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pretty funny, really...i don't think your mouth is THAT vulgar, though...with all my catholic influences...best friend, college roommate and husband, i never knew the details of the rosary....the most modern thing i have heard of lately is the little pager that folks use so the person needing prayer hears a beep everytime someone is praying for them....kinda neat...(i've only been on the dialing end, but still very neat, makes prayer very conscious)...thank you again for this place--i still am so amazed when i see all the online users,,,and think of them reading your nourishing words.....
 

rlp, you're so ****in' funny sometimes I wish my husband wasn't an agnostic so I could share the joke! I used to be married to an Irish-Canadian lapsed Catholic who WASN'T screwed up by the church, so I learned from him and his sweet, funny pious mother all the mystery and the beauty and the traditions. I always loved rosaries aesthetically, too ... and I may be a recovered Pentecostal non-denominational Christian in a deep-liberal ecumenical seminary ... but I get the joke! Thanks for the belly laugh.

The only thing more frightening than a Baptist with a rosary is an Anglican/Episcopalian with a rosary... we're so used to making stuff up as we go along, we had to make up our OWN set of beads, just to be contrary! See here for some examples.

And now I have to admit, that I have a regular ol' set of Dominican rosary beads (commonly known as 'Roman Catholic', but let's be specific here). They even glow in the dark. And I pray the Hail Mary. But sometimes I also pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
______________________
SWS
Ecclesiastes 7:13

Wow, RG does nice work! Snowflake obsidian? Got a package going out in Monday's mail. (Missed today.) I usually keep mine in a mala bag.

I always wrote off the Rosary and other Marian-themed things as "that superstitious s*** my family did." I got back into the rosary during college...a friend and I promised to say it every morning at a certain time. An experience while seeing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe changed my mind about some other things, but that's another story.

Another chaplet I really like is the Seven Dolors one. Not somethign I can do every day, though.

Hey rlp,
I come from a mixed-up bunch of denominations--Evangelical Church of North America, Nondenominational (close to Baptist), Christian Reformed Church, etc--and I have to admit I've always wanted a rosary necklace. Not just because the beads are pretty, but because I've loved the idea of the tangible "big bead, little bead" leading me into the spiritual dimension of prayer. Now I'm going to go out and get my own beads! Thanks for a nudge in that direction.

Hey RLP, I totally know where you're coming from. :) I've spent some months praying the Anglican rosary (shorter than the Catholic one, and again, there are a lot of different ways to pray it--how Episcopalian can we get? :), and it's a very meaningful way to pray. After doing it for a couple of months, I know have my rosary in my head, and can pray that way whenever I feel a need for some serious structure (and have half an hour, 'cause when I start in on the rosary there's going to be some *praying* done ;). Good luck with yours!
(textjunkie, in case I'm not signed in)

Big bead, little bead, little bead, little bead. that's a hoot. The purpose of the Rosary is to keep us mindful and to maintain a sense of devotion to the prayers that we recite, whatever system of prayer you are using.It keeps us centered on the ritual of prayer, holding the rosary, the rote recitation of prayers in a systematic order. The perfect pious performance of ritual transforms the human into a ritualized body. and every good catholic knows that if you want to get to Jesus the best way to do that (in our terms) is to go through Mary, who is said to hold the keys to the back door of heaven. Intercessory prayer is just another vehicle to bring us closer to God and his grace.The mysteries of the rosay are meant to join us on the mysteries and the life of Christ, at the most important times in his life. The Joyful mysteries, The Mysteries of Light (as added by PJPII), The Sorrowful mysteries,  and the Glorious mysteries and certain Marian influenced prayers. Mary calls us to pray for ourselves, the community and she calls us to be peacemakers because Marian prayer is said the have transformative qualities. In that Hope Mary's intention is to rid the world of war, suffering and finally to unite us with her son in heaven, upon our death.I have several sets of beads from  many different religious traditions, each has their own process and set of prayers to go with them. It is good to pray regularly and the rosary is but one tool to center us in divine prayer and on spiritual reflection.
 
 

I grew up Catholic and left the church as an adult.  I usually run from anything that resembles mechanical rote prayer, but I really like that you gave the rosary your own spin.  I can't claim my prayers are any better than rote prayers at this point because with my fuzzy mommy brain I tend to lose focus and have been known to compose my grocery list in the middle of a prayer.  I make glass beads and jewelry, and have thought of making rosaries for my Catholic friends, but I may just make one for myself first; I could use a little focus in my prayer life.~Jennifer

I actually thought you might like a rosary, Preach. I went to this Catholic Family Land (don't laugh- okay, it is a little funny. I went with a friend and his family, so I didn't have to watch my poor, confused Baptist mother try to make the Sign of the Cross. ;P), and they had these rosaries on sale. I bought a nice black one for myself, and I have to agree that it helps focus your thoughts, if nothing else. I do the same thing- think of someone who needs a prayer for each bead. Very relaxing.

If the pope would just give up the notion of celibate priests, I might just be your Catholic counterpart someday. ;) Later, Preach.

What a great thing!
.
As a United Methodist youth minister with severe ADHD (and a continuing addiction to distraction despite medication), I immediately see an inherent value in this. I read through your ritual/routine/prayer method (everybody happy/angry yet?) twice because I was so excited about it. I don't suppose the man who made your set is in the habit of making these for others? I don't really even know where to find rosaries unless it involves heading over to the Catholic church down the road (which I have done before for other positive reasons) or ordering them online from... um... somewhere? Anyway, thanks for letting us in on this, I would really like to see how my prayer habits (or lack of) could be changed by a little "prayer hacking". I suppose many others will ask/say similar things, so on the other hand, there's no need to overwhelm someone who has acted out of generousity.
.
Peace to You,
Tree
manofredearth.at.gmail.dot.com

My father, a Methodist minister, gave me a nice rosary a few months ago when I told him I was haveing a difficult time talking to God. I love the idea.

I'm a Church of Christ seminarian, but I have a crucifix above my bed and a rosary hanging near my door. When I pray the rosay, I generally do the standard one or I will substitute the "Jesus Prayer" for the "Hail Mary."

I am fascinated by rosaries.  I have been thinking about them, and about prayer, and about how I am doing now that I have gone back to church.  I was at a seminar about language styles recently, and the teacher said something - she said she'd once thought that the methods she was teaching would only work if you agreed and believed in them, but found that they work just as well whether you believe in them or not.  So I have been thinking that using some specific prayer rituals might be very good for me, whether I'm sure about what I'm praying or not.  I found a website about the Anglican rosary, and have been thinking that I very much want one, and want to pray with it.  I think it will be good for me.  I'm thinking about making my own, although I really don't know anything about stringing beads. 

I have used the rosary for some tiime now to focus on prayer and to rid my mind of outside influences. I learned to say it the traditional way and felt wierd saying the "Hail Mary's", but I have tried several series of verses without much success. The rhythm of the Our Father and the Hail Mary's seems to be important for how I use the rosary. Once I get going and my mind clears, I am reciting the rosary in the background of my mind while praying standard prayers in the foreground. It's a bit mystical. But it works for me.

Joel
http://www.thetenmaker.blogspot.com

This makes me smile. :-) I've never used a rosary, perhaps not surprisingly, but for a long time I had a bracelet of tiger's-eye beads which I used like mala beads -- I would move the beads with my thumb, and as each one clicked I would say the first line of the shema. For a while I used it with an even more abbreviated little prayer -- "Adonai echad," "God is One."

The elastic of the bracelet stretched, though, and it got so loose I couldn't wear it anymore. So now it sits on my little altar in my home office, alongside a bunch of other significant and religious objects, and when I see it I remember the feeling of praying with the beads, and it makes me happy.

 
***
"Why write unless you praise the sacred places?" -- Richard Howard 

RLP,
When I returned to the faith about 2 years ago, I went in and talked with the preacher at our church. His father was a Baptist preacher. Our preacher gave incredible sermons that still held some of that evangelical Baptist flavor - I am in the Congregational church. I asked him about prayer. He gave me the name of John Baillie and told me to read his devotional book, which I have. He told me about the ACTS structure to a prayer. Then he pulled out of his pocket a long Greek Orthodox prayer rope and said, "To really focus and deepen my prayer life, though, I use this." He told me about the hesychia and the Jesus Prayer and how to use it. Now I have one and carry it with me wherever I go. I pray with it on walks. The very few people I have told, I have told shyly. It seems too private and, what is the right word? heretical... to my Protestant, evangelical, free church loving background. Oh, well. It gets me closer to God and reminds me of the value of prayer, something I am really just discovering. Thanks for such a great essay.
Peace Brother!

I don't know the first thing about rosaries. However, three years ago when I was going  through a particularly difficult time a friend gave me one. For some reason I found a lot of comfort in holding it while I prayed. I still do.  

I've been thinking about getting some prayer beads to help me focus with my prayer. I find it really hard to pray unless I'm actually speaking. My thoughts frequently stray.

I love the 'big bead, little bead' joke. And although I have not considered myself a Catholic for over thirty years, there are two rosaries on my bed. I never thought, though, of using different prayers. That's something for me to think about! Thanks, RLP!

rlp, I've thought this before in reading your blog, and this post makes me think it again. If anyone could erase bigotry among churches and unify all those different sects into a harmonious group, it would have to be someone like yourself. Certainly it would be a different world if religions (and religious leaders) could co-exist with the level of acceptance, tolerance, and understanding that you demonstrate in such an effortless and natural way.

I'm a member of the Churches of Christ. My wife is in a CPE program run by the Episcopal Diocess. She and I got interested in the Episcopal Rosary or prayer beads. We made our own and created our own list of prayers to pray. We both pray them every morning. It definitly helps me focus, and I love that my wife and I are praying the same prayer in different places at different times.

jimps
www.jimps.blogspot.com

I've not bought one because it is fun to make my own, but I like the customizable options available at Crafts By Janet Lynn. I don't know the crafter, but this site introduced me to the idea that rosaries go beyond the Catholic tradition....
From Anglican Rosaries to Earth Rosaries

Preach-
Have you seen this article?

I was raised Fundamental Baptist and have little knowledge of the Catholic faith. However, when my husband and I went to Rome this summer, we attended the Wednsday Papal audience with Pope Benedict attending. Before we went, we stopped in a little shop and bought two rosaries. One for me and one to give to a Catholic friend. Since we had them on us while we were blessed by the Pope, the rosaries are now blessed also. I don't use mine for anything though; I keep it in my jewelry box.

What a good idea for us ADD types! I've all but given up on any kind of sustained prayer due to my inability to focus, which leads to quite a bit of guilt. I'm going to get myself some beads.

I am a former Catholic who missed the rosary for many years, until I happened upon the concept of the Anglican rosary. Now I make them and enjoy giving them to my Protestant friends. I had to start making them, because of an amazing experience with my local Christian book store, which I chronicled on my blog. You can read about it here: http://www.fallible.com/index.php/fallible/comments/those_pesky_anglican_ankles/

Katy Raymond
www.fallible.com

RLP,
I was recently given my 'first' rosary. My wife is a 'Catholic wannabe' as she calls it. She is fascinated with the Catholic Faith and with all likelihood is on the brink of conversion. I myself... don't know. I too have many fascinations with aspects of the Catholic Faith, but nondenominational seems to be my preference all around.

She recently bought me a rosary though and I have to admit I love it. It is made of Olive wood and is from Jerusalem. It is hand crafted in a medieval style and I too don't use it the 'catholic' way with hail mary's etc. I don't know the entire process of saying the rosary, but I read it and my father jokingly said he worried he'd fall asleep before he finished if it were him.

I think that God will know my prayers are sincere with or without the rosary, but for some reason just holding it in my hand is an amazing comfort.

Fish.
(Chad)

I once gave a workshop on contemplative prayer at a conference that was mostly Southern Baptists and non-denominational types, and the workshop included praying the rosary. I called the rosary "prayer beads," though, lest participants' heads explode on the spot. The rosary ended up being the most popular part of the workshop as well as the part that participants reported as being the most meaningful to them. Each of them left with a rosary of his or her own, so you're not the only Baptist out there with one. :)

Blessings,

Dylan

I was raised Catholic, including 12 years of parochial school. Not only that, but my foster parents were my godparents as well, so I really got a dose! Every year during Lent, 40 hours devotion, actually, my father would sit my brother and I down at the dining room table and we would pray the Rosary together. Now, you've seen the rosary, the "big bead" for the Our Father and the "little beads" for the Hail Mary's. Lots of lots of big beads and even more little beads on that strand, aren't there. But did you know that one circuit of the strand is called a "decade" (pronounced "deccat") and that there used to be nine of them and now number 10? Do you KNOW how long it takes to pray a WHOLE rosary? When you're only NINE???

Needless to say, I was soured on the whole rosary thing by the age of 12.

Then my natural mother died and, at her wake, my natural father gave me a small plastic rosary he said had belonged to her and had come from Ireland. He wanted me to have it. It was cheap and tacky-looking and glowed in the dark. Literally. But it was my only keepsake from my natural mother, so I kept it.

About a year later, I was working in a Catholic hospital as a Candy Striper along with two friends I'd gone to grade school with. One evening, my foster father (who drove us to and from our volunteer shift) had to pick us up late. To pass the time, and because I had been feeling vaguely guilty all day for some reason, I talked my friends into going into the chapel with me and praying a decade of the Rosary. (You'd have to have grown up Catholic in parochial schools to understand how one 15 year old girl talked two other 15 year old girls into something so insane, but I managed it.)

Three adolscents in an empty chapel with one set of rosary beads leads to hysterical laughter...among the adolescents. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and immediately dubbed our efforts "The Holy Tongue Twister". We decided this was fun, and talked my father into picking us up late every week after that. We were a regular site, creeping into the chapel after our shift, trying unsuccessfully, to look nonchalant about it. Our giggles were probably heard up and down the hallway while we were inside.

But it was a few months later that one of my friends discovered the awful fact. There was a closed circuit camera in the chapel, hooked up to the hospital's tv system. Every single person in the hospital with access to a tv could tune us in once a week and enjoy full audio AND video of our adolescent amusements.

Apparently, we were a big hit. The Nielson people would have loved us. We never had the nerve to cross the chapel threshhold again. And it was years before I sat down with anyone other than my foster father to pray even a single decade myself.

But my sister continued a family tradition. When she visited Ireland several years ago, she brought me back the most handsome Rosary of Connamara Marble and the glorious feel of those smooth, square, intricately carved beads under my fingers tempted me back into running a decade or two now and then.

When friends are in difficulty now and I can't seem to help them any other way, I will sometimes offer to "ring a rosary" for them.

And if you think your credit card rosary is odd, you should see the "thumb rosary" I bought for my father a few years ago. A little metal disk with a center hole cut for the thumb, surmounted by a small crucifix, edged with one large bead and five smaller beads. Interesting little contraption and, as my father noted, it slips into a wallet and/or a pocket even easier than his other rosaries.

I suspect the credit card rosary is meant more for "privacy" reasons than modernity, though. You can sit there, running your thumb over the surface of a plastic card (with it's "face" turned away from people on the street) without attracting as much attention as you would if you were clutching a strand of beads in public. For many, espcially many Catholics who were taught that public prayer should not be ostentatious or done in any way that draws attention to oneself, this might be a prime consideration.

Just a suggestion.

In the meantime, I like your take on the "holy tongue twisters". I might try that myself some time.

I don't know why, but it embarrasses me a little to admit that I even kiss the crucifix when I'm done. I know... kinda corny but anyway, yeah, I do it.

There's definitely nothing wrong with kissing the crucifix. I'm converting to Judaism and there's a lot of that. We kiss the mezuzah on the doorpost upon entering or leaving our homes. If a prayerbook falls to the ground (or anything else that contains the name of God), we kiss it upon picking it back up. We kiss the tzizit (fringes) on the corners of the prayer shawl while praying (specifically, during the prayer that includes the commandment to "wrap ourselves in fringes"). We even kiss the Torah scroll when it's paraded around the synagogue during Shabbat services. (Actually, we kiss the tzizit or a prayerbook and then touch them to the rolled-up, covered Torah, but nevertheless.) It's a beautiful gesture, I think... a very lovely, old-fashioned sign of respect. Keep on keeping on, Preacher.

- Joey

A friend and fellow church member makes lovely Anglican Rosaries that can be purchased at http://www.venerablebeads.com/. On that site as well are two sample prayers for the Anglican Rosary taken from a booklet of prayers for the rosary written by our Rector.

Or, for those into the do-it-yourself, kits for both the Anglican and Dominican (Catholic) rosaries can be found at http://www.rosaryshop.com/. I ordered the kit for the first rosary I made from them and was pleased with their products.

Thanks, again, G, for another great essay that made me laugh. I think I'll dust off the old beads and start using them again. I think the idea of focus is the issue here. Too many times I have sat down to pray and just came up with a hodge-podge of thoughts and religious sounding words that got me nowhere. I can imagine God thinking, "What is he trying to say?" It's funny when I have prayed from a list, I seem to get more accomplished, and I always feel better knowing I prayed for what I needed to. My wife and I used to pray from a weekly list; Monday for family, Tuesday for coworkers and work, Wednesday for church, Thursday for the sick, etc... If I told someone I would put them on my prayer list, I was saying, "You have to wait until Thursday, but I'll pray for you..." We found it a little limiting, so we stopped using a prayer schedule.
Now, if I designate each beed to a specific prayer, God will know when I'm in a hurry and pray, "Big bead, little bead, little bead...." Thanks again, G.
Pauly the Bull
Beer, Barbecue, and Bible Study

I love this post and the way it bridges a gap between denominations.

I'm a Disciples of Christ pastor, and this summer, I went to my denomination's general assembly. One day, I attended a workshop by a man who wrote a book called "Prayer for People Who Can't Sit Still." He talked about how he has ADHD, and uses things like labyrinths, doodling, journaling, and, yes, rosaries to help him pray. Just sitting and praying, he's too easily distracted....

I saw a little of myself in him and what he described. Later in the day, it was back to the big assembly hall. In front of me was a row of "little old ladies" who were all knitting during the business and worship sessions. Behind me was a row of youth making friendship bracelets. It all clicked: all of these can be aids to prayer....

It reminded me of the dreamcatcher I have hanging above my bed: that too is a prayer made by someone who didn't just speak the prayer, but gave it a material form....

I'm still working up the nerve to have people do more than just "sit there" during the prayer time at worship. I don't think I can pass out rosaries to everyone in the congregation, but perhaps one day we can get out the crayons & draw a prayer, or I can get the youth to teach us how to make friendship bracelets....

---Danny (Field of Dandelions)

Preacher---I know just what you mean.  I'm a former member of the Church of Christ---turned high-church Anglo-Catholic Episcopalian.  This summer, on a trip to London, I visited Westminster Abbey and bought my first rosary.  I use it during Morning Prayer, more as a tactile way of keeping my thoughts centered, but I'm going to try it your way, since I too suffer from Prayer-Related ADD. Oh, and I kiss the crucifix too---but I always look around to see if anyone's watching!  ;-)

It can be very helpful to have a physical object to help focus the thoughts. There are other kinds of prayer beads as well. Here is a different type that I happen to like.

/wokka

How timely that I would read this entry today, as I prepare to offer the young folk in our Journey to Adulthood group a session on meditating and praying with prayer beads this weekend! My son was given a lovely set of Anglican prayer beads by the superior of the SSJE brethren near us. He loves having it, and uses it to comfort him when he has nightmares. I just started knitting rosaries in the "penal" style, a 10 bead rosary from the time in Ireland when the rosaddy was illegal. I ahve a couple of these that are simple rings with bumps on them that can be fingered unobtrusively. I often use the Jesus prayer with prayer beads, however, I am also quite fond of the Hail Mary.

Blerssings, Kit

Curous Servant from Job's Tale (http://jobstale.blogspot.com/) here.

I'm intrigued by the idea of using a rosary. Prayer has been a growing activity for me for the last few years.

It's interesting to note that such a prayer tool has been around for a long time in many cultures.

For a while I was in a yogic ashram and some of the monks used a hindu version of such beads, Rudraksha beads.

Thanks for the interesting post.

I laughed at "big bead, little bead", but as a cradle Catholic I liked the idea of praying for a person on each bead. Catholics praying the rosary will often go in with an intention, even if they just have this exhausted *sigh* as their intention. It's not about the prayers themselves, they just keep a person grounded, but it's about entering in the moments of Jesus' journey to allow God to enter our moments in the journey.

Pray on preacher man. This is sounding good. It's all the same Jesus!

Originally the rosary was simply a counting device, allowing a person to rythmically move through the prayers without the need to mentally count. This sort of thing encourages meditation, not just the recitation of conventional prayers. Catholics generally move through a series of Christ-related "mysteries" that also enhances this meditation.

But the rosary is not only used for the Mary-related prayers, but also for other meditations, called chaplets. Chaplet of the Divine Mercy (of Jesus) is one that comes readily to mind. Again, mechanical counting allows for less distracted, more focused meditation.

By the way, prayers to Mary are not like prayers to God the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. They are requests for her support, consolation or intercession (hers is a human soul, like our own). Exactly as one would expect to be able to request from ones mother.

pb
Little Pond

I once considered buying buddhist beads to help my prayer focus. I like that they are bigger and wooden. But I haven't done it yet for fear of being struck by lightning or something - retribution for daring to use Buddhist prayer beads for a Christian prayer. As you can see, I still suffer from some deepset Christan guilt and lack of imagination.

Great essay! Thank you for your generous sharing.

Long story, short: In 2004, I was called to go on a pilgrimage to a Catholic shrine called Medjugorje in the former Yugoslavia. I went as a non-Catholic. I figured when in Rome, do as the Romans do, except in this case, do what Catholics do when on a Catholic pilgrimage. They pray the Rosary. So I taught myself how to do so with the help of an online visual Rosary that I put together to help me learn the prayers and sequencing, while learning and paying attention to the Jesus and Mary stories.

Turns out that I had a few misconceptions about the Rosary. It's definitely more than just rote (and vain) repetition; it's a mental juggling act!

Well, it worked. I kept at it and it helped me to completely memorize the prayers and the sequencing. If you want to give it a try, it's here: http://www.geocities.com/ppilgrim3/

And I enjoyed the joke, too. Too cute!

God bless you,
Peace Pilgrim
http://peacepilgrim.fotopages.com/

It might interest you to know that there is a rosary ring, like the card, with raised bumps around it. It represents the cross and three larger beads, plus one set of beads. It's called a penal rosary, as in Ireland during the 1700s-1800's Catholicism was 'outlawed' by England, only Anglicanism could be practiced, and a puritan version at that. So the Irish developed these 'rings' so that they could carry them in their pockets without being noticed.

versions of these are still sold in Catholic Bookstores, and are popular among soldiers deployed in the field.

Peace to you!

Jim Elliott

Praised be Christ!

I'm Catholic, have carried my rosary and prayed my rosary for 30+ years. I know what you mean about the beads being special.

Awesome article! Wish all God's own could laugh together more.

Started exploring the Anglican form. Works really well with those scripture verses I'm mulling over.

Peace in the Lord!

No internet discussion of the Rosary could be complete without Virtual Rosary: http://www.virtualrosary.org

Notice how Virtual Rosary connects the prayer tradition with liturgical prayer for all people through the internet. They call it 'PrayerCast' and the idea is very beautiful.

Download the program they have (free of course) and with each virtual 'bead' you will see the prayer of someone you don't even know who needs your prayer. Includes something else you can do with the usual Dominican Rosary: the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Try it - it's beautiful.

I own a Yaqui rosary and a Zapatista rosary, which were gifts, and also a simple wooden rosary which I bought at the Sanctuary of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. I sometimes finger them, and kiss the crosses.

Lately I have been wearing Tibetan Buddhist prayer beads around my right wrist to try to help keep me centered during this upheaval in my life (we are moving in a few weeks, leaving behind a beloved community, so that I can start seminary). I wrote about an exchange I had with an Oromian Muslim woman, who also uses prayer beads, at my own blog. http://www.clevertitle.net/towanda/?p=785

I should add, I grew up presbyterian, and now am in the UCC. But I love the more mystical rituals of other traditions.

Hello and greetings Baptist minister from a Catholic woman! Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ to you.

I loved your blog entry, although I didn't read all the comments--will come back to those later. A Catholic friend of mine pointed out your blog. It was good reading.

The rosary is powerful, and the fact that you are holding it and praying prayers on it is great. I'm not out to convert anyone, and I don't want to creep you out, but perhaps Mary has her eye on you. Blasphemy, you say! Well, I certainly don't mean anything offensive by what I just said. My father was a preacher and I was raised Pentecostal, so I know how other Christians view Catholics. But you are being ecumenical, and we could all use a little love.

Big love,
boiseocds

I also carry traditional Protestant guilt regarding the Hail Mary- I can pray it out loud w/o a problem, but silently? Not there yet. For most of my rosary prayers I pray the Glory Be on the small beads, and choose a specific person to pray for each decade and say a particular prayer for them on each bead.

Example: "Oh Lord I dedicate this next decade to my sister"
"I pray that you grant her healing from her latest head cold" - Glory Be
"I pray that she does well on her next exam" - Glory Be

I also thought that the big bead, little bead thing was hysterical!

Glory Be: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/b/gbttfath.htm

REV.FR. ANDREWS NICOLAS
POSTAL ADDRESS BOX KS 6243,
ADUM - KUMASI,
GHANA-WEST/AFRICA. Letter of St. Matthew the Apostle.

Dear Beloved One,

Concerning Your Salvation I am Under Constraint.

"Beloved, while I was making every endeavor to write to you about our Salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to content earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints For certain men have stealthily entered in, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the Grace of God into wantonness and disown our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
Please I am a Rev. Fr. Andrews Nicolas of Saint. Matthew Roman Catholic Church in Ghana West Africa. The main reason why I'm writing you this letter is that, there is yet more to be done. We must keep our eyes and ears open, and ee alert both mentally and spiritually.

We need your help today by sending us some Catholic materials such as Bibles, Holy Rosaries, Scapulars, incense, candles, rings, pieta books mass books and one Virgin Mary Statue to use this materials to recite and worship with.

Whose side are you on? I believe you sincerely desire to be on the side of the angels. I want you to stand together with me and our Lady's Apostolate, to help defeat the enemies of God.
In our daily lives we must do our duty and pray the holy Rosary. We must also continue to make Act of Reparation, particularly the Five Saturdays.
We pray by the grace of God and our Lady's intercession that we remain faithful and true, and thus God will reward us in Heaven. We have stepped out in faith, trusting our Lady to guide you in doing your part to help us spread Her Message for a word facing annihilation.

Yours in Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Rev. Fr. Andrews Nicolas

Please help with your prayers and the most generous gift you can give to:
Servantofjesusandmarys@yahoo.com
Sadly, although the whispers are nothing but lies and slanders, some have started to doubt, and stopped giving. We need your support and we need it now.

ST ANTHONY CATHLIC CHURCH

P. O. BOX SE 2453
SUAME – KUMASI
GHANA – WEST - AFRICA
OUR CHURCH E-MAIL: bafram2005@yahoo.com
DATE:………………20………
APPLICATION FOR RELIGIOUS MATERIALS Servant in Catholic,
It is with great honor in the name of our Virgin Mary to send my greetings to you and brothers and sisters in your church. Our Virgin Mary should extend your days so that what you have planned, to win souls, should be fulfilled.
Please sir; I quite appreciate the fact that this comment is going to meet you for the first time. I was speaking with a catholic father in my area here about how I will get some catholic materials for distribution to my church members and he gave me your postal address to write to you because he was saying that, you have help him and his church members with some catholic materials. So he believes you will also help me and also he told me more about you and your ministry.
Please I have found that you are doing an awesome work to save the lambs of Jesus Christ and our Holy Mother ‘May’ in this temporary world. Let me say little about me. Please I was a C. Y. O. in St. Anthony Catholic Ch. In my area here. And I have now completed my course in catholic training center for a catholic father. After the training, our Holy Mother directed me to spread the Word of God in many areas.
So I started preaching in the market areas and lorry stations. I also move from door to door in different houses and in different villages. Through the preaching, 1000 people have been converted which 700 of them are well-educated, and for them to understand well about what I preach, they need some catholic materials. So I would like you to help us. Also I will be grateful if you could please send me 6 Mary Statues, 100 Rosaries, 35 Holy Bibles, many Prayer Books and pictures about our Virgin Mary.
Please we hope and believe by our Virgin Mary that you are not going to disappoint us and have mercy upon us to send us all we have requested. Please, I am expecting you to send to me soon. Hope to hear from you. May the Christ Child and His Holy Mother richly bless, love and guide you. Amen. Thank you. I end here.
Yours trutly
witmuch love in Mary

FATHER FATHER BENJAMIN OFORI

My dad a retired UMC minister recently returned from Rome and brought me a rosary back...and I agree with alot of the comments; I need something to help me "stay" in the prayer.
I start with Nicene Creed (crucifix), The Lords Prayer (1st bead), The Great Commandment (the 1st set), The compline (The 2nd single bead), then followed by the beatitudes on the medallion. For the decades; family, friends, the church, the world and finally myself and after each bead in the decade "Lord hear my prayer". The single bead between each decade...The Lords Prayer.
Then work back the way I started.
I have only been doing this for a few weeks and typically I do it while going to and from work. What I have found is I am calmer and more focused on what I am to do while being a minister of Jesus (i.e. laity) to a secular workplace and world.

Great points RLP, which I had sumbled on it earlier!!

Blessings to us all!

Hans

The traditional rosary is truly an account of the life of Jesus. It is focused prayer with contemplation of significant events found in the bible. To those not Catholic - my heavens do not feel guilt about praying in a focused manner!

Hi There .
I am looking for the Guadalupe Rosmary center peice for a necklace that i.m making I need the center peice for it.Thank you
Hazelhutson@sbcglobal.net if you know where i can get one

I'm Christian, yes, one of those just a Christian's. I just bought my own rosary. I have to say my response is similar. I cross myself and think 'Am I really doing this?", same when I kiss the crusifix.

My daughter (we adopted a teen) was raised Catholic, and asked for one. The day I planned to get one for her I felt strongly (very strongly) called to buy one for myself. I sat down and prayed the rosary and felt some of the burdens I've been carrying the past few weeks being lifted.

I can't claim to be good at prayer, nor even regular, but this is one thing that works.

Interesting post. I'm a Catholic and I enjoyed it. However, the little card with the raised parts on it is generally for either soldiers (because carrying a rosary would be cumbersome and it could get lost) or people who wish to hide their rosary beads, much like the old Irish penal rosaries.

-AequitasFidelis