Many of them are simple — nothing fancy. 

Bright beads strung on soft cord. Yet the rosaries Intermountain Health St. Mary’s Regional Hospital gives offer something far greater: a quiet reassurance you can feel in your hands, a small anchor in a storm of uncertainty.  

While the rosary is a traditional Catholic prayer tool, its comfort isn’t limited to Catholics. People of all faiths – or even no formal faith – often find peace in its steady rhythm, a structure that feels grounding when life feels unpredictable, spiritual care staff said.   

Patients often welcome these rosaries, sometimes even when they're not ready for a visit from a chaplain or a formal prayer. Holding one can feel like holding hope, they said. 

"People are so happy to get those rosaries, and they just love them," said Carol Kelker, a long-time volunteer rosary maker.  

For Kelker, rosary making began 11 years ago with an advertisement in the church bulletin, looking for volunteers. 

Since then, she has rarely missed a meeting volunteering at the Catholic hospital. Her presence is certainly valuable, as it takes almost an hour to create only two or three rosaries. Kelker said the joy they produce makes every knot worthwhile. Once a month, about six members gather. 

The atmosphere is peaceful. The time begins with a short prayer before the click of beads fills the air. Beginners are taught to make knots on a practice cord.  

At home, the real work begins. 

Kelker makes about 20 additional rosaries between meetings, working for an hour a day, five days a week. 

When stores are low, she puts in overtime. 

She said it’s a quiet labor of love, and every knot carries a prayer for the person who will hold it. Month after month, the group’s hands craft about 70 rosaries – each one Kelker said is destined to bring comfort to someone in need. Extras don’t go to waste—they travel to churches and even missionaries overseas.  

Today, the rosaries are in high demand and go directly to the hospital, where they are cherished and requested faster than the group can make them. 

They come in cheerful colors — deep reds and greens for Christmas, soft pinks and purples for Easter, even bold team colors — bringing a little brightness to a hospital room.   

“Sometimes people are just having a bad day,” said Alan Amos, manager of mission integration and spiritual care at Intermountain St. Mary’s Hospital. “We can hand them a rosary, and it changes their entire outlook from the hospital stay. We could not do our job of supporting patients and their families without the rosary makers.”  

Each rosary is a tactile reminder that healing is not only medical, but spiritual. 

Intermountain Health’s Lutheran Medical Center celebrated Bonnie Hayes on Wednesday for 45 years and more than 20,000 hours of serving the hospital, caregivers, and patients. 

Her tenure equals someone who worked 40 hours a week for 10 years.  

Lutheran Medical Center volunteers and caregivers gathered at the hospital with friends and family members of Hayes for refreshments and sharing.

Hayes got her start as a volunteer thanks to her firefighter husband and hearing calls from his work radio. In the 1970s a person could hear all the radio traffic for first responders. On one call she overheard a responder talking to a sexual assault victim. The treatment of the victim was uncaring, she said.  

“I thought that was wrong and I didn’t want to hear that happen to anyone else,” Hayes said. 

She took a class for people who could provide emotional support to emergency room patients who were victims of sexual assault. That was 1978. The program that was created provided women and a few men on call 6 p.m.-6 a.m. to go to the hospital and support victims. They coordinated with families, provided clothing, arranged transportation, and helped with interactions with law enforcement if victims were hesitant to talk with them.  

Hayes believes the program was the first of its kind in the region. It ended after 25 years with the creation of a sexual assault nurse examiner role. A formal program to serve the entire region was designated at another hospital.  

 Hayes retired from her 30-year teaching career in 2001. Her volunteer work continued. She was chairman of the volunteer leadership committee and coordinated vendor fairs that raise money for hospital projects. She also has managed the lost and found with hospital security.   

Photo cutline: Bonnie Hayes, center, is congratulated by fellow volunteers at Lutheran Medical Center, Mary Taylor and Dave Santiago. The hospital celebrated Hayes on Wednesday for her volunteerism that spanned 45 years.