As the New Year unfolds, many are contemplating resolutions that draw them closer to God. Volunteering with The Rosary Team is a profound opportunity to deepen one’s spiritual life while contributing to the community through the timeless practice of praying the rosary.
The Rosary Team’s outreach to nursing homes holds a special significance in the Catholic tradition. In a world that often marginalizes the elderly, volunteers offer companionship and spiritual support to seniors facing physical limitations and loss. The rosary becomes a powerful weapon, for world peace and an end to war, as promised at Fatima by Our Blessed Mother.
In a world often fixated on fleeting concerns, The Rosary Team advocates for a focus on eternal life. The Rosary is a Christ-centered prayer; as Pope St. John Paul II observed, “The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer.” It is a meditation to grow in love and knowledge of God and to spread God’s love to others. It is likely one of the easiest corporal work of mercy available.
The vision of The Rosary Team to spread the Gospel and bring Christ’s love to the world was founded to fulfill the desire of nursing home residents and their families to still contribute meaningfully to the world. Elderly residents, often struggle with their lack of independence in their final years and feel as if they are a burden to others. This prayer partnership, between the volunteers and residents, provides purpose and peace fulfilling God’s call to pray. After praying the rosary together one morning, one resident told her Rosary Team volunteer Pam, “I love you, see you next week”. Praying with residents who are sometimes forgotten in these facilities, has a tremendous spiritual impact on the lives of both the resident and the volunteer.
The Rosary Team volunteers accompany Christ by keeping watch (Matthew 36:40), praying one hour per week at the same nursing home, on the same day and time, getting to know and love the residents. This act of praying with residents, guiding individuals towards the true meaning of life with heaven as the goal, is deeply meaningful.
One member of The Rosary Team, Melanie, describes volunteering as providing “meaningful purpose.” Terry states volunteering “is one of the holiest hours of my week,” and Renata states, “it’s a privilege”. The Rosary Team sees Jesus in these residents, “For I was sick, and you visited me” (Matthew 25:36).
The invitation to join The Rosary Team is to emulate Mary’s unwavering “Yes” to God’s divine plan. This nonprofit aspires to fill nursing homes across and United States and world with a dedicated Rosary Team. With a straightforward guide and coaching from the Denver based team, the goal is to establish teams in over 50,000 nursing homes in the United States alone.
The impact of a single volunteer, starting a team of two to pray at a local facility is immense. Volunteers not only minister to the residents but receive an abundance of joy in return.
The Rosary Team volunteers pray with the residents in a group setting in a common area of the nursing home. The facility staff, add the rosary to the activity calendar and help bring residents to the scheduled rosary. The act of sharing faith becomes a privilege and a transformative experience, lifting one out of personal struggles by fostering connection to something much bigger; eternal salvation.
The initiative began in 2019 when Teresa Rodriguez who was working as a hospice nurse in a memory care facility located in Boulder, Colorado, along with her patients, their families, and caregivers, began to recognize spiritual needs were not being met. Prayer and reflection led her to found The Rosary Team, which she dedicated to Our Lady and to her mother, Marian Buchheit, who along with her Father, gathered to pray the rosary with her and her four brothers every day when they were growing up.
Volunteers from local parishes began coming to the memory care facility to lead a rosary once a week. That eventually became 3 days a week, and then the initiative spread to many other facilities throughout the Archdiocese of Denver and is now growing into other states.
This opportunity to say “yes” to start your own team of two in your community, is to embark on a meaningful commitment in the New Year and one with everlasting benefits. This divine mission resonates with The Universal Call to Holiness to devote oneself with all your being to the glory of God and the service of thy neighbor. Step by step guidance available when you reach out to learn more: www.therosaryteam.org. There is also a beautiful, large-print Rosary Pamphlet available.
Funding for maintenance and growth is greatly needed. Please consider becoming a mission partner and patron to help us succeed: https://therosaryteam.org/donate/.
