About Saints for Sinners
Founded by Rob Clemenz in 2003, SaintsforSinners has grown into an international retail business. We send our lovingly hand-painted medals to shops and customers around the globe.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina threw a wrench (and a whole lot of water) into our plans. We lost our home and the SaintsforSinners workshop. But, like our hometown of New Orleans, we came back determined to rebuild what was lost.
Watch the video below to witness the SaintsforSinners story in just 60 seconds.
In August 2015, we reflected on 10 years of challenges and progress since Katrina.
A Message from Founder Rob Clemenz
My name is Rob Clemenz and I’d like to thank you for visiting SaintsforSinners! This website and all it entails is near and dear to my heart.
How It All Started
I’ve always harbored a great interest in the Catholic saints. A few years ago, I began reading more about them, and got a lot of comfort from learning about their lives.It seemed that whatever thought or feeling I had, I could find a saint who could offer me guidance, perspective, and most of all, comfort.
My “adopted” father-in-law, Richard, was a former Holy Cross brother, and when he passed away, my “adopted” mother-in-law, Emily, gave me his religious books. I started thinking that the stories I read were so interesting that they needed to be shared. I bought many more books about the saints. My friends here in New Orleans took a keen interest in what I was doing, and pretty soon everyone was sharing interesting stories about the saints with me.
Painting Patron Saints
I started buying imported medals of the saints, planning to spruce them up by painting them and attaching them to beaded chains. I began writing stories about the saints. Pretty soon, I had over 100 “serenity stories” written.
Then, my friend Mary gave me tips on how to paint the medals, and my brother-in-law Doug, who is an artist, painted some beautiful medals. I gave a bunch of the hand-painted, imported medals and serenity stories away, and many of my friends refused to ever take the medals off. That was discouraging because I was hoping the medals and stories would be shared, not kept!
I began calling our creations the “Serenity Medals and Stories for Sharing.” Next, my 15-year-old nephew Doug became a sales rep for me and got the hand-painted, imported necklaces and stories in local stores. That was the beginning of a journey that would bring our SaintsforSinners medals worldwide.
Spreading SaintsforSinners Worldwide
SaintsforSinners now offers over 100 stories and medals for sale. People from dozens of different countries visit the site, and we have received orders from as far away as Australia!
Once again, thanks for visiting us. Please help spread the word about SaintsforSinners.
There is always a saint available for anyone and everyone. The saints provide guidance, comfort, and serenity. A person’s religious background is irrelevant! There is always a saint and a story to offer hope. Which saint is especially right for you? Find out with our quiz.
– Rob Clemenz