Meaning of a Broken Rosary

Catholic Living Spirituality
#1

Hello to everyone reading this thread.

This has happened to me twice, that I have had a rosary break. One was around my neck under my shirt, and I was with an ex-girlfriend and it broke as we were dancing. It was safe under my shirt and out of no where it broke. I met a very religious old man one day, who was the owner of a little shop in the corner of a flea market. I explained to him the story and how my rosary broke without even touching it, while it was around my neck.

The old man explained to me that when a rosary is in your posession, and it breaks, that means someone is either upset with you, or has a very negative feeling towards you. He then began to ask me how my health and life had been after it broke, and thank God, it was fine. He then told me to speak with my ex-girlfriend and see. Sure enough she was upset about something.

The second rosary was haning on my car rear-view mirror. I saw it hanging sideways, so i reached out to fix it, and it snapped. Just before hand I was with a friend, and jokingly i disrespected her and I felt how upset she was. She told me she was not mad, she just felt disrespected. Then after is when my rosary broke, afteri left her, and when i went to touch it.

I am here today to find out, what is the meaning of when a Rosary breaks. It is a very sacred item that many of us have, and its not normal for it to break randomly.

Any information would be greatly appreciated, as this is a question I would like answered to proceed in the correct manner of, if wrong has been done, that it be corrected.

Thank you all!

#2

Rosaries are made by human hands and, yes, they break. Some companies make more lasting rosaries than others. Sometimes it’s because the rings that hold the beads together haven’t been tightened properly and a bead slips off the chain. Sometimes it’s just through ordinary wear and tear (using one with a firm grip or twisting the beads too much can cause a break. I personally use an all twine knotted rosary – very durable and almost impossible to break because I tend to be somewhat rough on my rosaries. You can get one for free at www.rosaryarmy.com.

But don’t let anyone tell you that a broken rosary is anything but a sign that you need either a new rosary, or a pair of needle nose pliers to repair the broken ring in your old rosary.

#3

It means it’s time to get a new rosary. If you read anything more into it, you are dabbling in superstition. Rosaries are not magical and most certainly are not meant to be used or interrupted in the way mentioned. God bless.

#4

superstition is never good. the devil tries to trick us in whatever way we can and sometimes we can make it to easy for him by trying to explain why this happened or that happened or what is the “meaning” of a certain thing…

#5

when a rosary around your neck breaks it means the rosary was never meant to be worn that way, the links are not strong enough for that use, so it broke naturally.

you can either choose piety or superstition, not both, so make up your mind. keep your rosary in your pocket, in a case made for that purpose, and pray with it daily. If you want to wear bling, get some, but don’t wear a rosary that way.

#6

I don’t think this is the right response. I mean…fine superstition may be false. But 1) most of us have some (trivial) superstitions 2) if his rosary breaks and it leads him to contemplate the troubles others may be facing or to think about how he may have hurt another person to make it do so…that doesn’t seem bad to me. At least he’s thinking about these things.

Catholig

#7

Well…even trivial superstition has some evil…maybe not thick dark evil…that will turn you against God but it still tries to keep you from God…you say that this persons situation is different because his superstion lead him to think about others…

firstly: he should have been thinking of others…as we all should
and just becasue something like a rosary breaking should not be a cause for you to think of others

secondly: I can remember from the life of Saint Teresa de Avila(movie) where her and her sister(nuns) were watching a comet fly by…and the superstitious sisters said stuff like…“that means we should pray for the sould in purgatory” or “that mean we should pray this prayer this many times” and Saint Teresa said something like "you shall do no such think…lets not be bothered by supersition

you could argue that it made them think of other people especially the poor souls (name removed by moderator)urgatory who need the prayers…but so called “good” brought out of superstition is just evil with a mask on.

#8

Thinking about those things are fine. However, thinking that your rosary broke because of those things is superstitious and wrong. Rosaries are not barometers, which tell us when someone is upset with us. They are a tool used to assist us with prayer and contemplation. There’s nothing magical about them.

#9

Tietjen, I think we both agree that its alright to think about things such as how others are feeling. And I think you may even be right in saying that rosaries aren’t barometers of how people are feeling. My only contention is that I don’t believe it to be harmful to hold such a ‘supersition’ as the OP described. I see it as being relatively benign…while I gather that you do not. :shrug: It just seems to me that we hold a multitude of small superstitions and this one isn’t harmful…if you would like to show a way it could be I’d be glad to listen.

Catholig

#10

Sacte, I agree whole heartedly with the above statement. We should be thinking of other people. But…we all get wrapped up in ourselves at times. Indeed I have read that we each spend about 90% of the time thinking about ourselves, our wants, our desires, our goals, our schedule, our, our, our, us, us, us. We don’t think about other people enough…and if something like this got him to snap out of that mindset temporarily that is fine w/ me. But you are entitled to your view.

secondly: I can remember from the life of Saint Teresa de Avila(movie) where her and her sister(nuns) were watching a comet fly by…and the superstitious sisters said stuff like…“that means we should pray for the sould in purgatory” or “that mean we should pray this prayer this many times” and Saint Teresa said something like "you shall do no such think…lets not be bothered by supersition

you could argue that it made them think of other people especially the poor souls (name removed by moderator)urgatory who need the prayers…but so called “good” brought out of superstition is just evil with a mask on.

Personally I am unable to see how it would be evil to pray for the souls in purgatory, or how satan would want us to. The only way I could see him gaining any sort of victory is if satan were to throw comets past the sisters every night until they became discouraged and felt praying for the souls in purgatory as a burden. But…satan can’t really control nature can he? And also it would depend on the sister…whether or not she would become discouraged, or if praying for the souls in purgatory could ever become a burden for her.

Catholig

#11

O I’m sorry you misunderstood…praying for the holy souls is not the evil…rather the superstition of having to pray for the sould in purgatory just because they saw a comet…you see…God sent or placed the comet that we may see it(entertainmaint) but satan puts such superstitions in our heads…making us falsely think that this is a sign from God…and when the barrier is broken of what is the truth and what is false we are confused which can slowly take us to other false ideas

#12

That certainly is an interesting point, but don’t you think that he’d be loosing the battle by causing the sisters to pray for those souls in purgatory? Also I’m rather unsure as to how satan’s planting this sort of false thought in our head could lead us to other (presumably worse/more evil) ideas…again I’d be interested if you have any ready examples.

Lastly, how can one tell the difference between a sign from God and a false impression imposed upon us from satan? I’d presume it would be by the fruits of the action (e.g. If you think god wants you to murder someone its probably not from god). If this is so I think the fruits of the action (praying for the souls in purgatory) would prove it to be from god wouldn’t it?

Catholig

#13

Well…lets say the superstition got souls out of purgatory and into heaven…and when you stood before God…how can you explain youself if he asks why is it that you couldn’t pray and worry about other people before you saw a comet…or before you sneezed 3 times or something…

and like i said…if we cannot distinguish between the evil of superstition and something from God then slowly the devil makes his move convincing you or rather making youself convince yourself (if that makes sense) that this false idea is ok…and you say to yourself…don’t worry it might be from God…etc.

And now to determine the difference between something from God or from satan…

Firstly we would think God would not work through superstition…namely He wouldn’t work through an idea such as the sisters had…“O no a comet what is it well we should do this because this happened”

That is what superstition is: a belief or practice done out of ignorance or fear

God as has been shown by saints works more
(“directly” inderect )by means of other people like what a priest may say in a homily…for example…something is troubling you and a priest mentions it without evening knowing directly about your particular problems…or if you have a real good relationship with God to the point that you have inner silence…then (like some saints) you can hear God (name removed by moderator)iring you…moving your heart

This is different than superstition which says that because a certain event happened…you should do (blank)

I HOPE I EXPLAINED MY VIEWS WELL:D

#14

o and i forgot…

No satan would not be losing the battle if the sisters prayed for the holy souls in purgatory because those soul (as the name implies) are holy or becoming holy…they ARE going to heaven…its just a matter of how long

#15

I appreciate what you’re saying however, I respectfully disagree with you on superstitions (this one in particular) being benign. Here is my reasoning…

  1. First and foremost anytime we assign some unnatural power (regardless of how small that power is) to an inanimate object, we are raising that object up as something supernatural. This situation then becomes a matter of truth or falsehood and as children of God, are we not supposed to always seek the truth of the matter?

  2. Imagine, if you will, a non-Catholic who is simply lurking about reading these posts. They happen upon this thread and find a Catholic posing the aforementioned question. Might that non-Catholic lurker leave wondering whether Catholics place supernatural traits on their religious items? Many already believe that we worship statues.

  3. It’s just silly

It’s for these reasons that I wish to debunk the superstitious concept which the OP posed. God bless.

#16

Fist and foremost, I would like to take all of you who have responded to my post. Please forgive me if i do not credit you all directly, as there have been many replies, you will know who i am referencing.

I have learned much of how you all perceive superstitions, and agree and dis-agree in some aspects.

In my lifetime, i have learned of a particular group of people who pray to saints, where i come from they are called “Santeros.” It was one of them who told me of this “reasoning” for my rosaries to break. As i do not practice the belief of the “Santeros” I do believe God gave the saints certain missions and abilities for us to acknowledge saints themselves.

As one individual mentioned, if it should be a superstition, it is a benign one. Every night i pray for everyone on earth, so it did not take such a thing as my rosary to break to think about others. It made me focus on that particular person even more.

Also i will consider when thinking about superstitious situations, whether it can be from satan or God. As the example that was given, i agree it has to deal with the overall core of the outcome, such as either shooting someone, or thinking and praying for someone.

In response to the individual who referred to myself as using a rosary as “bling,” why even respond to this post? That was an un-necessary comment. As i am not very educated in the practice of using a rosary, it has been within my family for quite some time, over generations, that we wear the rosary for protection or reminding our selves to do good in everything we do every day. I have also heard that the rosary is not to be worn. I choose to wear it to remind me and for protection.

Once again i would like to thank all who responded with their full respect and to the best of their knowledge. Also thanks to the individual who supplied the information on repairing a rosary. May everyone have a blessed day and life nevertheless.

#17

I wish you well Bebo. I don’t believe Annie was trying to insult you. She was simply trying to point you in the right direction. Rosaries aren’t amulets, necklaces, pendants, medallions, etc. They are simply a tool Catholics use to help them pray and meditate. They hold no supernatural power. :frowning: I am sorry that you have not been exposed to what a rosary actually is and/or how to use one. However, you can now take it upon yourself to learn and then teach your family. What a blessing that would be.

#18

Tietjen, Thank you for your response. I will look into reading up on the use of a rosary. No one is perfect, and i think that if there is such reason as to not wear the rosary, and my family has over generations, i dont presume they did it on purpose to be rebellious to the word of the lord, i assume there has to be some reason as to why.

Thanks again, and I will take the time to understand.

#19

Bebo, it does seem your original post was an example of superstitious abuse of rosary beads; but please do not go too far the other way and start believing rosary beads are mere objects to help us pray and meditate. Two sources to check out:

From the Handbook of Indulgences, grant #35—

“The Christian faithful obtain a partial indulgence when they make devout use of a devotional object (such as a crucifix or cross, a rosary, a scapular, or a medal) which has been rightly blessed by any priest or deacon.”

These blessed objects are NOT “simply tools to help meditate”; they have a spiritual power:

From the Catholic Encyclopedia (under “sacramental”)—

“**One of the most remarkable effects of sacramentals is the virtue to drive away evil spirits **whose mysterious and baleful operations affect sometimes the physical activity of man. **To combat this occult power the Church has recourse to exorcism and sacramentals. **Another effect is the delivery of the soul from sin and the penalties therefor. Thus in the blessing of a cross the Church asks that this sacred sign may receive the heavenly blessing in order that all those who kneel before it and implore the Divine Majesty may be granted great compunction and a general pardon of faults committed. This means remission of venial sins, for the sacraments alone, with perfect contrition, possess the efficacy to remit mortal sins and to release from the penalties attached to them. St. Thomas is explicit on this point: “The episcopal blessing, the aspersion of holy water, every sacramental unction, prayer in a dedicated church, and the like, effect the remission of venial sins, implicitly or explicitly” (Summa III, Q. lxxxvii, a. 3, ad 1um). Finally the sacramentals may be employed to obtain temporal favours, since the Church herself blesses objects made use of in every-day life, e.g. the blessing of a house on which is called down the abundance of heavenly dew and the rich fruitfulness of the earth; so likewise in the benediction of the fields, in which God is asked to pour down His blessings on the harvests, so that the wants of the needy may be supplied by the fertile earth.”

They are simply a tool Catholics use to help them pray and meditate. They hold no supernatural power.

This statement, although not entirely innaccurate, is misleading.

#20

First, how silly to think that a Rosary breaking somehow has a mystical meaning.

Why in the world were you wearing your Rosary around your neck? It should have been in your pocket where it would be handy for prayer.

Have you ever prayed the Rosary or have you always used it for jewelry. And I also don’t see the need to put your Rosary around your rear-view mirror.

This is just getting sillier and sillier. And please back off from the superstitious nonsense. We are Catholics, not practioners of voodoo:tsktsk: :highprayer: