My mission in creating Meinssen Handmade Rosaries has three parts: to offer quality handmade rosaries; to encourage prayer, and to share what I've learned of this craft with others who would like to make rosaries in a similar style.
As a little girl growing up in Essex County, New Jersey, I was always hunting for pretty pebbles and stones while walking to and from elementary school, and in empty fields near my house. I was a rock hound then, and it seems, not too much has changed! I must confess, fine stone beads delight me, and by composing rosaries, chaplets, tenners and bracelets with them, I try to honor God's creation, glorify Christ Jesus, and venerate our Blessed Mother through these gifts of nature.
My rosaries are designed to suit a range of tastes and budgets. I construct them in an old-world style, with heavy wire joinery and special details like those found in desirable antique pieces. Rosary beads are often treasured in families from one generation to the next. I try to show respect for my customers and their loved ones with quality workmanship in rosaries which look great and stand the test of time.
All prayer and spiritual reading materials are organized into this website's library. To learn how to pray the rosary, or to find prayers to use with devotional chaplets, the library section is the place to go. Also here are excerpts from the writings of the saints and other literature included to encourage spiritual thought and prayer.
To learn how to wire loop beads and make chained Catholic rosaries, please visit the construction section. These pages are very detailed, with information on bead sizes, drill holes, wire gauges, bead caps, tools, layout, wire wrapping, parts attachments and more. And how to make all of that work together in handmade rosaries of your very own.
Whether you're here as a retail customer, a rosary maker, or are looking for Catholic literature or links to suppliers, I'm so grateful to you for visiting. May God bless you and yours.
In Jesus and Mary,
Annie Meinssen