The Changing Face Of Rosary Beads
Rosary beads have a very long history, lasting almost 1000 years.
The catholics use them as prayer beads, which slip through the fingers as prayers are said, to help focus and structure long devotions.
The traditional rosary said by catholics has five decades of ten beads each, with starting beads, and a larger bead in between decades. A crucifix hangs from the end of the rosary. Each decade symbolises one event in the gospel. The events are grouped into mysteries of five events and decades each. As each bead slips through the fingers, a simple prayer is said, depending on the position of the bead. The life, death and resurrection of Christ are each represented as mysteries connecting the core events of biblical tradition into a single long prayer.
To a believer they are a memory of the mother of Christ, and also a thing of beauty. The name rosary means a garland of roses, a scent associated with marian apparitions.
There is a darker side, such as the stories of Maximillian Kolbe sentenced to death in auschwitz, Immaculee Illibagiza in hiding from the Rwandan genocide, who used the rosary in the darkest of times, whilst hiding in a tiny room for almost a year, to avoid mass slaughter. Even the priests at the epicentre of the nuclear explosion at Hiroshima attribute their survival to it.
Many Miracles have been attributed to penances and prayers of the rosary, and special dispensations have been offered to those who say them, at events such as Fatima.
The chaplet of divine mercy is also a prayer that uses the beads.
On the other hand to protestants they represent a very wrong focus, a symbol of what they see as erroneous doctrine, and all that is wrong with the catholic church.
To some they are now reduced to be just a fashion statement devoid of all meaning. A top footballer and personality was seen wearing them, seen as sacrilege to those who accept their meaning.
To keep with the times, even an iphone application, now allows digital rosary beads. The rosary beads are A long tradition – what will they be 1000 years from now?
See interesting news and history of Rosary Beads and find Rosary Beads for Sale here.