When saying the Holy Rosary without Rosary beads, most of us need to use our fingers to count the ten Hail Marys!
In its simplest form, the Rosary is a counting tool — it helps us track our progress through this Marian devotion. We may have a strong sentimental attachment to a particular set of beads but praying the Rosary is what really matters.
I accidentally fell into Rosary making when a favourite hematite bead Rosary fell apart! I found it in Mexico and liked the weight in the hand. Unfortunately, the thread was a weak plastic so it broke prematurely. Wanting to repair it, I browsed on-line and visited craft stores. (Note that videos are often listed under ‘jewelry making.’) Then COVID hit the world!
FIRST, how to pray the Rosary!
This can be found in prayer-books, in your Church, or on-line. There is a useful one-page handout here.
For ideas on how to teach the Rosary at different ages:
And, how to say the Rosary in Irish / as Gaeilge:
Type of Rosaries
In its simplest form, a Rosary can be a series of knots in string, rope, paracord, etc.
This one-decade Rosary was made out of leather thonging with Chotki knots for my mountain-climbing son! (It can be hooked onto his equipment with the S-Biner.)
There are many good knots. The Chotki knot is a bit tricky to tie consistently, but it is used in the Orthodox prayer rope.
Much like a Rosary ring, one-decade Rosaries are small and portable. Below is a one-decade ‘wire-wrapped loop’ Rosary:
This was made with 22-gauge, medium wire. It could be made with shop-bought eye-pins, but the hand-made wire-wrapped loops are stronger, if slower to make. It is important to use the correct tools, especially the round-nosed pliers: an explanatory video is below.
The 5-decade, 1-Mystery, Rosary is what most people know as a ‘full’ Rosary.
A simple and fast construction method is by putting beads on a central wire. Some designs need small spacer beads and one can personalise each Rosary with a variety of additional parts (Such as the Cross/Crucifix, centre-piece and different Our Father beads / crosses.) These can be bought from a Rosary parts supplier which are easy to find on-line. Wires can be connected with a loop made with a crimp.
Jump Rings give a chain flexibility. These rings should not be pulled apart. Rather, bend them laterally, as in the left two rings.
Rosaries can be personalized for function too! The large-bead Rosary below was made for a person with arthritis in her hands.
This Rosary had no ‘slack’ between the beads, so the wire broke prematurely and the beads had to be re-threaded! (In other words: expect some trial and error!)
Below are one and five-decade Rosaries at various stages of construction. The one-decades are for our first communicants and the full Rosaries for confirmands & converts.
Religious orders often use the full Rosary: sets of 15 or 20 decades. (Before 2002 the Rosary had 15 decades. Then, Pope St. John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries, making the Rosary 20 decades.) These full Rosaries are often made with large beads on rope.
Rosary making has been ‘occupational therapy’ for me during the 2 years of COVID isolation. Anglican friends tell me that they use Rosary-making for a social activity in their parish (the Anglican Rosary has 33-beads.) Rosaries can also be made as gifts — very appropriate for first communicants, confirmands and converts. Rosaries can even be for a small fund-raising project. Many people keep their old broken Rosaries because they have great sentimental value: many can be repaired easily if someone has the correct tool.
Many Catholics are comforted by the physical presence of a set of Rosary beads, to the point that some inappropriately use the beads as a sort of ‘talisman.’ Saint Padre Pio called the Rosary his “secret weapon prayer!” We should remember that Saint Padre Pio meant praying the Rosary is the weapon!
The strength of the Rosary comes from us asking our Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary, to intercede on our behalf with her Son — Our Lord, Jesus Christ. That is being felt all around the world as Catholics come together to pray the Holy Rosary.
(You can follow Kevin on Twitter at @kevinhay77)
