A Familiar Face

 

Asher began a year-long journey to help spread the Children's Rosary on June 28. The month of July he is spending as a volunteer at La Salette Shrine in France. Today he was praying in the chapel when Janet Vogel entered. He recognized her. We met Janet last summer in France at the Adoratio Conference in Toulon. She has since begun a Children's Rosary prayer group in Switzerland. Both Asher and Janet will be attending the Adoratio Conference which begins July 13 at Notre-Dame du Laus. Asher will only be able to attend on July 14 but he looks forward to seeing other Children's Rosary group leaders who will be attending. 

Children's Rosary Participates in Corpus Christi Procession in Germany

 

We received these lovely pictures today from the Children's Rosary group in Fulda, Germany. They participated in the Corpus Christi Procession on Thursday June 19 from the Church "Rabanus-Maurus-Kirche".

Heights of the Hills

"In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also" (Psalm 95:4)

Dear Friends,

As many of you may know Asher Kaufman, age 18, left on June 28 for a year-long trip to help spread the Children's Rosary in Europe and Africa. He is spending July in the French Alps at La Salette Shrine. Primarily he is assigned to volunteering at their welcome desk but he has also been helping in the housekeeping section of the Shrine making beds and in the kitchen washing dishes. After making 50 beds his first day, he happily reported he knows how to make a hospital corner properly. 

As La Salette is a pilgrimage site he has had the opportunity to meet many pilgrims and priests and share with them about the Children's Rosary. After six days of work volunteers at the Shrine are given a day off. Each day there is an excursion to various villages in the region. Only those on a day off can travel to the excursion. Last Friday Asher went on one of these excursions. 

The village was on the mountain next to the shrine but on the far side of the mountain. As the crow flies, it was 14 kms but it took them 1 hour by car to arrive there. As they approached the village they saw a group of people walking with some purpose across a field. 

At first they thought they might be looking for something and one person joked that they were looking for gold. But once Asher arrived, he did speak with this group and found out they were botanists from Grenoble taking plant samples from the mountain. 

This small village had a swift moving river running through it. The views are beautiful and give glory to God for all He has made. "In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also" (Psalm 95:4).

Please keep Asher and this trip in your prayers. May it be fruitful.

Thank you,

Blythe

Arrival at La Salette Shrine, France

Dear Friends,

We are continuing to provide updates of Asher Kaufman's journey. He is spending a year spreading he Children's Rosary through Europe and Africa. His first destination was La Salette Shrine in the Alps of France where he will be a volunteer. We have good news that the Rector has given him permission to provide informational sessions about the Children's Rosary to the pilgrims. The details are still be arranged and more updates will follow about this aspect of his time at La Salette. Below is Asher's dispatch about his arrival. 

After I managed to get myself and all of my bags onto the right train, the rest of my travel experiences were quite seamless. The train ride to Grenoble was about three hours long, and once we had exited the city, the scenery was quite bucolic. I arrived at Grenoble at around 3:00 pm, and then took the bus to up to Corps, which is a village just below the Shrine. As there was a group of us on the bus going to La Salette, a very nice volunteer was there to pick us up in a van, and so I arrived at La Salette on Monday evening just in time for dinner. 

I imagine some of those reading this might not have heard of La Salette, or if they have, they might not know the story of the apparitions, so, as with the other dispatches, I will include some historical context.

In September of 1846, in the mountains of southeastern France, two peasant children from the village of Corps named Maximin and Melanie were pasturing their sheep one day when a "Beautiful Lady" appeared to them. At first, they just saw the lady sitting on the mountainside, sitting on a rock, crying with her head in her hands. She had a crown of roses and a white headdress on her head and a golden chain about her neck. There was on her chest a crucifix with pincers on one side and a hammer on the other. She wore a golden apron and a white dress. The children recounted that the chain around her neck seemed heavy and pulled down her shoulders. They were at first quite frightened, but then the lady rose and spoke to them.

She said to them, "Come forward, my children, do not be afraid, for I have great news to tell you." Nevertheless, the news which the lady bore was quite serious and grave. If my people do not wish to submit, I shall be forced to let fall the arm of my Son. It is strong and so heavy, I cannot hold it up any longer."

She would go on to say that she had interceded so often and so much for her children, but they heeded her not. Then she said, "However much you do, you pray, you will never be able to repay the pain I have endured for you."

The main message she had for her children was to abstain from two grave sins in particular, namely the use of Our Lord's name in vain and the lack of Mass attendance on Sundays. She told the children to pray daily, morning and evening, at least an Our Father and a Hail Mary if nothing more could be managed. She warned that the bad harvests the region had had would continue if the people did not repent but that there would be a period of great abundance if they did repent. This was during what has been termed the "European Potato Failure." During this famine, in France, 10,000 people were estimated to have died. The privation of the famine is considered one of the contributing factors to the revolutions of 1848 across Europe. Thus, one can see that Our Lady's message was certainly meant for more people than just the local peasants of Corps, France. 

After the apparitions, in 1852, the order of Missionaries of La Salette was founded by Philippe de Bruillard, the bishop of Grenoble. The order has steadily expanded and now has a significant presence all across the world, particularly in Angola, the Philippines, Brazil, Poland, Madagascar, and of course France. There is an order of priests and an order of nuns, and their mission is to make known the message of Our Lady at La Salette. 

This month there are a large number of La Salette seminarians here because they are preparing to take their vows at the end of the month; they will be ordained priests next year. I met two Slovakian seminarians on the way up, and I have met many Angolan seminarians since I have arrived, as well as a few Brazilians and some from Madagascar. 

The natural beauty of the location is stunningly beautiful, it being nestled right in the French Alps. The Shrine is surrounded by hiking trails and paths. There is a large basilica that was built beginning in 1852 until 1865. There is also holy water, like at Lourdes. It bubbles forth out of the ground and was not controlled until 1996, so now it flows through some piping out into a basin where pilgrims can collect some. (Below is a picture of sheep near the Shrine being shepherded)

I have been enjoying it very much here. I have been working at the welcome desk for the last several days, and it is a real joy to see so many pilgrims coming from all over Europe; in the last few days, there have been pilgrims from Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Croatia, and Chile.

Children's Rosary Procession in Dormitz, Germany

The Children's Rosary group leaders from Dormitz, Germany shared this report from their May Children's Rosary meeting where they held a procession. 

We held the procession again, this time with a small niche/box housing the statue of the Virgin Mary, who led the way, escorted by two children and their banners (it was an honor for the children to do so).

Along the way, four banners/stops were placed for the reading of the Joyful Mysteries (the first was at the church in our village of Dormitz), as well as stones painted with the symbol of the Children's Rosary. All of this was done to the rhythm of songs. Thank God, the weather was good; however, the sharing took place in the parish house.

Our Lady of the Mantle, the monument erected and built by our people in gratitude for not having been bombed in World War II, was once again our destination and arrival point. It is undoubtedly a place very dear to our people. I must say that among the 15 children, two girls from our village of Dormitz were present: Elena and Francesca. The Virgin Mary received a bouquet of red roses in gratitude from one of the Rosary mothers, and another mother gave all the children pencil cases with the Jesus Loves Me logo and personalized names.

These are beautiful gestures that fill us with joy, as each family, in their own way, responds with their children to the Virgin Mary's call to pray the Holy Rosary. We also thank you, Blythe, because through this means, which you founded, we are able to grow as a community, which is taking shape in the spirit of God. They, growing closer, share their experiences, difficulties, and challenges with their children, making us part of this family of Christ on earth, and thus also give us a glimpse of what will be (God willing) in heaven.

Remembering Rev. Sr. Gloria Okoye, OP

On June 24, 2025 Sr. Gloria Okoye, OP passed away after a long illness. She was 43 years old. She has been a great friend to the Children's Rosary. She is shown above receiving rosaries we sent her on the left. We received this note from Fr. Paul Miapkwap:

She was very much part of the Children's Rosary in Shendam, Nigeria. She was the head teacher of the Immaculate Heart Nursery and Primary School Nbuan, Shendam. Pray for the repose of her soul. 

Fr. Paul Miapkwap went on to share that shortly before she died she wrote to him, "sickness wants to cut short our mission of the Children's Rosary." Clearly the Children's Rosary was important to Sr. Okoyo and we pray others will pick up where she left off in the Shendam, Diocese. 

Sister Okoye is shown above to the left of the picture and below to the right. We are grateful for her help launching the Children's Rosary at her school and for all her help with the Children's Rosary throughout the Shendam, Diocese of Nigeria. Please say a prayer for her. 

 

The Journey to La Salette Shrine in France Continues with Some Bumps

 

Dear Friends,

This post is a follow up to yesterdays post. Asher, age 18, has set out for a one year trip to help spread the Children's Rosary in Europe and Africa. The journey began on June 28 when he left West Hartford, Connecticut for Paris. The story picks up on June 30. Please note that Asher loves history so his dispatches are rich with historical detail. As one will see what began with a lovely visit of Paris in the morning turns a bit terrifying. Please see the end of the post for a full explanation. 

On Monday morning, I decided to take a walk up to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre (that is, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Montmartre) for an early morning Mass before catching the train. My cab driver from the airport had pointed it out on the drive to the hotel the day before, and he had said it was very beautiful and had a spectacular view of the city.  Both points turned out to be quite true once I arrived at the basilica. 

Montmartre is itself a hill in the eighteenth arrondissement of Paris, and it is known for being home to a great deal of artistic history, not the least of which being the basilica. It was also the home to various artists of note, including Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh. Several of these artists ended up depicting Montmartre at some point in their work, such as van Gogh in his Moulin de la Galette, which shows a well-known windmill at the top of the hill, and Renoir in his A Garden in Montmartre. The meaning of the name "Montmarte" is a bit unclear, perhaps meaning "Mount of Mars" or "Mount of Martyrs." 

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which is situated at the top of this hill, needs a bit of a historical introduction as well. The story starts with Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in the seventeenth century at Paray-le-Monial, a small community in central France. 

St. Margaret Mary was a Visitation nun at the monastery at Paray-le-Monial, and during her time at the monastery she received three apparitions of Jesus, and it is hard to overstate the impact the messages He gave had on the Church. His instruction to pray before the Blessed Sacrament between 11 and 12 at night on Thursdays and to honor His Sacred Heart on the first Friday of the month sparked the First Friday and Holy Hour devotions, which have become quite popular among Catholics in the centuries since. Additionally, the apparitions led to a huge push to honor in particular the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

However, the relevant part of the story for our purposes is that St. Margaret Mary wrote in more than one letter to her superior that Jesus had specifically asked for a building to be built to honor the Sacred Heart where the king of France, Louis XIV, would consecrate himself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in order to gain Divine Favor for the nation of France. Louis XIV and his great-grandson, Louis XV, never did such a consecration.

About a century later, the French king, Louis XVI was guillotined by the revolutionary government in the Place de la Concorde that I visited on Sunday night. It was later found that he had stuffed a letter into the prison wall the night before he was executed stating if God would deliver him from his impending death, he would, among other things, perform the long-awaited consecration. Nevertheless, he died the following day, and so did the possibility of his doing the consecration.

About eighty years later, after the heady idealism of the various French revolutions of 1789, 1830, and 1848 had long since burned down, the French suffered a catastrophic defeat to the new, ascendant, united Germany in the Franco-Prussian War. This led to a significant feeling of melancholy and self-examination on the part of France in the wake of such a disastrous loss. At that point, and at the beginning of the Third Republic, there was a strong push by a French bishop named Felix Fournier and a philanthropist named Alexandre Legentil to have a church built in Paris in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as St. Margaret Mary had requested. Extraordinarily, the French Parliament aided in the construction of the Church, acknowledging its role as a kind of expiation for past mistakes. 

It took decades to finish to whole Church, and the governmental support was a hotly debated issue the whole way. Georges Clemenceau more than once proposed measures in parliament to cancel the project, but they were rejected to the very high cancellation costs they would have incurred. 

It was finished in 1914, and it was consecrated after the end of World War I in 1919. In 1885, when construction was still in process, perpetual adoration was begun at the basilica, and it continues to this day. 

After the 7:00 am Mass, I spoke to the celebrant who was from Gabon, a Francophone African nation next to Cameroon, and I gave him information about and told him about the Children's Rosary. 

After staying for Adoration for a while, I walked outside and indulged in much picture taking, given the beautiful church and the splendid view of Paris (see attached photos), after which I walked back to the hotel for breakfast. I was not able to take pictures inside the church because it was prohibited to do so.

Later, I (barely) caught the train to Grenoble and then took the bus to La Salette. I will say more about La Salette in another dispatch (and include pictures), but suffice it to say it is very beautiful, and it is a very contemplative, quiet place; I am very much enjoying my volunteer work here.

This is where Asher's dispatch ends but I would like to add more detail to the portion of the story about his barely catching the train to Grenoble. When Asher and I were able to speak this was the first thing he told me from that morning. As he was leaving the hotel, the traffic was very bad and resulted in him arriving at the train station with little time before his train was to leave. Since he is carrying a significant amount of Children's Rosary materials and books he has three roller bags. He rushed to the train and boarded, stored his bags and took a seat. With a sign of relief he settled in only to hear the conductor call the train destination which to his surprise was not Grenoble. 

He asked where the Grenoble train was and it was just in front of the train he was on and would be leaving. He dashed off the train with his bags and was running on the platform. A conductor seeing his three bags told him he was allowed only two. But seeing the poor situation Asher was in he gestured toward the car that matched his ticket. Asher tried to board but there was a young family ahead of him with children and strollers. The mother was making her way on and her husband was behind Asher. The whistle was blown to signal the train was departing and the husband, who was behind Asher, gave him a shove that sent Asher and the whole family falling into a heap. Everyone was on the train and with no time to spare. But just before the train began to move two more individuals jumped on to find that there was a heap of people just inside the train. Asher indeed did make the train and also the bus from Grenoble to the mountain town of Corps. After a sunny few weeks the skies opened up with heavy rain as he was picked up by a van to take him the rest of the way to the Shrine. The single lane roads have drivers going both directions with dangerous cliffs off the side. With heavy rain, I don't even want to think about traveling on these roads but Asher seemed at this point unphased by this part of the journey. 

In reflecting about this harrowing ordeal at the train station, I could not help but see how all our missionary trips for the Children's Rosary have involved a sacrifice and surrender. Sometimes we are literally fallen on the ground and sometimes we are spiritually brought low. But in all cases Our Lord needs our total surrender to act. 

 

Please keep Asher in your prayers. And we will keep you updated. 

Your Friend in Christ,

Blythe