How many rosaries is too much?

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davidn87 said:
I didn’t mean having more than one, I meant this idea that a particular set of beads can magically perform a certain act.
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It’s the praying of the rosary which is an act. And it is a worthy act.
 
Johann_du_Toit said:
I actually read St. Benedict is specifically invoked for warding off temptation, as well as disease, bad weather and for a happy death. Wearing a St. Benedict medal (or rosary in this case) also apparently grants you a partial indulgence when worn, kissed or held reverently. It’s a practice that has existed for hundreds of years.
I’m not saying it will be enough by itself to keep me on the straight path and prevent me from sinning, but every little bit helps.
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That’s interesting. I’ve recently starting reading about him because when I bought my crucifix, the nun at the store said “oh, it’s a St. Benedict cross”. Then I noticed that my single decade rosary also has a St. Bendict crucifix. I took it as a sign. I need all the help I can get haha.

I only have 2 rosarys, my single decade and a normal one. I think I lost the one I got at 1st communion which bums me out. I have no idea what happened to it :confused:
 
teeboy said:
It’s the praying of the rosary which is an act. And it is a worthy act.
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Yes, but why ascribe a particular miracle to a particular rosary bead? I can understand God working in different ways to save people, but when you start saying this particular set of rosary beads will cause X then isn’t that the same as a minister saying 'Give me 10% of your money and Y will happen?
 
Really, there is no such thing as too many rosaries.

Well, I guess if saying the Rosary interferes with your work.
davidn87 said:
Yes, but why ascribe a particular miracle to a particular rosary bead? I can understand God working in different ways to save people, but when you start saying this particular set of rosary beads will cause X then isn’t that the same as a minister saying 'Give me 10% of your money and Y will happen?
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The beads themselves don’t cause anything.

God opens a channel to us and it is up to us to use that channel to devote or direct our thoughts to Him.

At the same time, Jesus loved His Mother, Mary, very much and turned over her care to one of His followers … and in a symbolic way … over to us, as well.

AND, to add to the mystery of it all, there are many times when Mary appeared to people here on Earth … apparitions, which have been studied and pronounced reliable by the Church.

The Rosary refers to the set(s) of prayers and meditations … there are four sets of meditations on the Life of Jesus … the Joyful Mysteries, which cover the early years of Jesus’ life; the Luminous Mysteries, which cover Jesus’ public “working life” from His baptism to His giving us the Eucharist at the Last Supper; the Sorrowful Mysteries, which are the Passion of the Christ and which we are reliving this week; and, the Glorious Mysteries, which cover Jesus’ Resurrection and the Easter Season on to the Descent of the Holy Ghost … see the prayer I posted below … and also the role being carried out by Mary, His Mother in her apparitions and other interventions.

[Please excuse me if some of the words I used are less than satisfactory.]

The rosary beads are “merely” a method of keeping track of where we are in our meditations … if you really “get into” saying the Rosary, it is very easy to lose track of time and our place within the prayers.

Having said that … many people are so devoted to praying and meditating the Rosary, that sometimes their words get ahead of them … they may sometimes call it “saying their beads”, for example.

People may gather specifically to say the Rosary.

Or the feel of their beads may become special … the spacing between the beads on one set I have is “perfect” for me, but the spacing on another set of beads is too close and uncomfortable … trivial, but …

Or one set may tangle “all the time” and another set “never tangles”.

Or we may visit one holy place or another … perhaps where a martyr met his death or where Mary made an apparition … and something special may happen to our beads … one fellow said his bead chain turned to gold.

I am not intending to editorialize here.

But, one day I told my spiritual director … I confessed … that I had no special feeling about Mary … he was a very senior priest … and he said “Say the Rosary” … so I did … and after about a month or so, my feeling for Mary became stronger than my feeling for my own earthly mother.

How do I explain that?
 
davidn87 said:
Yes, but why ascribe a particular miracle to a particular rosary bead? I can understand God working in different ways to save people, but when you start saying this particular set of rosary beads will cause X then isn’t that the same as a minister saying 'Give me 10% of your money and Y will happen?
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Why ascribe a particular miracle to a handkerchief blessed by St Paul? But this exactly happened in Acts of the Apostles. Clearly people said to themselves ‘if I get Paul to bless a handkerchief and take it to sick person x they will be cured.’ And that is what happened.
 
davidn87 said:
Yes, but why ascribe a particular miracle to a particular rosary bead? I can understand God working in different ways to save people, but when you start saying this particular set of rosary beads will cause X then isn’t that the same as a minister saying 'Give me 10% of your money and Y will happen?
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because of the promises made in exchange for praying the rosary.
 
teeboy said:
because of the promises made in exchange for praying the rosary.
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Johann_du_Toit said:
I recently bought another one, a St. Benedict Rosary. I did it because I read it can help me avoid temptation, among other things.
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But why would a rosary named after a particular Saint be any more effective than one named after another? If it’s about the praying why would it matter who’s name is attached to it?
 
davidn87 said:
But why would a rosary named after a particular Saint be any more effective than one named after another? If it’s about the praying why would it matter who’s name is attached to it?
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BC you have prayers of two saints rather than one.
 
Nan_S said:
I had always heard that wearing a rosary like a necklace was improper. Can someone ring in on this?
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Some Catholics actively encourage wearing rosaries on a wrist or around the neck, wanting to express their faith and/or keep the sacramental close, while others seem to think it’s “disrespectful” and discourage it.

My suspicion has been that it’s a little like naming a child “Jesus.” English speakers tend to avoid naming children Jesus, but in other cultures it’s normal and even common-- it depends on one’s culture.

If one intends to pray the rosary and not merely wear it as a fashion accessory, I don’t see any problem with wearing one. Dominicans wear rosaries, after all, they just wear them on belts instead of their necks.
 
Nan_S said:
I had always heard that wearing a rosary like a necklace was improper. Can someone ring in on this?
…

Needless to say, sometimes I don’t have a rosary with me and I have to rely upon that “rosary” which God gave each one of us: the ten fingers on my two hands.
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St. Louis de Montfort recommends wearing the rosary with devotion. Its definitely not just a necklace or a fashion statement, but it can be worn, even underneath the clothes, as a symbol of devotion, a defense against sin, and a reminder to pray. Also, I like your reference to the rosary of your fingers; its very handy! (Its ‘hand’-y, get it? Sorry, bad pun. :rolleyes:)

To the OP: It doesn’t sound like you have “too many” rosaries. If you like to collect them, maybe you could have an extra with you that could be given away to someone who seems interested. This has happened to me a few times; non-Catholic family members want the comfort of a sacramental and are interested in praying the mysteries, and I have had extra rosaries to give them, along with simple booklets explaining the rosary.
 
davidn87 said:
How does the number of people praying have anything to do with the prayer being answered?
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If you ask others to pray for something, do you stop at one person or ask as many as you dare to pray with you? Why are they’re prayer chains?
 
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