Guardians of Mary’s Army

Seventeen years ago, Greg and Jennifer Willits founded Rosary Army, not long after Greg made his first all-twine, knotted rosary. A modest ministry at first, the buzz quickly grew of this apostolate that has the mission to “Make them, pray them and give them away.” Visitors flocked to the website rosaryarmy.com to request rosaries and learn how to make them.

Greg made his first rosary after going to confession and seeing a priest with a knotted rosary. Intrigued, he went in search of how to make his own. His pursuit for detailed instructions ended without much luck. However, Greg started making rosaries regularly and giving them away to family and friends.

“That’s why the idea of Rosary Army is so beautiful. I started to have this realization, after Saint John Paul II declared the Year of the Rosary and added the Luminous Mysteries, that it’s not about me, and that I’m not alone. I’m in an army and there are other people around the world that are propagating the Rosary,” he told The Georgia Bulletin, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. “It takes you out of your individual prayer, out of your parish, and makes you feel like you’re a part of the universal Church.”

Jennifer believes strongly that they have had a guiding hand all along. “Unbeknownst to Greg and me, we were becoming guardians of Mary’s army that we were trying to build. She knew she needed guardians on earth to manage it and I think that’s who we are and what we have been humbled to be able to do for her,” Jennifer said.

Fifteen years ago, the Willitses began their successful podcast, which continues today. But at its core, Rosary Army is a ministry to make, pray and give away rosaries.

In March, as Greg was working on the website, things around the world were changing rapidly. As fear of COVID-19 began to take hold, the Willitses knew they had to do something. Through their YouTube channel, Greg and Jennifer started to pray the Rosary live nightly.

“We felt a great urgency to encourage more people to pray the Rosary at that time and the initial response was overwhelming,” Greg said. “In fact, there were times when the numbers of people and the prayer intentions they were asking us to offer up in the Rosary literally brought us to tears in the middle of a Rosary.”

Since Rosary Army began in 2003, Greg and Jennifer estimate that the ministry has allowed for the distribution of more than a million rosaries, either directly from the website, or by the people who have learned to make them and give them away.

Adapted from an article by Erika Anderson Redding

for The Georgia Bulletin, August 2020

Greg and Jennifer's website: Rosary Army