Rosary a tool “to bear witness to the presence and power of Christ”

Every Tuesday, joyful students join David Campbell, a social studies teacher at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Virginia, to craft rosaries that are donated to the Stella Maris apostolates, who ship rosaries abroad. As each student turned in a completed rosary, Campbell asked if he or she wanted to donate it or give it to a family member or friend.

Campbell has crafted rosaries for years, but his devotion to the rosary goes back decades to when he was a Presbyterian minister in Salem, N.J. Three months into his church assignment, Campbell was struggling in his prayer life, and a friend and Catholic priest Father Jack Casey recommended the rosary to him.

“I’ve had a rosary in my pocket every day since,” Campbell said. “That was 40 years ago.”

This love for the rosary eventually led Campbell to the Catholic faith. Today, Campbell makes 1,000 rosaries per year and has crafted more than 10,000 so far. 

At Paul VI, Campbell uses rosary-crafting sessions as opportunities to tell students about his life story and notably, his own witness to the powerful intercession of St. John Paul II. 

Thirteen years ago, Campbell welcomed his first grandchild Jesse into the world, but at 10 days old, Jesse was diagnosed with herpes simplex virus, HSV-1. After he was brought to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, doctors told the family that Jesse had triple the lethal level of ammonia, a result of HSV-I, in his bloodstream and had 48 hours left to live. After two days passed without change, Campbell prayed a rosary and asked for St. John Paul II’s intercession. The next morning, Jesse’s nurse reported that Jesse’s levels and vitals were back to normal.

“I’ve been on the lookout ever since for ways to bear witness to the presence and power of Christ,” he said.

Anna Harvey, May 31, 2023

Adapted from www.catholicherald.com