Another rosary question...

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What are your opinions of…I’m not sure how best to put it, but “novelty” rosary is the phrase that comes to mind. As a way to get our kids more into saying the Rosary, we’ve been talking about letting each of them make their own. That way, not only would it be something they made, but it would allow them to have a rosary that reflected their interests and/or personalities.

I started considering this when I saw a bunch of rosaries at a Catholic bookstore that were tailored for kids (or parents of kids) in sports. They had rosaries with soccer ball beads, football beads, basketball beads, etc. Several were in various college or pro team colors.

When I mentioned the idea of letting the kids pick their own beads and make their own rosaries, my wife thought it was a great idea. One of our daughters loved the idea of a basketball rosary; the other wants a volleyball rosary; while our son, who’s really into role playing games, said he wants to make one out of dice. However, when I mentioned it to a few friends, a couple of them said they thought it was disrespectful and borderline sacrilege. I can’t say that I agreed with them (I’d think anything that got kids more interested in saying the Rosary couldn’t be too bad), but I thought I’d see what folks on here thought about it.
 
In my opinion a rosary is simply a tool used for prayer. You have a certain number of beads in a certain configuration in order to count Hail Mary’s and to tell which prayer comes next. So why would it matter if the beads are volleyballs or flowers or birds? My personal feeling is that anything that gets your kids interested in saying the rosary is a good idea. (Obviously you’re not going to let them use offensive symbols for beads). I’m not an expert, so maybe someone else will have a different opinion. I WISH I had done something like this for my son when he was little. I think that Jesus and Mary would be pleased at your efforts.
 
Greetings Gordon Sims,

One of my friends made me a Rosary that is homeade that is in Texas Tech colors. For some reason that is my favourite College football team in the United States. I also am going to have a Greenbay packer rosary made - color scheme that is.

I do pray with the Texas Tech rosary every now and then as I do like to change the rosaires I pray for.

I think it is a good idea, just keep the number of beads the same. I’m not to sure about the dice being used as rosary beads, but that’s just my personal opinion. I am going to make myself a rosary, that uses music notes or something akin to that for myself. Another suggestion, I would not replace the medal on the rosary with something secular, still good to have a medal of Our Lady on the rosary.

I have seen some interesting rosaries made out of glass marbles or something that was used for the beads.

If you do decide to do this, post some pics.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit
 
Gordon_Sims said:
What are your opinions of…I’m not sure how best to put it, but “novelty” rosary is the phrase that comes to mind. As a way to get our kids more into saying the Rosary, we’ve been talking about letting each of them make their own. That way, not only would it be something they made, but it would allow them to have a rosary that reflected their interests and/or personalities.

I started considering this when I saw a bunch of rosaries at a Catholic bookstore that were tailored for kids (or parents of kids) in sports. They had rosaries with soccer ball beads, football beads, basketball beads, etc. Several were in various college or pro team colors.

When I mentioned the idea of letting the kids pick their own beads and make their own rosaries, my wife thought it was a great idea. One of our daughters loved the idea of a basketball rosary; the other wants a volleyball rosary; while our son, who’s really into role playing games, said he wants to make one out of dice. However, when I mentioned it to a few friends, a couple of them said they thought it was disrespectful and borderline sacrilege. I can’t say that I agreed with them (I’d think anything that got kids more interested in saying the Rosary couldn’t be too bad), but I thought I’d see what folks on here thought about it.
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You are amazing and I have only praise for your ingenuity.
If they would make it from obscene objects, would be bad. But from ordinary symbols, boy, let them consecrate basket, volley, football.
If it were an adult it would look funny, but for children, my God, let them pray.
 
HI Gordon Sims,

Mary repeatedly asks everyone to pray the rosary, and how many people actually do ? The fact that you can generate interest from your kids is absolutely brilliant - well done.

I know of no instructions from Mary as to what the beads should be made out of, but I know that the rosary is a very powerful prayer tool, so much so that Martin Luther toured Europe specifically preaching against it. Out of respect for its purpose there does need to be some reflection as to the intentions of the rosary ‘maker’ such as :

Who is the rosary for exactly ? it can represent anything of significance to the owner, but it should also be pleasing to Mary, as a function of its purpose.
What is the function of its purpose ? It has a number of functions:-
  1. It provides a comprehensive prayer structure - to count the right number of prayers and and hail Mary’s
  2. It forms a ‘timing device’ like an egg timer for the meditation of each mystery
  3. It connects us with the psalms of the old testament, in originally having 150 hail Mary’s to represent the number of psalms - for the illiterate/those who could not recite or read to
    use in place of.
  4. It provides a tangible daily reminder to the owner of the presence of Mary in our lives
  5. Above all : it represents a spiritual ‘Marian Stargate’ with direct access to the Holy Trinity through Mary’s intercession.
Now if the rosary is suitable for this on all counts - it is truly fantastic,

God bless

If you would like to join the Sung Rosary Group, we would welcome your comments
 
Thanks for the replies! Our kids already have rosaries from First Communion and whatnot; however, they’re always more interested in using my rosary or the Kindle when we’re saying it. I’m hoping that a rosary they design and make on their own will make our saying it more of a personal thing for them. I’m hoping it will encourage them to say it on their own as well, and not just when we do it as a family.

When I was talking to my wife about it, I told her we’d be sure to use appropriate medals and crucifixes. A while back, we did see a Packers rosary that had green & yellow small beads, footballs for the large beads and a plastic block of cheese instead of a medal (the cheese was a bit too much for me). I could see someone being bothered by that. One thing I had considered, though, is letting the kids use a patron saint center piece, although I’ve yet to find any in my price range.
 
Greetings Gordon Sims,

I like the idea of the Patron Saint medal center piece. I shall have to remember this when I start making rosaries.

As for the Packer Rosary, I liked it except the cheese.

If you do this with your kids and you notice an increase interest to pray the Rosary for an extended period of time, let me know how it works. This sounds like a very fund project that some of the little ones of the parish may enjoy.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit
 
Well, there’s nothing wrong with using a cheese bead as long as you also use the actual medal.

It could be symbolic of God’s creation of us as individual human beings, as in Job 10:10 – “Have you not made me flow like milk and thickened me like cheese?”

(Of course, you’d have to write the verse onto the cheese bead. Otherwise, people might be scandalized and not understand your meaning.)
 
I find the idea of a Packers Rosary disgusting and completely offensive…if it were a Chicago Bears rosary, that would be perfectly acceptable!😛 booo packers yay Bears!!!
 
I have been playing around with polymer clay to make rosary beads. I want to make beautiful brightly colored rosarys, it might be fun for the kids to make some of the beads…perhaps the out father beads. I would still use a medal too…
 
Oh and I forgot to mention I have seen rosaries made out of legos.
 
This rosary was made for a 10 year old girl, who loves ladybugs. Mom says, best purchase she ever made.

Ladybugs
 
I mentioned this again to the girls last night and they were thrilled with the idea. I’m going to try to take them out tonight or tomorrow to start looking for beads and whatnot. I’ll post updates as it goes.
 
petitfleur said:
I find the idea of a Packers Rosary disgusting and completely offensive…if it were a Chicago Bears rosary, that would be perfectly acceptable!😛 booo packers yay Bears!!!
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I guess it matters on whose perspective it is, because I find the idea of a Chicago Bears rosary a bit offensive 😃 Go Cheese heads!!!
 
Gordon_Sims said:
I mentioned this again to the girls last night and they were thrilled with the idea. I’m going to try to take them out tonight or tomorrow to start looking for beads and whatnot. I’ll post updates as it goes.
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Sweet. I’ll be waiting for them. Glad the girls were thrilled with this idea. Get em excited about prayer.
 
Gordon, you and your wife might enjoy www.catholicicing.com it is a brilliant blog by a Catholic mom who incorporates the faith into everyday life. I wish I discovered it sooner.
 
petitfleur said:
Gordon, you and your wife might enjoy www.catholicicing.com it is a brilliant blog by a Catholic mom who incorporates the faith into everyday life. I wish I discovered it sooner.
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I’ll have to check that out. I’m trying to incorporate bits of our faith more into our daily living. I want my wife & kids to have the same excitement about our faith as I did when I was a kid, and have been rediscovering the last few years.
 
I think this is a great idea. Anything that helps a child pick up a rosary is a good thing.

But my real reason for responding … Gordon Sims, are you a fan of “WKRP in Cincinnati?”
 
Gordon one more site is www.catholiccuisine.com both sites celebrate lots of feast days for saints. For example if it were an Italian saint I would prepare an Italian meal and discuss the saint.
 
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