Wearing Rosaries...(a new look at the subject)

[scapularkid8]

Okay I know this has been discussed to no end here, but most of the threads seemed to focus on the con side of the debate. I want to look at the pro side and see why people wear them. Some people I have seen wear them as a fashion statement, but others like my cousin in Spain for example, wears one under his shirt and I didn’t even notice it until the other day. What I want to know is:

a)Why do people wear them?
b)Why is it not okay for people to wear them?
c)Why is it such a prevalent practice in the Spanish and Latin cultures?
d) …do you really think that Mary would be upset at someone using her Rosary that way? I mean at least they’re not afraid of outward signs of devotion to her like lots of Catholics my age that I know are.

 

[Rawb]

I used to be an ardent anti-wearer. I’ve changed my mind. If it’s worn from devotion to the rosary, it’s a beautiful custom. I do have a problem with people like Madonna wearing one, but I’m starting to try not to judge those who I see wearing them in public.

What changed my mind is the day we discussed the rosary in CCD. I teach CCD, and we were talking about it, and I said it was important to keep the rosary in a safe place and to not swing it around (as a boy was doing). Several of the kids promptly took their rosaries and placed them around their necks. It was a natural expression of respect and love for the rosary, and I realized I was being a bit legalistic in my view, so I reconsidered.

 

[scapularkid8]

I used to be an ardent anti-wearer. I’ve changed my mind. If it’s worn from devotion to the rosary, it’s a beautiful custom. I do have a problem with people like Madonna wearing one, but I’m starting to try not to judge those who I see wearing them in public.

What changed my mind is the day we discussed the rosary in CCD. I teach CCD, and we were talking about it, and I said it was important to keep the rosary in a safe place and to not swing it around (as a boy was doing). Several of the kids promptly took their rosaries and placed them around their necks. It was a natural expression of respect and love for the rosary, and I realized I was being a bit legalistic in my view, so I reconsidered.

I’d have to agree. I was an ardent anti-wearer (if that’s a term?) but I saw that people don’t wear them just out of fashion and that even if it’s a cultural thing, it’s beautiful that the religious expression is so deeply ingrained in that society.

 

[CuriousM]

When I was exiting the JW’s and starting to figure out what on earth I was here for, a Catholic friend of mine sent me a rosary.
Lately, I have taken to wearing it around my neck, but tucked under my shirt. Tucking in my shirt is for many reasons.
But the reason I wear it lately is because it reminds me of who I am now and where I’m at, and heh, it helps me to keep my sanity through the day
I have kept it in my pocket at times, but often I wear skirts with no pockets. Plus, heh, knowing me I’d forget they were there and they’d get washed

 

[teadough]

I have one Rosary that I keep in my pocket when I am either at work or out and about.

I have another on order that will only be for home use due to the fact that it is really nice IMO. That is if the lady actually sends it. I starting to get a little sketched out over this ordeal.

Also,I have a little one given to me from a person who left the Church. I keep this one in my truck. It looks like one a 10 year old girl would have

 

[bpbasilphx]

When I was in the hospital this week, I couldn’t put my chotki around my left wrist, because they were operating on my left arm, and i couldn’t put it around my right wrist because of the IVs.

The only altenrative was around my neck.

 

[Linuse]

Maybe a good clue to the practice would come from the many religious communities which wear them as part of their habit–15 decades around the waist, almost touching the floor.