I am new to the rosary, and am very curious about photos I’ve seen of people praying with the beads wrapped around their clasped hands. I would think this would make counting beads very difficult, so what is the purpose of wrapping the beads around one’s hands during prayer? Are they praying the rosary or something else?
(I was really hoping I could hitch hike on an existing thread so my silly question would not stand out too much, but a search for rosary related topics on a Catholic forum brings up days of posts!)
Hmmm. I find it easy to wrap it around my hand while I pray. It’s done so that they don’t “hang” and make a noise or make it uncomfortable. I don’t know how else to explain it :o You’ll probably start doing it yourself after a while. Just pray with the Rosary however you feel comfortable, wrapped in the hand or hanging down.
Thanks for the explanation! I would assume then if the rosary is wrapped around one’s hands, that he or she doesn’t count off the beads with the fingers when praying (or maybe some folks’ fingers can do amazing things that mine can’t!).
I’ve seen images like that, but it seems to be that it’s sort of a “stylized” representation. I frankly don’t see how one could count the beads that way. Many people are buried, for example, with a rosary wrapped around their hands to symbolize their trust in the intercession of Mary.
When I pray the rosary, my hands look something like this:
Just do whatever is easiest and most comfortable for you.
I’m new to the rosary as well and often leave it hanging for now for fear of tangling my very clumsy finger in it and then getting lost. :o
I am S-L-O-W-L-Y starting to pick up a portion here or there so I have a better “grasp” on the beads but have yet to pray it in public.
The irony came in for me when I told my family I was converting. My step-dad is a professional photographer who will be taking pictures for me of our Convalidation and the double First Eucharist/Confirmation this spring. He outright said to me “Practice praying the rosary in a “pretty” way so it’s easier for me to get good shots of you doing it.”
I find it depends on the size of the rosary. Some are long enough that there is some slack hanging that I wrap around my hand, but I don’t with shorter ones.
Also as far as Praying the Rosary in public? The Mass for the Novena of the Miraculous Medal is a Mass where the Rosary is Prayed by all attending 15-minutes prior to the start of Mass. Its a Monday night Mass and is basically worldwide.
Thank you for asking, Russ. I have a hard time holding my rosary, too.
I belong to a Cenacle of Life prayer group, we pray 2 decades of the Rosary every Tuesday night for the end of the Culture of Death. I’ve been watching the others. Some lace the Rosaries through the fingers of one hand, count the beads with the other hand, adjusting for each decade. One lady lays the Rosary in her lap sideways (crucifix to her left), counts the beads as we pray, and rearranges for every decade.
This week, I’m going to try the sideways method. I’ll find a comfortable position sooner or later.
Russ, there are no silly questions. Once again, thanks for asking. I don’t feel so alone in my clumsiness. :o
I often have the rosary wrapped around my hand even when I’m not praying it. One reason is the comfort a blessed object (and especially the rosary gives me). For me, it is like grasping the hands of Mary and Jesus. Another is, that holding the rosary in my hand while praying other prayers is that it helps me to concentrate better when my hand is busy and the picture on the centerpiece and the crucifix help me to fix my thoughts, feelings, and adoration on the Lord.
Yes, the beads are used to count on! And I can see that it would not make sense to see them wrapped around folded hands with the fingers not touching the beads :). It doesn’t matter how you hold it. I usually count with one hand and just hold the remaining beads with the other, sometimes stretching it out to look at it. But it doesn’t matter how you hold it. Mostly it is just what is comfortable to you. One of the few occassions when I wrapped it around my hand was when when I prayed the rosary while taking a walk. But I now have a small ring rosary that I use for occasions like that. I image that the photos you have seen of the rosary wrapped around folded hands are just posed pictures or some artistic representation. It is also not unusual to see a rosary wrapped around the hands of the deceased in the casket.
It is not so much that my the rosary is wrapped around my hands as that I am holding the rosary within my hand. An outsider may only see part of the rosary, especially if I am praying the rosary while walking. I have actually been stopped on the street, asked a question, and been able to return to praying the rosary.
I have been praying the rosary since childhood. I can see how it would appear to be wrapped while I pray. Generally speaking, I would be using both hands while praying. I don’t want the rosary to become tangled.
I like to use a 15 decade Rosary that is 48 inches (hanging length) so, yes, I tend to wrap a lot of it around my hand to keep it from dragging on the floor.
I pray a lot of Rosaries each day so I have it wrapped while I’ll do many chores. Obviously there are times when I have to set it down to complete a chore but I can usually get everything done without much hassle.
The Rosary keeps me focused on the important things of life and has become a necessary part of my life.
Many time I will not have a Rosary with me but I do have 10 fingers that become a substitue Rosary.
God Bless
I pray the Rosary and only wrap it around my hands for the final prayers. I have put one turn around my hand to pray it but, you are right it’s a little difficult and I usually have to use the other hand to help it slip along.
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lol
One hand tracks the Hail Mary’s while the other is for tracking the decades.