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Record-setting rosary of boulders and chains in Massachusetts is so big you can walk through it

By
Jordyn Jagolinzer
Jordyn Jagolinzer
Jordyn Jagolinzer is a reporter for WBZ-TV. She joined WBZ in 2022 from WGGB/WSHM in Springfield, where she spent 5 years as an anchor-reporter.
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Jordyn Jagolinzer

/ CBS Boston

There's a Catholic shrine in Massachusetts, west of Boston, that has a rosary so large it's actually made of boulders and chains.

The heart-shaped rosary at the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Holliston is 950-feet long. According to the , it's the largest sculpture of rosary beads on Earth.

"They decided to think big and to create a rosary not necessarily with a record of size in mind but a place that people could walk through," said Father Carl Chudy, the shrine's co-director. "Usually when we hold a rosary, we go through it with our hands. This is a chance for people to be on a kind of pilgrimage."

The rosary was built with large rocks taken from the construction of Interstate 495.

"It was the early 70's, they were just digging up for the project to build I-495," Father Chudy said. "They had gotten permission to come and take these large boulders from there, one by one in a pickup truck. Connecting the boulders, they implemented an anchor and chain that came from a battleship actually, the John F. Kennedy."

holliston.jpg
The heart-shaped rosary at the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Holliston, Massachusetts is 950-feet long.  CBS Boston

The shrine covers 20 acres in Holliston. The rosary is made up of 60 boulders and each one has a prayer in a different language.

"It's meant for all kinds of friends, Catholics, Christians of all types, but also peoples of other faiths," Fr. Chudy said.

For more information about the shrine and the rosary, visit their .

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