Community Highlights: Meet John Monroe of Rosa Mystica Medals

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Monroe.

Hi John, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My wife, who is an artist, has always been fascinated with Catholic Saints, and in 2008 she purchased a few antique Catholic Saint medals. Being creative she put them on necklaces and bracelets and sold them online as a hobby. She was and still is a preschool teacher. People kept contacting her, saying they would like to buy a medal they saw on her online store. That is when she decided to make sterling silver replicas of the antique Saint medals and just sell the medals. At first, she recast the medals herself, but over time, the volume of sales grew to the point where she had to outsource the recasting of the antique medals. She continued to operate the business as a side gig until the summer of 2017, when I was laid off from my corporate job. Susan felt that if I focused full-time on the business, we could really grow it. I told her I would take over the business for six months as a test trial. Well six years later, I am still running the business and enjoying being my own boss. Other than selling at a handful of Christmas markets at Catholic churches and high schools, all our sales are online. In 2022, we shipped medals to all 50 states and over 30 countries. We currently sell over 300 different Saint medals on our online store at www.rosamysticamedals.com.

The stories that our customers tell us about what the Saint medals mean to them let me know that Rosa Mystica Medals is more than a business. I like to think that the medals we sell are a channel of God’s love. I am proud of my wife who created a business that puts food on our table.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been a few challenges. The first one was the challenge of growth. The business grew to the point where it was overwhelming for Susan, who was doing it on a part-time basis. After I took over the business, the challenge was getting used to working by myself at home and not having a salary. For over 30 years, I have worked in finance in a corporate environment. Also, I had to learn customer service skills when dealing with the occasional demanding customer. This is something I did not have to deal with in my finance jobs.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Rosa Mystica sells beautiful sterling silver reproductions of antique patron saint medals. To describe what we do, it might be helpful for your readers to understand the concept of saints and what a medal is.

For Catholics, saints are people who lived very holy lives here on earth and have gone on to heaven. Just as you would ask a friend here to pray with you for a special need or situation, saints are like our friends in heaven. I might particularly like a certain saint because they dealt with situations in their life that are similar to what I’m dealing with in my life. For example, if I am anxious, I might like St. Padre Pio, who was a monk who taught me how to control worry and anxiety in our lives. We can pray with the saints to Christ, asking for their help and intercession in our lives.

A religious medal is just like a charm or pendant that you would wear on a necklace or bracelet. When you have the likeness of a patron saint on a medal, it’s like having the photo of a loved one in a locket. You’re keeping the thought of them close to you through this piece of jewelry.

Many of our antique medals come from Europe, and within Europe, many come from France. These medals are no longer being made and will show the wear and tear of previous owners. We believe that we are keeping the memories of the antique Saint medals and the previous owners alive with our reproductions.

What’s next?
Our plans for the future are to continue doing what we have been doing since 2008. We are always on the lookout for interesting antique Saint medals to add to our current collection.

Pricing:

• Our medal prices range from $25 to $135

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rosamysticamedals.com