Rosary "Necklace" Question

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PatriciaF

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Hello Everyone!

My daughter’s boyfriend just came back from El Salvador. He gave her a rosary “necklace” as a gift - it looks just like a traditional rosary but it has a clasp on it.

It has always been my belief that a rosary should never be worn as a necklace but this seems to be specifically made to be a necklace with the inclusion of the clasp. I’m not sure if this is a traditional item in El Salvador.

Would it be acceptable for my daughter to wear this? She just received her confirmation so she doesn’t want to make any disrespectful statements by wearing it nor does she want to offend her boyfriend for not wearing it.

Thanks!
 
Yes, it is okay for her to wear it as long as her intent is not disrespectful or mocking the rosary.
 
There is no church law about this, to my knowledge, although there is a guide to pious practices that came up recently under the question about the appropriateness of giving a name to one’s guardian angel (it is not appropriate).

well, first, here is the link to the guide to piety

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...on_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html

Second, I downloaded the entire document and searched on “rosary” and within the limits of a 5 minutes search, I did not find anything relevant to your question.

As a personal observation, I think I see people on TV (even actors) wearing the rosary as a prop, rather than as anything else. I don’t think wearing it is anywhere as significant as actually praying the rosary.

This Vatican document seems to say a lot about recommending the devotion to the rosary.
 
There is nothing forbidding people to wear rosary necklaces, bracelets, rings, etc.
 
Hi PatriciaF and welcome to CAF.

It happens that I bought my wife a rosary necklace this past Christmas. It’s a piece of jewelry, but also a complete and fully functional rosary. We brought it to our pastor and he had no problem with blessing it.

It has come through for her in a pinch when she has forgotten to bring her pocket rosary along.
 
When I was growing up, the sisters who taught at my school would discourage girls from wearing rosaries as a necklace because they didn’t want them thinking of rosaries as jewelry. I believe nowadays there are also some parts of the US and the world where men wearing rosaries has a gang implication.

However, if there is no possible gang concern and the person wearing the rosary is doing so respectfully and with the intent to pray on it at least occasionally, I don’t see a problem.

I often will wear one of my rosaries as a necklace or a bracelet because I plan to pray on them at some point (like I’m rushing to church or taking a long car trip during which I will pray) and I don’t want to lose the rosary out of my pocket or have to dig through my purse for it, if I even have a purse handy. I have lost a rosary out of my pocket in the past, fortunately it was cheap and unblessed, but I prefer to avoid that situation.
 
Some rosaries are made with a clasp. I purchased one at a Cathedral shop in Rome which had a clasp and Divine Mercy booklet.
 
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