The Rosary as a Weapon

[Archus]

I suppose this would refer to both the prayer and also its physical counterpart - the infamous rosary beads. This thread is not so much as a question and answer, but more an exploration, where your responses help to fill out, so to speak.

I’m not a big rosary pray-er, but I want to be. I will do my best to do it more often. I have had rosary beads in the past.

I remember being given a really simple, beautiful set of rosary beads from my Grandmother, who bought them in Jerusalem. They are a plain, almost touristy set (it has no crucifix, just a plain cross, which is ok). Yet around the same time I was lucky enough to go to Rome and I found an absolutely beautiful St. Benedict set.

As fate would go, I lost the more expensive set and I retain my ‘humble’ set of beads, which is now decorated, or rather, equiped at the decade intersections with select medals. These beads have become very personal to me. Sure, they look out of place, with medals hanging left right and centre, but they are my beads. In an old Eastern philosophy, the weapon has become an extension of my arm. I would be hard pressed to buy another set - even if they were prettier or ‘better’.

Therefore, these rosary beads are now my sword. Always at my side. To have another sword would feel alien, wrong because, going with the eastern tradition, my soul is not in the sword. It was in my old one. That sword and I are one.

Yet I read on the boards and look around and people have like 5 sets or one for every room of the house. I am curious to hear on how important you find your beads, and also if you have any personal alterations to the Rosary itself. Some people are adamant about praying the traditional 3-decade rosary, while some like JP2’s rosary. Others, like saying the fatima prayer. Others still add on the Litany of Loreto at the end. So I am wondering what is your weapon, and how do you make it yours?

 

[omegabane]

I own several Rosaries; however, there are two that I pray with regularly, and I have a special attachment to both of them for different reasons, though I have made no alterations.

The Rosary with which I pray the most and which I have with me at almost all times is the Rosary which I received when I was learning to pray it in grade school - perhaps third grade or even earlier. It is a simple Rosary with wooden beads, but it means a great deal to me.

The second Rosary which I use is a knotted Rosary that was given to me as a gift by a sixth-grade class after I made a presentation at their school on “Living the Our Father.” Like the OP’s simple Rosary, this knotted Rosary has only a plain cross rather than a crucifix.

I do not pray the Rosary as often as I should. I know that Our Lady has promised us many things should we only devote ourselves to this most powerful prayer.

I do pray the Luminous Mysteries, and I find them very beautiful. Occasionally I will use a Scriptural Rosary meditation, such as Mother Teresa’s, but more frequently, I will simply make my own meditation and offer a simple one line reference the mystery before each Hail Mary of the decade. This helps me to keep a focus on the mystery. For example, for the Annunciation I will pray “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord” before each Hail Mary.

In terms of the Fatima Prayer, I do use this. I also sometimes choose to add the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel following the “Prayer after the Rosary” and I may conclude with an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

I have several rosaries, and they tend to remind me of the people who gave them to me.

One was a gift from my (agnostic) husband. It is a “ladder” style rosary, with the beads joining two chains, like the rungs of a ladder. I frequently use it to pray for hubby’s coversion. (Pope John Paul II told us to “Think of the Rosary beads as a sweet ‘chain’ linking us to God.” This one is my ladder to heaven, and I hope I will drag others up with me!)

Another was found among my father-in-law’s personal things after his death. Since he is not Catholic (nor is anybody else in his family), everone assumed he had picked it up on his last trip to Rome and planned to give it to me. It has dark red glass beads. Sometimes when I use it I try to remember to pray for Dad’s soul and for all souls who may be in Purgatory.

Another is a very simple wooden rosary made by a friend of mine. Nothing fancy about it, it reminds me of the importance of humility, simplicity, a spirit of poverty.

I have several others; I keep one in my purse or bag, one by my bedside, etc. I also like to carry a few inexpensive ones for my visits to the nursing home, so I can give them away.

I love looking at art masterpieces, so I have made my own little booklet with sacred art depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary and short scripture verses that I have selected. I only use it occasionally, but it helps me concentrate on the Mysteries.

There is another tradition I discovered when visiting Europe. When people recite the Rosary together (I have heard this done in Germany and France), they insert a short phrase after the word “Jesus” in each Hail Mary, referring to the current Mystery. For example, while praying the decade of the Agony in the Garden, they might say, “blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, who sweat blood for us.” I have done this occasionally, too, to stay focused on the Mysteries.

 

[St_Gabriel]

… So I am wondering what is your weapon, and how do you make it yours?

I have a few rosaries. Some were gifts and some are not. I do have one that I use daily. It’s a cheap plastic one that has a broken cruxifix on it which stays together because of the string. Sometimes I think I should get rid of it, but I really like it because it reminds me that Jesus was broken for us. It also reminds me not to be attached to the rosary itself because it is only material, what matters most is the prayers attached to it.

 

[Cari]

To have another sword would feel alien, wrong because, going with the eastern tradition, my soul is not in the sword. It was in my old one. That sword and I are one.

Thank you for posting this. When I first converted, I allowed myself the luxury of a very expensive rosary. As time went on, I began to feel that the rosary was a bit on the masculine side, and I wanted a more obviously feminine one. Upon purchasing a second, equally beautiful, but more “girly” one, I tried retiring my original one, one I had prayed so many times and so ferverently on, with the newer one.

Not only did it not feel “right”, but I slowly drifted away from my daily rosary, which I had been faithful to.

I always sort of wondered what was “wrong” with my newer rosary, and your post, all this time later, illuminated it for me. It wasn’t my “sword”, and my spirit wasn’t invested in it as it was the other. Odd.

Now, before someone comes on and accuses me of superstition, I realize that the power is in faith and prayer, not the tangible beads, so I don’t need a lesson on the dangers of Catholic idolotry.

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

I have 3 sets of beads I use everyday, the one in my car that Fr. Anthony of EWTN blessed, the one I carry in my pocket (that my wife gave me) and the one by my bedside table. I am blessed to have a wife that prays the prayer with me every night and it is my favorite time of the day.

I can tell you something I used to do that made my rosary time so much more meaningful: I had a prayer list of 50 items and I counted off those 50 items as I prayed my beads.

 

[Crepusculum]

I wondered from the title where you were going with the weapon idea - interesting analogy. The rosary given to me by my godfather is the one that I feel wrong without. Ironically, it was also the rosary he felt most comfortable with - I feel guilty using it sometimes, but so touched that he gave it to me. I am trying my hand at making one - I figure if I choose the size, shape, colour, spacing and texture of the beads, there should be no reason to feel uncomfortable using it. Who knows, if it comes out alright, I can try to make one just like my first. The crucifix would be hard to find again though.

I can tell you something I used to do that made my rosary time so much more meaningful: I had a prayer list of 50 items and I counted off those 50 items as I prayed my beads.

That’s a great idea - will have to try that!

 

[LilyM]

I have numerous Rosaries (all blessed). A lot of them have some sort of special significance - I tend to think of them as different swords for different situations. I still have the earliest Rosary I can remember from my childhood, for example. It’s a cheap plastic thing and the crucifix is broken but I still love it dearly.

Then there’s the JP2 souvenir Rosary that I bought more than 20 years ago when he visited Australia. That’s the one I tend to use in my prayer time at home during the day, so it probably gets used most.

Then there’s the knotted twine gift Rosary that I tend to hold in bed (it doesn’t hurt if I roll on top of it during the night). And the one that tends to live in my bag (I chose it because it wasn’t too big and clunky and doesn’t take up too much space) which might get brought out before or after church. And my little pearl-bead single-decade Rosary that’s gone many a mile in my pocket …

But in my view, I don’t really get fixated on one particular Rosary. When you need to fight you need to fight, and you grab the nearest available weapon and start fighting! It may not be ‘your’ sword but it will certainly save your life all the same.

 

[CatholicCajun]

When I worked at the local hospital in the 80’s, for my 5 year anniversary I was given a check which I took to a local jewelry store and put a purple rosary on lay away, purple being my favorite color, I recently had my named engraved on the back of the cross and the year I purchased it.

I also have a double capped tanzanite rosary my husband got me a couple of years ago.

I also received 12 beautiul red roses last year for our 30th wedding anniversary and I had a rosary made with the rose pedals.

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

I have a friend who makes rosaries and he’s given me a few real nice ones. For years now I pray the rosary whilst listening to a cd or my download on itunes with no beads though. I suppose if I prayed it with others we would use beads and no cd etc.
Have you read - the secret of the Rosary by St Louis DeMontfort?

 

[MarieVeronica]

The title of this thread makes me think of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio). It was written of Padre Pio…

"As a true son of Our Lady, Padre Pio loved the Rosary and is reputed to have said a 15-decade Rosary as many as 35 times per day. In many photographs, he is shown with his right hand hidden within the pocket where he always kept his Rosary beads. Indeed, he urged all Catholics to “love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for the Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world.”

I’m a Rosary maker. So, I have Rosary’s all over the house! But the one that I pray with, the most… is a lovely silver and blue Rosary. I usually pray the 20 Mystery Rosary (John Paul II’s Luminous Mysteries, included; I love John Paul II, very much. He was a loyal son of Mary)… but not all on the same day. My responsibilities do not permit me the time.

God bless.

 

[the_phoenix]

I once owned a humbly beautiful wooden rosary bought and blessed in Fatima, Portugal.

After boarding a plane on an emergency flight to rush to my father’s bedside because he had just had a stroke and I was told he may not make it through the night and in fact he may not make it by the time the flight arrived, I took out the rosary to pray … and the cross broke off in my hands!

I didn’t know what to think but prayed the rosary anyways. My dad survived the stroke and is still alive today, years later.

I hated to lose that rosary, but as a kind gentleman reminded me … “Look, you lost a rosary and gained your father back. That sounds like a fair trade to me.”

~~ the phoenix

 

[Morwenna]

There is another tradition I discovered when visiting Europe. When people recite the Rosary together (I have heard this done in Germany and France), they insert a short phrase after the word “Jesus” in each Hail Mary, referring to the current Mystery. For example, while praying the decade of the Agony in the Garden, they might say, “blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, who sweat blood for us.” I have done this occasionally, too, to stay focused on the Mysteries.

This is a really wonderful tradition. I often have trouble concentrating on the Mysteries while saying the prayers, and something like this would be a great help to me.

I tried searching online, and I found the “Carthusian Rosary”, which is somewhat similar to what you described:

Link here: geocities.com/hashanayobel/homilies/pensieri/Rosary3.htm

Following are the 50 themes of Dominic of Prussia:

1. …Jesus, conceived of the Holy Spirit during the Annunciation of the Angel.
2. … Jesus, who together with you who has conceived him, visits Saint Elizabeth.
3. … Jesus, to whom you, virgin in body and soul, have given birth with joy.
4. … Jesus, whom you have fed from your virginal breast, adoring in him the creator.
5. … Jesus, whom you have swaddled in clothes and placed him in a crib.
6. … Jesus, who the Angels celebrated singing Gloria in excelsis, and the shepherds visited in Bethlehem.
7. … Jesus, who received his circumcsion on the eighth day, and was given the name of Jesus.
8. … Jesus, who the Magi adored while filling him with gifts.
9. … Jesus, who was carried by you to the Temple and presented to God, his Father.
10. … Jesus, who was received in the arms of old Simon, and recognized by the holy widow Anna.
11. … Jesus, with whom you fled into Egypt, because of Herod’s persecution.
12. … Jesus, with whom you returned home seven years later, as told by the Angel.
13. … Jesus, lost in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old, and found again in the temple after three days.
14. … Jesus, who each day grew further in age and grace before God and men.
15. … Jesus, whom John had baptized in the Jordan and shown out to be the Lamb of God.
16. … Jesus, who, having fasted for forty days in the desert, has won over the temptations put to him by the Enemy.
17. … Jesus, who, after having chosen the disciples, preached the kingdom of God.
18. … Jesus, who opened the eyes of the blind, healed lepers, rose to their feet paralyzed persons and freed those possessed by the devil.
19. … Jesus, whose feet were washed with Mary Magdalene’s tears, dried with her hair, anointed with her perfume.
20. … Jesus, who rose Lazarus and other persons who were dead.
21. … Jesus, triumphally acclaimed by his people on Palm Sunday.
22. … Jesus, who in the Last Supper instituted the sacrament of his Body and Blood.
23. … Jesus, who in the garden, after having prayed for long, sweat profuse blood.
24. … Jesus, who, meeting his enemies, gave up himself willingly into their hands.
25. … Jesus, captured and bound with force by those sent by the Jews, was so led to the high priest.
26. … Jesus, who, being falsely accused, was blindfolded, hit and covered with spit.
27. … Jesus, before Caiphas and Pilate, is given the burden of the cross to bear like a malefactor.
28. … Jesus, has his clothes taken off and is cruelly whipped on order given by Pilate.
29. … Jesus, crowned with thorns, is covered with a purple mantle and hailed king by mocking soldiers.
30. … Jesus, who is condemned to a wicked death and led to face torment between two thieves.
31. … Jesus, nailed to the cross and made to drink gall and vinegar.
32. … Jesus, while praying for his murderers, said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”
33. … Jesus, who said to the thief who was crucified on his right hand: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in heaven.”
34. … Jesus, who said to you, his Mother: “Mother, here is your son” ; and to John: “Here is your Mother.”
35. … Jesus, who cried from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
36. … Jesus, who said: “I thirst!”, and after having tasted the vinegar he cried out: “It is all accomplished.”
37. … Jesus, who at the end cried out: “Father, in your handsI put my spirit.”
38. … Jesus, who for us, poor sinners, has suffered a cruel and painful death.
39. … Jesus, whose side was pierced with a spear, pours out Blood and Water for the forgiveness of our sins.
40. … Jesus, whose sacred body was brought down from the cross, was received in your arms according to a pious saying.
41. … Jesus, whose body was wrapped in a sheet and wrapped with herbs and sspices was laid in the grave by holy men.
42. … Jesus, whose grave was sealed and guards put beside it by the Jews.
43. … Jesus, whose holy soul descended to Hades, to conduct the holy patriarchs to heaven.
44. … Jesus, who rose from the dead on the third day, filling you, his holy Mother, with an ineffable joy.
45. … Jesus, who after his Resurrection often appeared spesso to his disciples and friends to strengthen their faith.
46. … Jesus, who, before you and his apostoles, ascended into heaven and is sitting on the firght hand of the Father.
47. … Jesus, who, as he had promised, sent the Holy Spirit on his apostles on Pentecost Sunday.
48. … Jesus, who has finally called you to him, oh sweet Mother of his, placing you on his right hand and crowning you with glory.
49. … Jesus, who wants to call us after this miserable life, us servants of his and yours, and receive us in his Father’s Kingldom.
50. … Jesus, who reigns together with the Farther and the Holy Spirit, and with you Most Holy Mother, triumpant and glorious for ever.

Thank you for pointing me in this direction, PhilotheaZ!