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Is It Okay To Wear A Rosary Bead Knecklace?

More and more these days people are actually wearing Rosary beads and they are being seen as more as a fashion statement, this has been largely driven by celebrities such as Madonna along with other singers. So is it okay to wear a rosary as part of your daily fashion or not?

Rosary Beads Through History

Rosary beads are used, and have always been used, to count the prayers that make up the rosary. There are a few variations depending on which religion you are referring to but in the catholic religion in particular the prayers are made up of the Lords' Prayer, 10 Hail Marys and one Glory be to the Father. In Catholicism, each of these prayers is called a decade and the rosary is made up of 5 decades. This is explained further in "The Meaning Of Rosary Beads".

Is The Wearing Of The Rosary A New Tradition?

The simple answer to the above is no. People of the Christian faith have been wearing Christian rosary beads in one form or another for more than 500 years. The general reason for this was simply for protection from evil forces such as the devil, people also wore them for comfort and reassurance of their own faith. In fact, in some countries, the practice of wearing these beads is quite common and it's in more recent years that wearing the rosary has been faced with more criticism. The main reason being because the rosary is been worn more for fashion purposes than anything else.

So What Has The Church Said?

The most criticism has come from people of the Roman Catholic order, the Roman Catholics in particular have remarked that they feel it's okay to wear a rosary during prayer, meditation or worship but it's unacceptable to wear it for non-religious reasons such as for fashion purposes.

There are also many other schools of thought on the subject and whilst some of them vary, the general consensus has been that it's okay to wear the rosary in the eyes of the church as long as it's for religious purposes and your own faith. The rosary should not be worn as a fashion statement.

However, the above is not "law" perse and so if the individual chooses to wear a rosary, who has the authority to question their reasons or motives?

Choosing The Right Rosary Beads For You

If you don't want to make your own Rosary beads then you can buy them from many online and high street retailers. But the main problem is that when you walk into a retailer you are overwhelmed with the amount of Rosaries to choose from. There are different colors, different materials, one's aimed at different religions, so how do you choose the perfect Rosary for you? Follow our simple steps below and your life will be made much easier:

Step 1 - Make a list of your favourite colors and materials

The point of a Rosary is not for fashion but when it's something your buying for yourself you want to at least like the way it looks. So many a list of your second colors and then a list of your favourite materials. The most common materials you'll see for Rosary beads are:

• Wooden Rosary Beads
• Plastic Rosary Beads
• Gold Rosary Beads
• Crystal Rosary Beads
• Silver Rosary Beads

Select your favourite and write that down also.

Step 2 - Ask The Shop Assistant For Advice

Approach the shop assistant and tell her you are looking to buy Rosary beads, tell her what colors you are looking for and the material you would prefer your beads to be made from. You'll find that the shop assistant will be able to point out a selection of Rosary beads which you can then choose from. If there is nothing suitable there, maybe look for the beads in a different material.

Step 3 - Buying for the right price

It doesn't matter how important the Rosary is to you, you still don't really want to be paying over the odds for it. So if you find that the Rosary beads in the shop are too expensive for your budget then simply come away and do a search on the Internet for a better deal. The important point is that you now know which Rosary beads you are looking for, so you aren't as "in the dark" as you were before.

Remember that Rosaries aren't designed for wearing, they're designed for praying. But the most important thing is that you enjoy your Rosaries.

They can make a great gift for occasions such as Baptisms, first communion or confirmation. When buying Rosary beads for a gift, the above will still apply so don't get stuck when selecting a set of beads for someone else.

How To Make Rosary Beads For Men

Making Rosary Beads for men isn't as hard as you might think, people often avoid making their own beads because they think it's going to be too hard and complex. They avoid making beads more so when they're trying to get Rosary beads for men, but making Rosary Beads for men is just as easy as making Rosary Beads for women. The only difference between making Rosary Beads for men and making Rosary Beads for women is that when making them for a man you may want to consider that a man will not be looking for "pretty" Rosary Beads but more of a practical set which is just plain looking.

The perfect set of beads for a man would be a set of Wooden Rosary Beads, you can view a series of Wooden Rosary Beads for sale on our site or you can make your own Rosary Beads for men by following our step by step guide on "How To Make Rosary Beads" which has been laid out for you. In order to make Wooden Rosary Beads for men all you will need is a wooden cross, a length of rope/string and a set of 59 plain beads. If you are making a very traditional Rosary then you will need to buy some larger beads to represent the decades on the Rosary.

All in all though it really is that simple, with just a few materials and around 60 minutes to spare you too could make a set of Rosary Beads for a man.

A Brief History Of The Rosary & Rosary Beads

The original story of the Rosary dates back as far as the twelfth century during a time when it's said that Mary appeared to Saint Dominic and have him the first Rosary. Mary is said to have made the promise to Dominic that if he spread devotion to the rosary she had given him, then his own religious order would flourish. No body actually knows whether or not this story is entirely accurate but however the story played out it is pretty certain that this is when the rosary came about.

The first rosary had 150 beads in total, quite different to the 59 on the modern rosary which we see today. The 150 beads represented the number of psalms in the bible. During the time of the twelfth century the religious orders would recite the 150 psalms together, this would signify the hours of the day and also the days of the week. It is said that many of the people in the religious order were unable to read and so praying on the rosary was a good way of making sure that everyone, even the illiterate, could be involved in all religious practices.

The practices of praying on the rosary haven't changed much since the time of the twelfth century, the individual would run their fingers from bead to bead and knot to knot reciting the "our father" on each bead.

The size and form of the rosary has changes a little over time and has been influenced by several people. During the time of the fifteenth century a Carthusian monk decide to divide the rosary into the 15 sections which we know today, also called the decades. These mysteries were actually significant evens from Jesus life, as seen in the gospels.

The modern rosary now consists of twenty decades in total, representing the Hail Mary. Each one is separated by an "Our Father" and a "Glory Be".

Despite the differences in the look of the rosary of the centuries, it's purpose and meaning has remained the same. The purpose and meaning of rosary beads is a way of God's people to make their day holy and provide remembrance for Jesus and for his mother, Mary.

The Meaning Of Rosary Beads

A question which gets asked very often by people is "The Meaning Of Rosary Beads?" and the answer isn't a simple one.

Rosary Beads are available in all manner of sizes, shapes, colors and materials. You can buy Rosary Beads which are made from Wood, Gold, Silver, Pearl, Plastic and other materials, the most common out of all of these being the Wooden Rosary Beads.

What Is The Purpose Of The Rosary?

In short the main purpose of Rosary Beads is for an aid to prayer and meditation. Each segment of beads on the Rosary Bead necklace represents a different prayer and the beads are there as a reminder for how many times they've meditated or said a particular prayer. In particular the Rosary is most often associated with the religion of Catholicism but other religions including Hindiusm, Pagansm, Islam and Judaism also have their own Rosary Bead traditions.

The standard prayer conducted when holding the Rosary Beads involves the "Apostle's Creed" whilst holding the crucifix in one hand followed by "Our Father" whilst holding the large bead in the other hand. Finally a prayer follows for each "Hail Mary" on each of the smaller 10 beads.

There are more complex "Hail Mary" prayers recited on the beads but in general the above is how most Catholics use the beads.

How Is The Rosary Made Up?

The traditional Rosary consists of a crucifix and then a pattern of 1 large bead followed by 3 small beads and then another large bead. The pattern of 1-3-1 is followed by something called a medal which is again followed by another pattern of beads. The next pattern of beads is larger and has 1 large bead plus 10 smaller beads, this pattern is repeated 5 times making up a total of 59 beads. The pattern of 1 large bead followed by 10 smaller beads is called a decade.

For more information see - How to make Rosary Beads.

The History Of The Rosary

Counting prayers in religion is something which spans back a lot farther than you may even begin to imagine, it's believed that the first practice of counting prayers goes back all the way to the 11th and 12th centuries. At that time it's thought that people would carry pebbles around in their pockets, as opposed to beads, which they used to count their prayers.

However, despite the above, there is also evidence that other religions such as Hinduism and Islam used their own traditions of counting prayers before the 11th and 12th centuries, furthermore it's thought that they may hav even used strings of beads for this purpose.

How to Make Rosary Beads

People often believe that making their own Rosary Bead will be difficult or complicated so they neglect to even give it a go, when in actual fact making Rosary Beads isn't half as complex as you may think. The main reason most people will buy Rosary Beads to make rather than buying them complete is because:

1. It can be cheaper to make them
2. It's more personal to make your own
3. A home made Rosary makes the perfect gift

If you are making a Rosary for a man, you may want to take into account some of our top tips for how to make Rosary Beads for men before getting starte.

The first thing you will need to do is get yourself some supplies to make the Rosary Beads with. This will include the following:

• 59 Beads
• Some String
• A Wooden Cross Or Crucifix/ Star Of David - Depending on whether you're making Catholic Rosary Beads, Christian Rosary Beads or Jewish Rosary Beads

The things above aren't difficult to buy at all, if you get yourself onto the eBay marketplace, the chances are you'll be able to find all of those things from one craft seller in a matter on minutes. It will probably cost you less than $15 to get those materials together. Once you have your materials ready, you can proceed onto the next few steps of actually making your Rosary Beads.

Step 1 - Preparing the Cross For Mounting

If you have chosen a cross/crucifix/star of David which doesn't have a hole in it somewhere towards the top, you will need to take out a small drill and drill a small hole in it which measures around half a cm in diameter. Obviously the size of the hole depends on how large the cross is, but generally the half a centimeter will be enough.

Step 2 - Threading The String

Now that you've drilled your hole into the cross you'll be able to go ahead and start to mount it onto the string. All you need to do in this step is thread the string through the hole which you've created and then loop it back over on itself and tie into a knot. Make sure that you leave one end of the string free so that you have a end available to thread your beads onto.

Step 3 - Adding Your Beads

The next step is a little more complicated and its important to get it right for religious reasons. If you want to make a more traditional set of beads then rather than having 59 beads of the same color, size and shape you should have one larger special bead to mark the decades on your Rosary.

To start with you will need to take your first bead and thread it into the string making sure to tie it in place with a knot, and then once that's fixed in place you can make a second knot around 1/4 of an inch away from your first bead. Against the second knot you will now need to add 3 further beads to the string, then again add another knot 1/4 of an inch from the 3 beads and add another bead. You now have the pattern which will form the 1-3-1 bead combination which will drape from the top of your Rosary.

Now comes the time to make your decades, add a further 10 beads onto your string again a knot which you will place around 1/4 of an inch away from your 1-3-1 bead combination. After that row of ten you need to add a knot which should be 3/4 of an inch away from the first row of 10 and at that point you will place your special (Marker) bead, this should be secured in place with a knot. This has now created your first decade, this process should be repeated a further 4 times to create the traditional 5 decade Rosary.

Once you're done you may need to trim the string a little to your liking, once that's done you can secure the final two ends to make your Rosary.