rosaries from the rosary workshop - RDSP.2540 through RDSP.2541
THE LADY in BLUE
SOR MARIE de JESUS of AGREDA - LA DAMA AZUL - WHO WAS SHE?
This series of rosaries is dedicated to Sor Maria de Agreda, a 17th century Spanish mystic who became a cloistered Franciscan Conceptionist nun. As cloistered, she did not leave her convent, yet spoke of teaching 'natives and savages' about Jesus in a far distant country, not just once but over 500 times. This began when she was only 18 years old. In 1627 she became abbess of the Convent of the Immaculate Conception in Agreda where she spent the rest of her life. So how could this be possible?
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PAINTING OF SOR MARIA de AGREDA
SHOWN IN THE GARMENT OF THE CONCEPTIONISITS.

  NEW MEXICO + MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD
TURQUOISE ROSARY  + CHAPLET
WOODEN ROSARY + CHAPLET  +  ALL IN ONE LOOP
(Rosary inspired from the image above)
NOVENA CHAPLET FOR HER CAUSE  +  RESOURCES
HOW THE ROSARY CAME TO BE

THE ROSARIES BELOW ARE DEDICATED TO THE LADY IN BLUE
With grateful thanks to the encouragement of Brian Cadman (UK) and to Marilyn Fedewa (MI), the American Correspondent liaison with the vice postulator of Sor Maria's cause for sainthood.
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Please read the beautiful sharings in 'How the Rosary Came to Be' If this little dedication in any way helps Sor Maria to become Saint Maria we will be most grateful. + RW

~ NEW MEXICO ~

MARIA IN NEW MEXICO

VISITING A FOREIGN LAND
Here we concentrate a moment on over 500 spiritual flights to a foreign land where she is believed to have evangelized the indians of New Mexico, Arizona and Texas from 1620 to 1631. (during the time the pilgrims were landing at Plymouth Rock). But is there any proof to these legends of the South West?  Yes.  In 1625, Fray Alonso de Benavides left Mexico along with  with the new territorial governor, Felipe de Sotelo Osorio. They traveled 1500 miles by foot to Santa Fe NM arriving on Feb. 6 1626.  Fray Benavides job would be custodian (for conversion and expansion of the Franciscan Mission) in the new territories (New Mexico and Texas).  And for the next 3 years he traveled the pueblos along and near the Rio Grande River.  (He established many convents including Santa Clara de Copa and Taos.) He wrote that he was astonished when the indians from the Isleta Pueblo came up to him asking to be baptized, that the indians knew about this Salvation God through a 'lady in blue' who came to them. She had encouraged them in their own language to be baptized with special water when the Friars came. (Some accounts, including that of Sor Maria, share that she gave them rosaries and that the priests were baffled by the beads they showed them.) The indians shared that she had also helped them make crosses, which they carried when they came to meet the Friars.  (Locally the lore of Agreda in New Mexico grew as often happens and although there is no evidence of this, it is told that she instructed them on how to make a nourishing soup that anglos now call 'chili'. We were surprized to discover that chili does not originate in Mexico)
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RETURNING TO SPAIN ...
 In 1630, on his return to Spain, Fray Benavides wrote a 'Memorial' report about his experiences to King Philip IV. He spoke of the huge conversions among the indigenous people. He confirmed accounts of the spiritual visits to New Mexico of Sor Maria de Jesus de Agreda after visiting her at the convent in Spain.  She assured him she indeed had been 'miraculously carried on the wings of angels from Spain to the land of Jumano' (Spanish for Humans) to teach them about Jesus. She was able to give descriptions of the terrain and of the people including the times and dates of her visits. She was even able to describe the chieftain who asked for baptism and was followed by the whole village.  Names of areas were also given of which she would not have known anything about. Father remembered too, the indians identifying a picture of Mother Luisa de Carrión, a popular Spanish stigmatist whose image was carried by the Franciscans.  She wore the same creamy-white Conceptionist habit under a mantle of blue but was much older than the one who visited them. (Maria was only 18 when these flights began.)
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... AND THEN TO ROME
Father Benavides traveled to Rome from Spain (1633-34) to give his handwritten Memorial of these miraculous events to Pope Urban.  When King Philip 1V heard of Sor Maria, he visited and befriended her.  And for the rest of their lives the king called on her for political and spiritual direction through a collection of over 600 letters. Sor Maria is buried at Conceptionist Convent, where she had lived. Her body is incorrupt and she has been declared Venerable by the Catholic Church.

~ MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD ~

MARIA AGREDA FAMILY

THE MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD ...
The Mystical City of God is about Mary.  The manuscript was received through direct private revelations of Mary and is the story of Mary's life. It so upset the hierarchy of the church that the book was placed on the Index Libroum Prohibitorum in 1681, but the ban was lifted in 1747."  Marilyn Fedewa, an American liaison with the vice postulator of Sor Maria's cause for sainthood in Agreda, Spain says that Sor Maria 'wrote voluminous works based on private revelations'  The Mystical City of God tells the life of the Blessed Mother in 8 books (now available in 4 volumes)
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 SOR MARIA WEARS

'Every soul, without exception, is capable of embracing its inner light. Yet in order to receive so delicate an influence, quiet is essential'
Sor María de Ágreda

DEDICATED TO

~ TURQUOISE ROSARY ~

MARIA de AGREDA

RARE KINGMAN (AZ) TURQUOISE HAS BEEN HAND CARVED
WE HAVE CHOSEN THIS TURQUOISE AS MOST COMES FROM CHINA.

pricing subject to change without notice

~ TURQUOISE CHAPLET ~

RARE KINGMAN TURQUOISE
IS HAND CARVED. TURQUOISE WAS ONE OF
 THE RICHES OF THE  LAND THAT AGREDA VISITED.

         pricing subject to change without notice

DEDICATED TO

~ WOODEN ROSARY ~

MARIA de AGREDA

HAND CARVED WOODEN AVES SYMBOLIZE THE CHOIR STALLS SHE

pricing subject to change without notice

DEDICATED TO

~ WOODEN CHAPLET ~

MARIA de AGREDA

THIS 'ALL IN ONE LOOP'
IS FROM A TRADITIONAL DESIGN
THAT IS EASIER TO PRAY. CRUCIFIX (SPAIN, 16c - 17c)

pricing subject to change without notice

A TRADITIONAL CONFIGURATION

~ ALL IN ONE LOOP ROSARY ~

    A very special wooden rosary inspired by the images of the period.
(see painting of Sor Maria Agreda above)

THE SPANISH 18c (POSSIBLY EARLIER) CRUCIFIX
ON THIS ROSARY IS TWO SIDED.  THE REVERSE CARRIES AN IMAGE

IT CARRIES THE NORMAL 59 BEADS. THIS STYLE IS
ALSO TRADITIONAL FOR THE PERIOD -  ALL IN ONE LOOP.

pricing subject to change without notice

FOR THE CAUSE OF THE

~ NOVENA CHAPLET ~

SAINTHOOD OF VENERABLE
MARIA AGREDA
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THREE + SEVEN BEADS MAKE UP THIS NOVENA
CHAPLET. THE MEDAL OF THE IMMAUCLATE CONCEPTION
(ALSO KNOWN AS THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL)
IS CAST FROM A MID 19c LATIN AMERICAN PIECE IN

pricing subject to change without notice

TO PRAY THE NOVENA FOR HER CAUSE OF SAINTHOOD
ENTER HERE

~ RESOURCES ~

 IN THE NEWS
SOR MARIA de JESUS de AGREDA
THE TEXIAN COWBOY   -   LADY IN BLUE

SOR AGREDA - INCORRUPT

"Sor Maria's incorrupt body lies in state within a glass enclosed coffin in her convent's church in Agreda, Spain.  Since her death in 1665, her casket has been opened to medical and ecclesiastical examination 14 times, and each time (most recently in 1989) certified as in tact and sweet smelling. "As the viewer can see in the photograph, her face is protected with a mask, but her hands are in view for all to see, and appeared to me perfectly in tact.  Unfortunately, for all my photographic contortions, I was not able to capture an image of her hands on film.  Maybe during my next visit!"  Marilyn H. Fedewa Author and Photographer

~ COMMENTS ~

 ... DIVINE MYSTERIES OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY ...
  by Venerable Mary of Agreda who explains the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary.
 a book, taken from The Mystical City of God.

This new and deepened appreciation emboldens me to PLEAD with you to put a mention of Mary of Agreda's 'DIVINE MYSTERIES OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY' on your Home Page. Can I just BEG you for  even a single line of mention of the book.;  Your Home Page is where we meet  the Blessed Virgin Mary and Her Rosary - let it also be a place where others can know of the  MYSTERIES OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY in Her Own Words. Where the Most Holy Rosary of The Blessed Virgin Mary is a Garland of Prayers, The Divine Mysteries of The Most Holy Rosary of  Venerable Mary Of Agreda is a wafting of that Garland's Divine Perfume.

I am taking the risk that you might think me a lttle crazy by my pleadings but your opinion of me is less important to me than the gratitude I feel for the presence of this book in the world. I feel that, however small,  I must make more effort to make it more widely known known. Best Regards, Brian Cadman (UK)
 
... A MOST DAZZLING JEWEL ...
  Some time ago I purchased from you at Rosary Workshop a very beautiful Rosary. The Beauty of the beads themselves inspired in me a resolve to participate as fully as possible in the prayers of the Rosary each time I recited it. Naturally this Resolve led me to St. Louis de Montfort and his writings on the Rosary in the form of the famous text ‘ THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY’ I was grateful for the chance to deepen my consideration of the Prayers in reading it.
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Grace did not stop there for me though and by some mysterious means I discovered the book ‘DIVINE MYSTERIES OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY' written by the Venerable Mary of Agreda. The  'Divine Mysteries...'  are an extract from a much larger work by Mary of Agreda called 'MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD'.  +  Mary of Agreda’s writings have deepened my appreciation for the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary to such an extent that I feel they are indeed a VERY SPECIAL GRACE.  + After reading the book it is impossible to ever say the Rosary again without an immense feeling of PARTICIPATION. The book is such a torrent of Blessing in the way it enlivens the meditation of the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary and also in how it absolutely brings to Life the joy in the awareness of the Virtues expressed in each Holy Mystery itself. With Mary’s exposition each Mystery can be LIVED and shared in the praying. This is such an incredible Gift.  +  Out of Gratitude To God  and Veneration to Mary of Agreda I am driven to implore you to make known this text of hers on your Website. +  PLEASE make the text known so that others may know of Mary and her writing on the Rosary. I am certain the Graces received from such deepened prayers will be beyond our comprehension.  +  Dedication to the Rosary surely shines in your Website and such a dedication deserves the right to be crowned with reference to Mary of Agreda amongst whose works ’THE DIVINE MYSTERIES OF THE HOLY ROSARY' is the most dazzling jewel. Yours Sincerely,  Brian Cadman (UK)
 
... ON THE NATURE OF GRATITUDE ...
Some years ago I had an unusual insight on the nature of ‘Gratitude’. Who would think that there would be any need for any kind of insight on this topic? After all, Gratitude is Gratitude; we have all ‘felt’ it.  +  The insight though, was very simple; I am never TRULY grateful for anything that I have UNLESS I am putting it to ‘Good Use’. It was a shock to me to see that this included my own life.  +  On reflection, it seems that I can only SHOW my gratitude to God for anything He has blessed me with by USING it and thereby BENEFITING from it.  +  This, to me at least, proves God’s boundless Love; that I should be further blessed by merely being grateful for any gift that He bestows on me.  +  You might wonder why I am sharing this insight with you at all.  +   I feel that publicizing widely the Work of Mary of Agreda is an act of Gratitude the benefit of which is not yet completely realized.  +  There is another wonderful point, which I would like to make. I have read somewhere recently that in thanking God for the Merits of any Saint we draw down on ourselves those same Merits.  +  True Gratitude, it seems, is a wide net capable of catching many Graces.  +  Thank you so much for posting the information about Mary of Agreda on your Website. This too is an act of Gratitude, a prayer, which will shower down on all at Rosary Workshop the same Merits which make Mary of Agreda a candidate for Canonisation.  +   Yours Sincerely,  Brian Cadman (August 26 2004)

 PS; I am hoping Mary of Agreda herself will inspire you to make a Rosary Workshop Rosary in her honour.
 
... NOW AND AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH ...
 Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the HOUR OF OUR DEATH ." I always try and concentrate and be really awake to what I am saying when I say the Hail Mary and never more so than in saying these last words about Help at the hour of death. It was only a couple of nights ago that I was made aware, YET AGAIN,. by reading  Venerable Mary of Agreda just why these words appear in The Hail Mary. In the words of The Blessed Virgin herself to Mary of Agreda  our Holy Mother explains that in accepting death for herself rather than being raised alive into Heaven she won for us all a very special Grace of helping us as we die.  +  In the words of the Blessed Virgin to Mary of Agreda;
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 " Hence My choosing to die was so pleasing to Him, and My Prudent Love therein obliged Him to such an extent that He immediately conceded to Me a singular favour for the benefit of the children of The Church and conformable to My wishes. It was this, that all those devoted to Me, who shall call on me at the hour of death, constituting Me as their Advocate in memory of My Happy Transition and of My desiring to imitate Him in death, shall be under my special protection in that hour, shall have Me as a defense against the demons, as a help and a protection, and shall be presented by Me before the Tribunal of His Mercy and there experience My Intercession"
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COLORS
In chapter 8 of Pope Julius' 1511 specifications for the Rule of their order, he describes the requisite colors of the cloistered nuns habits for the Order of the Immaculate Conception:
     -- -- an outer cloak "the color of sky" in honor of "the soul of the Most sacred Virgin"
     -- -- the normal tunic and cowel of a soft shade of white in honor of the "virginal purity of the soul and body" of the Immaculate Conception.
     -- -- "Sky blue" is also significant, of course, since Maria de Agreda was named by Native Americans in the 17th century American Southwest as the "Lady in Blue," after her many bilocations to preach the Christian gospel to them.
     -- -- Also, FYI, there was proscribed a short black veil that (until Vatican II) they pulled over their faces when visiting with "outsiders"

     I have actual samples of the blue robe and the soft white tunic -- small pieces that are actually relics that the convent sent to me.  I'd be happy to send a likeness of them or a photo of the present day nuns, to the Rosary Workshop if that would be helpful.

VALUES AND ATTRIBUTES
While Sor Maria's life was interlaced with many miraculous events, visions and ecstasies, one of her outstanding qualities throughout her life was humility.  For that reason, and in concert with the theme of the Franciscans, under which her order comes, I feel that simplicity and something not overly pricey would be most reflective of her style. (Unlike some Conceptionists, who split off from the Franciscans somewhere along the line, Mary of Agreda's order maintained the affiliation to the present.)  Her absolute servitude and devotion to the Blessed Mother also underscores some type of blue theme for the rosary.

 TEXTURES AND STONES
Because of the incredibly refined nature of Sor Maria's own soul, I envision the primary rosary beads as polished and smooth and bright as the color of the sky portrayed in her cloak.  Also, perhaps somewhat opaque, reflective of the many mysteries revealed to her by the Blessed Mother.  Too, because of the Moncayo mountain range overlooking the convent in Agreda, much of the present day convent was constructed, under Sor Maria's direction, from actual granite in the foothills.  So perhaps the glistening blue beads might be contrasted in the Our Father beads by something more rough-hewn.  Or, another idea -- polished mahogany, since she was so pleased with the mahogany choir stalls she had installed in the new (and present) convent.

THE MEDAL
There is a particular portrait of her that is considered her "signature" pose, that I would recommend for the medal.  In it, she is seated at her writing desk, poised over the manuscript of "Mystical City of God," with a feather quill pen in her right hand.  It is also very appropriate since she has reached so many people through the wonders in her book.  I'd be happy to send a couple of versions to Margot, if you think she might like to look at them.

That's all I can think of for now.  Please let me know what you think, and how the project proceeds. United in prayer, Marilyn Fedewa (March 18 2005

ROSARY WORKSHOP MISSION STATEMENT
Our vision is to provide the finest handmade rosaries, chaplets and other fine religious art forms for personal worship we can make using the best supplies available.  The Guild believes the work of our hands should give visual Glory to God, therefore for us, the best for you is very, very important.