Archdiocese’s Rosary Rally surpasses goal as thousands pray together for vocations

Northeast Nebraska Catholics prayed nearly 60,000 rosaries for vocations in October as part of the archdiocese’s October Rosary Rally.

The rally was a monthlong campaign by the Archdiocese of Omaha’s Vocations Office to pray the rosary for young adults discerning calls to the priesthood and consecrated life. The Vocations Office’s sought  50,000 rosaries prayed to encourage those Catholics seeking to follow the Lord’s call amid distraction, pressure and doubt. Rosaries reported on the page website surpassed the goal on Monday, Oct. 30.

“We are so grateful for all the rosaries you prayed during the month of October – we didn’t know if we were going to make it,” Father Scott Schilmoeller said in a thank you video. “And while we won’t know the fruit of our prayers, we know the Lord is going to take these prayers and there’s going to be some amazing fruit from them.”

Throughout October, small groups prayed the rosary at their meetings. Families prayed together. Archbishop George J. Lucas and Missionary Benedictine Sisters of the Norfolk Priory each held virtual rosary events to pray with virtual attendees.

Spirit and Grace Academy in Elkhorn organized a rosary rally and campfire event for Catholic home school students.

“Someday we hope to fill the College World Series or Husker stadium with people gathering in prayer for a rosary rally in support of families and vocations to the priesthood,” said Joe Gordon, who helped organize the event.

Religious education classes in North Bend and Boyd County prayed living rosaries, in which individuals are the “beads” and pray the corresponding prayers.

Students at St. Cecilia School in Omaha lead a rosary over the PA system.

Students at St. Bernadette School in Bellevue made rosaries, and St. Cecilia School in Omaha led their school in a rosary using the PA System.

For Ann Menning, the seventh- and eighth-grade religion teacher at St. Patrick’s School in Elkhorn, the October Rosary Rally has overlapped both her work and personal lives.

In her classes, Jeremiah 29:11 has been a strong theme, she said.

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you; plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.”

Seventh- and eighth-grade students at St. Patrick Catholic School in Elkhorn lead 785 children and adults in a living rosary.

The passage shares how God desires good things for her students and that deep happiness can be found only through following His plan, Menning said.

“The Rosary Rally has given me the opportunity to encourage my students to continue to keep their hearts open to God’s plan for their lives – to keep their hearts ‘soft,’” she said.

“It has also helped my students to recognize that they are not alone in their quest for finding answers and happiness; that they’ve got people praying for them so that they will have the courage to trust God and His plan for them – particularly if that plan is leading them toward a religious vocation.”

One of those discerning God’s plan and receiving prayers is Menning’s son, Ethan, one of 22 seminarians in the archdiocese.

Pray the rosary with seminarian Ethan Menning and other seminarians from the Archdiocese of Omaha at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Not only does his discernment require Ethan to trust God, but it also requires his parents to do the same, she said.

“To know that Ethan has an army of prayer warriors here at home offering up rosary after rosary this month for his vocation is incredible and comforting,” Ann Menning said. “I want to thank each and every person who prayed for all these young, discerning hearts this month! May God bless you.”

A student from St. Bernadette School in Bellevue holds up a rosary he made.

Religious education students at St. Charles Borromeo in North Bend pose for a photo after completing a living rosary.

Religious Education students at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Omaha participated in the October Rosary Rally with a living rosary during class earlier this month.

Archbishop George J. Lucas prays a rosary on Facebook Live.

Missionary Benedictine Sisters of the Norfolk Priory pray a rosary on Facebook Live.

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