HOUSTON- Even the most faithful baseball fan isn't above praying for their team. Just like the Astros season, the team-themed rosary beads are back!
Annunciation Catholic Church started selling the beads Monday, hopeful its volunteers would sell out of 500 handmade rosaries for the Astros home opener.
The church started selling the custom prayer rosaries at the start of the Astros season last year and within a couple of months, the church was able to connect sold-out rosary sales to landslide Astros wins.
Astros owner Jim Crane bought a rosary last season. And, when a Catholic priest from Spring, TX was invited to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican, the priest chose to gift the Pontiff an Astros rosary as a symbol of Houston.
The rosary sales started as a way for Annunciation Catholic Church to raise money for repairs to the downtown Houston Church. It is 149 years old in 2018 and needs things like a permanent bathroom on site and living quarters for its pastor.
"You know, we’re trying to raise $4 million," said Elsie Hernandez who works for the Diocese of Galveston. "Our rosary makers didn’t think we were going to sell that many," said Hernandez of the church's inaugural season.
Between two women who string the rosaries by hand, Annunciation Catholic Church sold 1,000 rosaries during last year's Astros season. The sales helped the chuch raise $2 million dollars.
This year, volunteers are also selling orange and blue rosary bags and Retro Astros themed rosaries, which include red and yellow beads.
"We get calls from all over the United States," said Hernandez. We’ve had Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists. People that don’t even believe."