Valleywide : 150-Foot-Long Rosary Focus of Prayer Rally

A rosary about 150 feet long, which will be focal point Sunday of prayers by hundreds of Catholics at a Granada Hills parish, was assembled by Nona Hermosura of Panorama City after she said Mary, the mother of Jesus, appeared in a dream and asked her to prepare a large rosary in her honor.

The event at St. John Baptist de la Salle Catholic Church in Granada Hills is the 12th annual Rosary Rally for the 25 chapters of Rosary Groups for Jesus and Mary in the San Fernando and Simi Valleys.

Rosary beads have been used by Catholics for centuries as aids to reciting prayers centered on the lives of Jesus and Mary, but normally they are small and manageable for one person.

“This is the biggest rosary I have ever seen,” said Almario (Mar) Hermosura, Nona Hermosura’s husband, who is president of the regional rosary organization.

Each of the 59 beads is six inches long. The blue, white and gold beads have been strung on plastic-covered wires and sections of the rosary are linked by metal clamps, said Mar Hermosura.

Children and young adults from various national backgrounds will be chosen to hold the beads in the long rosary, he said.

After a Mass celebrated at 3 p.m. Sunday by Father Michael Slattery of the host Granada Hills parish, a procession will leave the church at 4:30 and go to an open field to recite the rosary.