Rosary the most recognizable Catholic symbol besides the Crucifix?

[scapularkid8]

Or is it even more recognizable than the Crucifix? In my opinion, it also symbolized Western Judeo-Christian society since that’s basically the only place you’ll find it (aside from the places that were former colonies of these nations such as Viet Nahm, India, and parts of Africa).

I don’t know, the thought just popped into my head. Thought I’d share. What are your opinions?

 

[mangy_dog]

Or is it even more recognizable than the Crucifix? In my opinion, it also symbolized Western Judeo-Christian society since that’s basically the only place you’ll find it (aside from the places that were former colonies of these nations such as Viet Nahm, India, and parts of Africa).

I don’t know, the thought just popped into my head. Thought I’d share. What are your opinions?

I’m not sure I get your thread.

Surely the beads have been around for centuries in one format or another but the Rosary as we know it today was reavealed to St. Dominic in an apparition of the Virgen Mary to him. In that apparition she revealed the Rosary in the format that we enjoy today - and which would’ve had the crucifix on it.

I am of the opinion that the great catholic symbols are not only the Crucifix and the Rosary but also the Eucharist.

As a matter of fact St. John Bosco had a vision in which the Virgen Mary is on one pillar (with the Rosary in her hands - and the other pillar has the symbol of the Eucharist, being the taller pillar.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

 

[Nickkname]

I’m not sure I get your thread.

Surely the beads have been around for centuries in one format or another but the Rosary as we know it today was reavealed to St. Dominic in an apparition of the Virgen Mary to him. In that apparition she revealed the Rosary in the format that we enjoy today - and which would’ve had the crucifix on it.

I am of the opinion that the great catholic symbols are not only the Crucifix and the Rosary but also the Eucharist.

As a matter of fact St. John Bosco had a vision in which the Virgen Mary is on one pillar (with the Rosary in her hands - and the other pillar has the symbol of the Eucharist, being the taller pillar.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

I think the Rosary is definitely a very recognizable symbol for Catholicism, but remember, other religions have rosaries as well. But next to the Crucifix, it is the most recognizable symbol, just as next to Jesus, Mary is the most powerful.

@mangy dog: On the two pillars were Jesus and Mary, not Mary and a symbol of the Lord. They were Mary Help of Christians and the Sacred Host.

 

[scapularkid8]

@mangy dog: On the two pillars were Jesus and Mary, not Mary and a symbol of the Lord. They were Mary Help of Christians and the Sacred Host.

Was this in Spain by chance? Is that why “María del Pilar” is a popular name in Spain just like Fátima is really popular for women in Portugal?

 

[mangy_dog]

I think the Rosary is definitely a very recognizable symbol for Catholicism, but remember, other religions have rosaries as well. But next to the Crucifix, it is the most recognizable symbol, just as next to Jesus, Mary is the most powerful.

@mangy dog: On the two pillars were Jesus and Mary, not Mary and a symbol of the Lord. They were Mary Help of Christians and the Sacred Host.

I think you mis-understood my thread.

Be that as it may. I agree with you.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.

 

[littleone]

Or is it even more recognizable than the Crucifix? In my opinion, it also symbolized Western Judeo-Christian society since that’s basically the only place you’ll find it (aside from the places that were former colonies of these nations such as Viet Nahm, India, and parts of Africa).

I don’t know, the thought just popped into my head. Thought I’d share. What are your opinions?

Certainly these are ***some ***of the most recognizable symbols of catholic but if they are the most then something is wrong.
Surely the “word of God” MUST be the most important and in that the Eucharist and then others.
That is my belief though.
Godbless.

 

[Miserissima]

The Eucharist is a symbol of our faith to others who don’t understand that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the catholic faith. It’s a symbol to them, and the all to us. The Eucharist cannot ymbolize anything to us, because it truly IS the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ.

Scap, if I’m reading you right, the best way to find a Catholic in a crowd isn’t by the physical trappings: medals, rosaries, building styles, scapulars, styles of dress, habits for clergy and religious, or hearing particular prayers recited.

I don’t think that any of us can ever tell what’s in a person’s heart or where their understanding lies. One cannot even tell if the person in the next pew on Sunday morning is a Catholic or not.

As far as the rosary is concerned, using beads for counting prayers is ageless…

Using beads for and with prayer is not a distinctly nor a uniquely Christian habit. “The practice of repetitious prayer follows and grows with the emergence of meditative religions,” states Francis B. Thornton, author of This Is The Rosary. He contunues to explain:

The first use of beads for prayer is found in Hinduism, then spread East through Buddhism. Primitive peoples originally counted prayers by pebbles or knotted cords, but asthestics necessitated strung beads; even in the culture of Islam, it was noted that the Muslims invented their own prayer beads within two hundred years of the death of Mohammed.

A long while ago I belonged to the mailing list at Paternoster Row. (paternoster-row.org/). .)It is true when the author writes, " Other religions use prayer beads as well, but we cannot be certain whether Christians, Muslims and Hindus invented the idea independently or borrowed it from each other."

Remember, the fifteen-decade rosary that we see today didn’t always look as it does now. They tended to look more pagan with tassels instead of crucifixes. The Orthodox rosary doesn’t have a crucifix, either.

So, in more modern times, it would be the crucifix that would be a very simple way to differentiate between the Rosary (Catholic private devotion) and a rosary (a string of beads used for prayer, usually non-Christian). But this wasn’t always necessarily so, since it was easy to confuse the Catholic rosary with the stylings of other sets of beads. That’s why the crucifix is so crucial if you’re going to look at a Rosary to see whether or not it’s Latin-rite Catholic.

 

[LilyM]

I think the Rosary is definitely a very recognizable symbol for Catholicism, but remember, other religions have rosaries as well. But next to the Crucifix, it is the most recognizable symbol, just as next to Jesus, Mary is the most powerful.

@mangy dog: On the two pillars were Jesus and Mary, not Mary and a symbol of the Lord. They were Mary Help of Christians and the Sacred Host.

Correction - other religions have prayer beads. Not rosaries.

A lot of Protestants say what they call the ‘Anglican Rosary’ or some such, but often they’ll use completely different prayers than we do (omit all mention of Mary, for example) so to my mind that’s also just prayer beads and not the Rosary. :nope:

 

[Miserissima]

Correction - other religions have prayer beads. Not rosaries…]so to my mind that’s also just prayer beads and not the Rosary.

The way I was taught was that there is the Rosary (the Catholic prayer) and the rosary (the string of beads).

See dictionary.reference.com/browse/rosary

An easier distinction to make is to say that the Rosary is a prayer. The beads are chaplets, counting aids.

Not all chaplets are Rosaries, but all rosaries are chaplets.

 

[LilyM]

The way I was taught was that there is the Rosary (the Catholic prayer) and the rosary (the string of beads).

See dictionary.reference.com/browse/rosary

An easier distinction to make is to say that the Rosary is a prayer. The beads are chaplets, counting aids.

Not all chaplets are Rosaries, but all rosaries are chaplets.

The prayer and the beads go hand in hand. The beads should only called rosary beads if they are used to say the Rosary. Like an office is only called a surgery if a doctor practices medicine in it.

If you never say the Rosary on those beads, the beads THEMSELVES are not a rosary.

If you have a set of beads that you only ever say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy on, for example, then those beads are a chaplet, but they’re not a rosary.

 

[Miserissima]

I thought about this today and think I can articulate myself a little better: every rosary is a chaplet, but not every chaplet is The Rosary.

 

[LilyM]

I thought about this today and think I can articulate myself a little better: every rosary is a chaplet, but not every chaplet is The Rosary.

Not every chaplet is a rosary either.

All goes to show what I said - other religions have prayer beads but not rosaries.