If you are not a Catholic, you might not understand the importance of a string of Catholic rosary beads. This is because a Catholic’s rosary beads are an aid to prayer and penance. It is because of this that Catholic rosary beads have the same number of beads all around the world. The beads are counted off as the prayers are said.
Rosary beads are gifted to young Catholics and frequently a set of beads will be handed down through generations as heirlooms. It is considered an honour to get given a set of rosary beads that are decades or more old, just as it would be if a relative left you anything else old and valuable. Old rosary beads can become very valuable, depending on what the beads are made of, their age and the type of metal used to string them together.
The Catholic Rosary is used to matter off the number of prayers said in repetitions in the same way that an abacus is used for counting money. Rosaries have ten small beads followed by a substantial one to indicate that the repetition should be started again.
It is an old style of prayer harking back to when people were less schooled. However, beads aid the person praying concentrate on the prayer and not on the counting too.
Most Catholic rosary bead chains have enough beads for five cycles of prayers. This makes it easier for followers of the Catholic Church to say their prayers and do the penances metred out to them by their priest for ‘committing sins’.
In fact, the Catholic Church is losing ground very rapidly in Europe especially in such traditional strongholds as Eire (Southern Ireland) and the southern provinces of the Netherlands. They are also losing ground in Spain, Portugal and America, usually due to the sex scandals involving priests.
Whatever one thinks of the Catholic Church, the pope and the Catholic clergy, rosary beads are a feature of the history of mankind’s development in the West during the last 2,000 years. Whether you see Catholic rosary beads as a symbol of devotion to God or as a symbol of the Catholic Church’s tyranny over scared people, the rosary in itself is an interesting phenomenon.
Some people make a hobby out of collecting rosaries because they are broadly traded and can be quite valuable. It is not unusual for a set of Victorian rosary beads manufactured of a semi-precious stone on a gold chain to go for thousands of dollars at auction.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now concerned with religious beliefs in China. If you would like to know more go to What is Religious Belief?