joy of nine9

A Baptist girl, became a Catholic and started making rosaries? Yup!

Although Sue Ann Goodwin was born in the South and raised  a Baptist, she converted to Catholicism as a young adult. One night she attended a play entitled “Late Night Catechism” in which Sister Mary Ignatius said every woman should have Mary in her name.  Sue Ann was inspired to change her name to “Sue Anna Mary”.

Soon after, Sue Anna Mary had a dream she had made four rosaries and, as a result, she sensed a Divine calling to make rosaries. Excited, she surfed the internet to learn  techniques and was soon shopping for rosary materials, visiting every bead shop in the city of Houston. The International Gem and Jewelry show offered even more beads, jump rings, end caps, rondells and tools to create custom rosaries and chaplets..

Not content to make typical rosaries, she searched to find just the right crucifixes and centers. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Mother Angelica’s EWTN and “The Shrine of The Most Blessed Sacrament” provided inspiration for beautiful, unique designs.

Sue Ann’s husband Bob had a thought one night for a particular rosary design. The next morning, he suggested his wife should make a “We are one Body” rosary. He referred to 1 Corinthians 12:12:

“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body,

though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. Now, we as Christians are all different but yet part of one body – “Christ.”

Logically, the “We are one Body” rosary is comprised of 59 beads, each one unique. Sue Anna gave the first one to the pastor of her parish.

At first her friends and neighbors asked her to make custom rosaries for personal use and as gifts. Eventually,  she needed to start a business to keep up to the growing demand, pledging  10% of the proceeds from rosary sales to the Franciscans who take care of holy sites in Jerusalem.

To see her creations visit http://www.rosariesandchapletsbysueannamary.com/