A PRAYER FOR THE THE RECORD: CAIRO STUDENTS HOPE ROSARY MAKES GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS

CAIRO, Ill. -- What started out as an educational project for Catholic Schools Week turned into a record-breaking feat at St. Joseph's School in Cairo.

The school's faculty and students decided to construct a giant replica of the rosary, a special string of beads used in prayer. After researching the project, they decided to go for the Guinness World Records book.

What resulted was a 173-foot, 9-inch rosary made of twine, painted Styrofoam balls, wood and modeling clay. It took two weeks to complete.

Record dwarfed

The newest rosary dwarfed the record holder by 59 feet. The now second-longest rosary, which is listed in the book, was recognized in Brazil two years ago.

It measures 114 feet, 9 inches and is made of polished coconut shells and blue nylon rope. Its creator, Pedro Rodrigues Pereira, said he was inspired by a dream about the Virgin Mary.

The St. Joseph's rosary contains 169 beads. The crucifix was constructed using 1-by-3-inch boards, and the Corpus of Christ was made from modeling foam.

Many of the materials used were donated by area businesses.

Monsignor Bill McGhee recently offered a special prayer blessing the rosary.

"I admire the faith and devotion of the children and adults in this project," he said.

McGhee oversees three Southern Illinois churches: St. Mary's Church in Mound City, St. Catherine's in Grand Chain and Our Lady of Fatima in Ullin.

He also leads Mass services once a week at St. Joseph's School.

"The students put in a lot of time on the rosary project," McGhee said. "They worked together. It was amazing what they did."

The giant rosary is displayed on the gymnasium wall at the school. Visitors can view the rosary during regular school hours.

Gina Hileman, a teacher who coordinated the project, said she originally intended for it to be 30 feet long.

"We started looking into the record thing on the Internet, and this led to the Guinness Book of Records," she said. "We decided to go to the extra expense and shoot for the record. The children were excited about the project."

A place in history?

She said the school will submit all the information on the project to Guinness World Records' publisher, and students hope their faith in God lands them their own place in history.

John Eric Klein, an eighth-grade student, was one of the group leaders who worked on the rosary project.

"The project took a little longer than anticipated," said Klein. "We thought it would take about three days, but it took more than a week by the time the rosary was painted and assembled."

Klein said all the students enjoyed their work on the project.

Guinness World Records LTD can accept or reject any record attempt. The company's materials say Guinness can't feature every record because of the many thousands broken around the world every year.

Rosaries and variants of them are found in a variety of religions. According to Christian tradition, St. Dominic invented the rosary in Spain in the 13th century.