Sidney Rosary Society takes pride in activities

By KATHLEEN LAMANNA- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Women at Sacred Heart parish in Sidney are wrapping up their Rosary Society meetings next month. They'll start up again in May.

"A lot of our members are 'snowbirds,'" heading to southern states for the winter or just unable to drive in poor weather, explained Andrea Whiteside, vice president of the Rosary Society.

Sacred Heart takes pride in how large and active its Rosary Society is; members meet monthly to pray the Rosary and also help the parish and community, volunteering at Sacred Heart's annual harvest festival and at a food bank.

Their largest event of the year is the "living Rosary." Held at the beginning of October, the event has drawn people of other faiths to the parish.

"It's absolutely beautiful," declared Kathy Saludo, president of the Rosary Society. "It's a candlelit ceremony. One by one the candles are lit; by the time the Rosary is done, the entire church is lit by candlelight."

Ms. Whiteside joined the Rosary Society last year because, after converting to Catholicism, she felt as though there was still a lot more she wanted to learn about her new faith.

"My conversion took about 20 minutes," she told The Evangelist. "I joined the Rosary Society as the next step."

The Rosary Society is made up of about 80 women from Sacred Heart, although Ms. Saludo noted that most meetings have about 20 or 25 women in attendance. Although the membership is impressive -- particularly at a time when Rosary Societies have dwindled out of existence at many parishes -- Ms. Whiteside noted that all of the women in the group are older.

Members are trying to figure out "how to draw the younger women in," she said, a problem that most Rosary Societies face. Women who are not of retirement age are usually unable to make the afternoon meeting times that the retired women prefer.

Ms. Whitehall hopes to find ways to have younger women join the Rosary Society at Sacred Heart. It's important to members to preserve its future.

"We have a really loving group," she said. "They work so hard in every area of the church."

(For information, go to the group's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/RosarySocietyOfTheSacredHeartChurchSidneyNy or call 607-563-1591.)[[In-content Ad]]