Rosary bead question

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odile53

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I’ve looked at some rosaries on the internet–those handmade by individual rosary makers, and some vintage rosaries listed for sale on eBay. And I’ve noticed that a lot of these rosaries have various medals attached to them. Not the centerpiece linking the crucifix/five bead section to the loop of five decades, but dangling from various places on the five decade loop (usually, at the Paters.)

I don’t recall seeing rosaries like this earlier in my life, and I haven’t seen these dangling medals on new rosaries for sale at various Catholic retail websites.

Is this some kind of private devotion, or a new fashion in rosary making? Is it purely aesthetic? And does the Church have any official thoughts on these additions?
 
I’ve never seen a rosary such as you describe. But recently in a prayer group I attend someone spoke of rosaries containing depiction of a serpent entwined around the cross. To be on the safe side, I would only purchase a rosary from a trusted Catholic source. Sometimes, I just use my fingers, if I can’t get my hands on a rosary. 😃
 
If you could post a link or a picture, perhaps someone will be able to give a better answer.

The thing to remember about a rosary is that it is merely an object. As the poster above said, you can use your fingers to keep count and the prayer will be just as effective, if not more so.

Peace
James
 
The addition of a saints medal between the center piece and the crucifix is perfectly fine. Many people add a favorite saint that they ask for intercession from frequently. I have a sacred heart of Jesus and Mary attached to mine. My daughter has Padre Pio. Choose your patron saint if you like. It is a personal preference that is entirely up to you.
 
I wasn’t really interested in purchasing a rosary from an ebay vendor. I already have two rosaries, one I purchased myself, and one that was willed to me by a favorite aunt. That should be plenty.

I am, however, always interested in antiquities, and was just idling away some down time on the website.

I wish I could copy an example of the type of rosary I’ve seen. I suppose it is a testament to my sloth that I have not figured out how to post an image yet.

The basic rosary looks like any other five decade rosary. At the Our Father stations, saints medals are attached. They appear to be more modern than the older rosary itself. Additionally, there is a small bone or horn skull attached to the jump ring of the crucifix.

The ebay copy states that this rosary had belonged to a priest in the 1930’s. That statement struck me as very odd—with the exception of one of my aunts (whose rosary I have,) all of my older relatives who have predeceased me were buried with a rosary entwined in their fingers. I’ve frequently seen other decedents at funeral homes with rosaries in their hands, and assumed that burying the body with rosary was pretty commonplace. I suppose that I assumed that a priest would be buried with his rosary when his days here were done.

I have heard that the “skull” practice was commonplace among the clergy and religious. I had two second cousins who were nuns (now gone to their reward.) Neither of them had skulls dangling from their rosaries, and I haven’t noticed that on the rosary video on EWTN with Mother Angelica.

So I thought I would ask about it here in case anyone knew anything about this practice. When I was a Girl Scout (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I’m afraid!) I earned the Marian Medal. For you non Girl Scout alumni out there, that is a real Catholic award for Girl Scouts who do specific projects from a manual that is distributed by the diocesan youth committee. When the projects are complete (it takes about a year to go through them all,) the Marian Medal is conferred at a diocese-wide Scouts Mass by the bishop. It really is a charming little medal, sterling silver, with a sculpted Mary and Infant Jesus. And yes, I do recall feeling closer to the Blessed Mother while working on those projects.

If it is really officially acceptable to attach such an item to a rosary, I would like to do that with the medal. However, if it isn’t, I will keep the medal in my jewelry box or attach it to my charm bracelet.
 
If you don’t know how to do an image, How about just copy and paste the link…

Peace
James
 
I’m curious as to what your talking about also, because i have never seen a rosary like that, and between me and my mother in law we have a bunch that are from plastic to being made with crystal…
 
Ugh! That is one creepy looking rosary, in my opinion. Never heard of having a teensy skull on a rosary. :eek:
 
If you do some web surfing on Rosaries, there are some good sites that have galleries of Rosaries from throughout the ages. Some of the earliest ones were made with skulls for beads. The sites have beautiful photo’s of hundreds of Rosaries. Amazing artwork. You will see that the one represented on Ebay is not out of the ordinary for that time period.
 
GRATEFULONEjim said:
If you do some web surfing on Rosaries, there are some good sites that have galleries of Rosaries from throughout the ages. Some of the earliest ones were made with skulls for beads. The sites have beautiful photo’s of hundreds of Rosaries. Amazing artwork. You will see that the one represented on Ebay is not out of the ordinary for that time period.
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While I can understand that some roasaries could be made from bone, perhaps even relics of martyred saints, the rosary that the OP linked shows a complete skull only very tiny. In order for this to be a true historical rosary from a previous era, the skull could only be that of a tiny mammal of some sort, yet it looks human in form. So tell me a particular website that historically shows a tiny shrunken “bonehead”??? And exactly what would be the point of it??
 
Sherry_G said:
While I can understand that some roasaries could be made from bone, perhaps even relics of martyred saints, the rosary that the OP linked shows a complete skull only very tiny. In order for this to be a true historical rosary from a previous era, the skull could only be that of a tiny mammal of some sort, yet it looks human in form. So tell me a particular website that historically shows a tiny shrunken “bonehead”??? And exactly what would be the point of it??
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I can’t remember the site when I was surfing. I was looking for different Rosaries actually. The skulls were hand carved out of bone and there was a significance to them, but I can’t remember what it was. Many of the Rosary sites went into detailed history that explained the significance and the where’s and why’s. It was really good reading. I’m sure if you did a Google search on it, there would be plenty of info. I do remember that there was nothing bad about the skulls.

A link skullrosaries.com/explained.htm
 
Sherry_G said:
While I can understand that some roasaries could be made from bone, perhaps even relics of martyred saints, the rosary that the OP linked shows a complete skull only very tiny. In order for this to be a true historical rosary from a previous era, the skull could only be that of a tiny mammal of some sort, yet it looks human in form. So tell me a particular website that historically shows a tiny shrunken “bonehead”??? And exactly what would be the point of it??
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They’re called momento mori rosaries, and they symbolize our mortality. They were popular in Europe in the Middle Ages, and they’re stll popular today in countries that celebrate Dia de los Muertos.
 
Sherry_G said:
Ugh! That is one creepy looking rosary, in my opinion. Never heard of having a teensy skull on a rosary. :eek:
Click to expand...
it was common at one time to make crucifixes, including those intended for rosaries, with a skull at the base who represents Adam who died because of sin as a symbol of Christ’s victory over death. If you don’t find a crucifix creepy–and many do who are not familiar with the faith basis behind it–the skull should not bother you.

The medals seem to be a relatively recent fad, and are either particular saints chosen for some reason–the religious order they belonged to, the churches of which they are patrons etc., or particularly important churches such as the pilgrimage churches in Rome.

Just as saint charm bracelets have become popular in recent years, we also see people adding misc. medals to rosaries in that way, esp. a St. Benedict or Miraculous. Same with scapulars, now I see them sold with mini-medals or people adding their own.

If OP can indentify the medals that might help.

Often the funeral home simply uses a standard black or white rosary when preparing a body, and the family might want to keep the personal rosary of the deceased. DH has his father’s rosary because he is the only son who wanted it.
 
Puzzleannie,
The OP provided a link to the e-bay page a couple of posts up.

From looking at it I recognized a St Jude medal, a Four Way and a Miraculous Medal. The others I don’t recognize.

Peace
James
 
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