“It is just enormously rewarding to bring another form of prayer to these children who are looking for something to calm them, to fulfill them, and reassure them that God and the Blessed Mother are listening.” – Louise Stakelin
The Rosary Ladies Teaching Students to Make Rosaries in Inner-City Schools BY EILEEN CONNELLY, OSU
Imagine placing a rosary into the hands of a child eager to pray, especially a rosary they helped make. That’s exactly what CISE board members Louise Stakelin and Tricia Headley, along with donor Susie Castellini, are doing. Since the fall of 2019, more than 250 scholars at CISE schools received their very own rosary and learned the beauty and meaning behind praying it. The idea originated during a conversation between Stakelin and Headley, whose children attend The Summit Country Day School and made rosaries prior to their First Communion. “Tricia brought up that the ladies came to Summit to help with this and we thought it would be wonderful to do for the CISE schools,” Stakelin said. “We both love what CISE does for inner-city children – the safe environment provided in which they can thrive, the great 2 8 | THE CATHOLIC TE LEG RAPH
academic background, the values they learn.” They order supplies online, Castellini assembles all but the last decade ahead of time, then Stakelin and Headley take everything to the classroom and help students complete them. Stakelin provides background information and instruction. “I speak to the children about how we pray the Rosary, and go through the mysteries,” she said. “I also talk to them about apparitions and how they can pray to Mary for intercession. I tell them ‘You have a mother at home, and you have our mother, Mary, in heaven. You can always turn to her.’” “I try to keep it real for them and tell them it’s a means of prayer you can keep in your pocket or on your bedpost,” she said. “My goal is to bring the stories of the happy and important times in Jesus and Mary’s lives to life for them.”
