BEECH GROVE, Ind. (CNS) -- "I pray the rosary."
Eighth-grade students at Holy Name School in Beech Grove are proudly wearing T-shirts they decorated with this message.
They made the T-shirts after watching a YouTube video during religion class about a teenager who promoted his Catholic faith as well as his devotion to Jesus and Mary in this way.
Benedictine Sister Mary Nicolette Etienne, a member of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove and the religion teacher at Holy Name School, said she enjoys teaching students to pray the rosary as part of their vocation to know, love and serve God. She also distributes rosaries she makes each week to the students.
During a recent religion class the eighth-grade students said their teacher inspires them to pray because she has a strong faith and deep love for Jesus.
Some of the eighth-graders told a reporter from The Criterion, newspaper of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, that the rosary was a good way to talk to God.
One student said praying the rosary had a calming effect. Another said it helps the person praying and others too.
Ben Coons, who drew a cross on his T-shirt about the rosary, said he wants other people to know about God and the rosary.
"I know God is listening," he said. "I've been praying to God for so long that I know he's there."
Another student, Taylor Burger, said her friends who are not Catholic don't understand why she prays the rosary.
In response she says: "It's a form of prayer so God can call you, and Mary can help you through your troubles."
Sister Nicolette said her own appreciation of the rosary has grown over the years.
"It seems like the older I get, the more devotional I have become. I love adoration, and I love that my students are learning about the practice of praising God in adoration and by praying the rosary," she said.
The veteran teacher, teaching 25 years, said her students love the rosary.
"They love to come in and pick a rosary off the board and pray. I teach grades four through eight, and all my students enjoy doing that. I have students who tell me all the time that it's so calming to be able to walk in the classroom and pray even a decade of the rosary," said the nun, whose brother is a new bishop, Bishop Paul D. Etienne of Cheyenne, Wyo.
During spring break last year, Sister Nicolette spent three days with her mother learning how to make rosaries.
"Ever since then, I've been making rosaries every day," Sister Nicolette said. "I love that it's a gift that my mother gave me. I think that's wonderful because the Blessed Mother is so important in my life, and it's important to me that my mother taught me how to do this.
"When my mom and I sit down and make rosaries, a whole new level of peace and calm comes into both our hearts," she said. "And what do we have in the end? We have a beautiful gift that we can give to people to encourage them to pray."
During a recent religion class the eighth-grade students said their teacher inspires them to pray because she has a strong faith and deep love for Jesus.
Some of the eighth-graders told a reporter from The Criterion, newspaper of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, that the rosary was a good way to talk to God.
One student said praying the rosary had a calming effect. Another said it helps the person praying and others too.
Ben Coons, who drew a cross on his T-shirt about the rosary, said he wants other people to know about God and the rosary.
"I know God is listening," he said. "I've been praying to God for so long that I know he's there."
Another student, Taylor Burger, said her friends who are not Catholic don't understand why she prays the rosary.
In response she says: "It's a form of prayer so God can call you, and Mary can help you through your troubles."
Sister Nicolette said her own appreciation of the rosary has grown over the years.
"It seems like the older I get, the more devotional I have become. I love adoration, and I love that my students are learning about the practice of praising God in adoration and by praying the rosary," she said.
The veteran teacher, teaching 25 years, said her students love the rosary.
"They love to come in and pick a rosary off the board and pray. I teach grades four through eight, and all my students enjoy doing that. I have students who tell me all the time that it's so calming to be able to walk in the classroom and pray even a decade of the rosary," said the nun, whose brother is a new bishop, Bishop Paul D. Etienne of Cheyenne, Wyo.
During spring break last year, Sister Nicolette spent three days with her mother learning how to make rosaries.
"Ever since then, I've been making rosaries every day," Sister Nicolette said. "I love that it's a gift that my mother gave me. I think that's wonderful because the Blessed Mother is so important in my life, and it's important to me that my mother taught me how to do this.
"When my mom and I sit down and make rosaries, a whole new level of peace and calm comes into both our hearts," she said. "And what do we have in the end? We have a beautiful gift that we can give to people to encourage them to pray."
