood on a narrow stone ledge built into the face of a mountain. Looking across the valley below, I stretched out my hand because in that moment I felt that I could touch the face of God.

I had no idea of the profound and deeply spiritual journey I was beginning when I boarded the plane for Rome in June 1998, I was excited to see my dad, two sisters, each with one of their daughters and our sister-in-love with her and my brother’s son who were flying in from Texas and our family in Italy. My heart was heavy with grief with the loss of my mother, my best friend who went to glory only seven months before. I was also dealing with a difficult and dangerous situation at home where my pride and shame kept me from sharing what I was going through with anyone, including my family.

But my heart was so filled with gratitude to be seeing my dad and family and to once again see my aunts, uncles, first cousins and family in Italy. And once there I think we all realized that being together, daddy with his brothers and sister and us all surrounded by our big, loving, beautiful family after losing our mom was just what we all needed. We shared memories, laughter, tears, traditions and were making new memories with the next generations.

The Eremo or hermitage di San Bartolomeo in Legio is in Roccamorice and was built in 1250 by Pierto da Morrone who later became Pope Celestine V and is situated over 700 meters above sea level on a rocky cliffside in the Valle di Santo Spirito.

This hermitage is in the Abruzzo Region in Italy. Abruzzo is near and dear to my heart for it is in the eastern foothills of the Maiella Mountain and this region where my family is from and all of my father’s side and all but one of my mother’s side still live and where generations of my family lived before them, where my grandparents and parents were born and raised, where my parents met and married and raised their family before they immigrated with my brother and two sisters to the United States in the 1950’s.

It’s a place that I dream of returning to and bringing my beloved to share the experience with me.

This beautiful refuge is remote, steep and remarkably very accessible. It stands under a 50-meter-long rocky ledge that is built directly into the face of the mountain and can be reached by hikers and pilgrims by a sacred staircase from the town below or by driving up the mountain road, parking off the side of the road and walking along a trail a safe distance from the cliffside.

I was also looking forward to going on a Pilgrimage to the Gran Sasso Mountains in Abruzzo to visit the Sanctuary of San Gabriele of the Sorrowful Mother in honor of my mother because of a promise that I made to her when we realized that she was not going to make it there on this side of heaven. San Gabriele is the patron Saint of Abruzzo, was my mother’s favorite Saint and dare I say best friend, our family’s patron Saint and I have loved San Gabriele since I was a child.

The visit to San Bartolomeo’s hermitage along with several others during this trip, including the pilgrimage to San Gabriele’s Sanctuary, the Vatican and the Eucharistic Miracle in Lanciano (Lanciano is within walking distance from where my dad grew up and our family still lives) and so many more experiences touched my heart in ways I could never have imagined.

We were nearing the end of our three-week visit, and we were back in Cepagatti with Zio Donato and his family. One evening after dinner our cousin Gabriele along with his mother, sweet Zia Bambina, Gabriele’s beautiful wife Carmelina and their three children brought me, my sister Irma and my nephew Mark on a little excursion turned pilgrimage to the mountaintop hermitage of San Bartolomeo in Roccamorice a few towns from where they lived.

That evening, we drove from Cegagatti to Roccamorice through rolling farmlands and vineyards, entering a narrow valley and then up a steep climb into rocky mountain terrain where the landscape suddenly shifts into the Maiella foothills. We parked along the side of the road and walked through the intense yellow carpet of ginestra-covered slopes (Scotch broom - ginestra dei cabona) and along a rocky and cross ridden path.

A wooden rail to our right to keep us from getting too close to the cliff edge and a few precarious and tight passages up and down well-worn mountain made steps and trails led the way to the hermitage. My initial delight and concern at the dizzying height and precarious path was quickly replaced by the intoxicating mountain air mingled with the light fragrance of wild herbs and flowers. And the breathtaking vistas in every direction as we made our way to the curved entrance of the hermitage made every step a joy.

Eventually we got to the entrance and moving and shifting our bodies to the shape of the mountain we entered the narrow ledge path leading to the overlook of the gorge below and the little candle lit chapel and hermitage built into the mountain.

After we walked around exploring the hermitage and the little chapel inside while everyone walked down the rock steps to the area below. I stayed in the crevice of the rocks and stood there for the longest time looking out at the mountains in the distance, the gorge below and the beauty that surrounded me.

And as the sun was just beginning to set, I felt in that moment that I could reach out and touch the face of God. I could feel my mother's presence; I knew that she

was safe in the arms of the Lord with no more earthly pain. I found peace in her passing; I stood alone on the ledge and outstretched my hand because there in that moment I felt like I could touch the face of God. And at that moment I believed that I did. And I believe that He touched my heart in a way that only He could.

As we made our way back along the trail with the sun softly setting alongside us, I knew that I found another dear friend in San Bartolomeo alongside my beloved San Gabriele. I also knew that I would be ruminating and writing in my journal late into the evening about this little unexpected pilgrimage.

That night back at my Zio's house, I stayed up late after everyone went to bed. And sitting outside under the blanket of stars shining brightly over the beautiful countryside I journaled about the day, all that was flooding my heart. The grace, gratitude, thankfulness and so much peace, a peace I hadn't felt in a long time and before I knew it I was writing a little poem. I called it "Little Sweater" or as I was thinking in Italian, La Maieletta, but that does not mean little sweater in Italian. I guess I was thinking of the Maiella mountain and I adding the -ella to the end which can be a diminutive in Italian for "little” But there is no such word. Except in my heart and my little La Maieletta poem

Being in Italy that summer together with my family was not only a beautiful respite from the situation I was dealing with at home. As I look back I can see how the many powerful moments during that trip, the unexpected visit to the hermitage of San Bartolomeo and the brief but powerful encounter with the Lord that evening and many other encounters and intimate moments I shared with the Lord on this trip. Like the morning we rose well be fore sunrise go in the car with my cousin and his son and two of their truffle hunting dogs and drove up a steep mountain, parked the car in the thick of bushes and brambles and walked deep into the hills and woods high on the mountain to hunt for truffles. At daybreak we found ourselves in the middle of a clearing filled with butterflies, mountain peaks close in the distance. Blessings and experiences that brought me closer still to my family, brought peace to my heart and brought me closer still to Jesus who I always knew in my head but was discovering in such an intimate and tangible way in my heart. Moments where I can now clearly see His faithful and powerful hand moving in my life. Impacting me and my path and shaping me in ways I never could have imagined. Giving me the courage and the strength to make difficult choices I didn’t think I had the strength to make. Filling my heart with peace, gratitude and hope and awakening in me a desire for a deep, intimate relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A desire I didn’t fully understand until I lived my Cursillo three years later.

I have learned that time, distance and changing seasons can provide insights, perspectives and understandings that don’t seem readily apparent sometimes when I’m in the middle of a challenging situation. But with faith, trust, gratitude and hope in a God who is bigger than any obstacle or challenge that I might face, every challenging situation or obstacle can be an opportunity for me to grow, gain self-knowledge and understanding and draw closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that burns with love for me.

I am in a challenging season. But I know without a doubt that He has brought me through many many many seasons in my life, all I have to do is look back and this trip is just one in a million that I know of, I can only imagine all those that have slipped my without my acknowledgment over the years. So I take heart, I am in a season and this season I am in now is one is one of great gratitude, blessing and trust of how fully I am in His hand.

One day if it is God's will and I am in a healthier physical season; John and I will make a visit to Abruzzo. I can't wait for that day and to bring my beloved to Abruzzo to not just meet my cousins and family but to go on a pilgrimage and share with him this beautiful hermitage and very many other places in Abruzzo that I love and that feel like home to me.

Next week...

I'll share the little poem I wrote that night beneath the stars outside my zio's home.

A Thought to Carry with You

If you stood today where Linda stood on that mountain, what burden would you place into God's hands?

Until Next Week

Wherever this newsletter finds you today, whether your heart is full of joy or carrying a burden known only to you, know that you are remembered in our prayers. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus fill you with His peace, the Immaculate Heart of Mary wrap you in her loving mantle, and the humble and chaste Heart of St. Joseph guide and protect you this week. Until we meet again, may God bless you and those you love.

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