My friend Mary Matestic told the most beautiful story about her parents. I was so moved by it that I asked her to write it down. She did and I shared it in an article for the Catholic Herald. Here is an excerpt from that article. “My parents were married in August of 1941. Four months later my dad was deployed to the Pacific Front after Pearl Harbor. World War II was in full swing. He had his rosary in his pocket which he prayed daily during the worst of the battles and through the loneliness of separation from my mother. When he returned home three years later, the rosary which had round beads when he left were flattened from use. The chain holding the beads was broken, but he sewed them together with brown thread. Many times, his war diary expressed how much consolation the rosary gave to him on the battle field. (Mary Matestic) Mary said her parents continued to pray the rosary together and it gave them hope and a sense of God’s nearness to them throughout the joys and struggles of their life. There is something about the image of the flattened beads and the broken chain, mended with brown thread, that captures the power of this treasured devotion. Separated by war they were held together in faithfulness to prayer, by a Rosary, in a way that sustained their love of God and each other.”

Mary’s parent’s devotion to prayer and each other is inspiring. In this month of the Rosary, maybe take a chance to pray the rosary or some form of prayer you haven’t tried. I believe God is always happy to hear from us. May God’s boundless mercy and goodness be with you and your family in your joys and challenges in this month of October.