57 Bead Rosary?

[neokarny]

A while back I purchased a beautiful rosary from a second-hand store. The container it came in was a Miraculous Medal tin. The medal on the rosary is Sacred Heart. The strange thing is that it only has 57 beads instead of 59. At the beginning most rosaries I’ve seen do this:

Crucifix - + - +++ - + - Medal

However mine does this:

Crucifix - + - + - + - Medal

I could post pictures later, but I can’t right now. Does anyone know why it’s different? Is it a chaplet or a specialized rosary? Thanks in advance.

 

[PerfectTiming]

Is the rest of the rosary standard then? Like is it the five decades of ten beads or are they separated differently?

 

[neokarny]

Is the rest of the rosary standard then? Like is it the five decades of ten beads or are they separated differently?

I didn’t think to say, but yeah the rest is normal. It’s literally just the small difference at the beginning.

 

[midori]

Was it handmade or commercial? If handmade, it’s just a guess, but perhaps the rosary was made by someone who doesn’t actually say the rosary?

One of my rosaries was made by a Protestant artisan who doesn’t say the rosary. I bought it because the beads were beautiful, but when the time came to use it, it feels a little funky, because she didn’t give the Pater beads their own distinct spaces.

So if the person isn’t familiar with all the beginning prayers, chances are they may have messed up on how to allocate space at the beginning, and may well have neglected to add those two beads.

 

[neokarny]

Was it handmade or commercial? If handmade, it’s just a guess, but perhaps the rosary was made by someone who doesn’t actually say the rosary?

One of my rosaries was made by a Protestant artisan who doesn’t say the rosary. I bought it because the beads were beautiful, but when the time came to use it, it feels a little funky, because she didn’t give the Pater beads their own distinct spaces.

So if the person isn’t familiar with all the beginning prayers, chances are they may have messed up on how to allocate space at the beginning, and may well have neglected to add those two beads.

This is the rosary.

I think it’s commercial based on how it’s made. While it may not look like it from the picture, the distance is equal between each bead at the beginning.

 

[midori]

Interesting. Of the three beads at the start, are those two Pater beads and one Ave bead? The two on the ends look larger than the one in the middle?

 

[neokarny]

Interesting. Of the three beads at the start, are those two Pater beads and one Ave bead? The two on the ends look larger than the one in the middle?

Yeah that’s right. It seems strange to only have one Ave bead instead of the normal three.

 

[Ladygem]

perhaps the rosary broke at some point and the other two Ave beads were lost? The repairer could be unfamiliar with the rosary and not realize that two beads were missing.

 

[neokarny]

perhaps the rosary broke at some point and the other two Ave beads were lost? The repairer could be unfamiliar with the rosary and not realize that two beads were missing.

Possible, but the chain in that region is fine. I mean, there are no signs of the chain-links being bent back into place or replaced, and if it had been repaired there would be unequal distance between the Pater beads and the Ave bead on at least one side. So it seems like it was created this way although I could be wrong.

 

[midori]

Went to bed, said my prayers, and figured it out.

I think you have a Chaplet of Divine Mercy. It starts off with a Pater, an Ave, and a Credo, so that would match the sizes and numbers of your beads.

It would also make sense that it has a Sacred Heart medal.

I’ve always just said my Chaplet on regular rosary beads… since they were so close in size (ie, two different prayers that used the [one prayer + ten prayer format] x 5 format), I didn’t realize they made prayer beads specifically for that chaplet.

 

[Layman_F]

The lady that has an online rosary museum thinks that it has been repaired. She has images of rosaries that date back several hundred years. There was one image of a Galloway that has the same configuration. I’ve sent another email to her to see if she can shed any light on yours.

 

[neokarny]

Went to bed, said my prayers, and figured it out.

I think you have a Chaplet of Divine Mercy. It starts off with a Pater, an Ave, and a Credo, so that would match the sizes and numbers of your beads.

It would also make sense that it has a Sacred Heart medal.

I’ve always just said my Chaplet on regular rosary beads… since they were so close in size (ie, two different prayers that used the [one prayer + ten prayer format] x 5 format), I didn’t realize they made prayer beads specifically for that chaplet.

Interesting. A Google image search makes it seem like you have it right too. This is a good example. So it seems like it was either a Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or it has been repaired and lost the two beads.

The lady that has an online rosary museum thinks that it has been repaired. She has images of rosaries that date back several hundred years. There was one image of a Galloway that has the same configuration. I’ve sent another email to her to see if she can shed any light on yours.

Thank you. Let me know what she thinks.