The rosary is both a one-person and a group devotional effort. The Catholic Church advocates that families use the rosary as a family devotional practice during May and October as well as other times throughout the year. The months of May and October are dedicated to Mary, and daily devotions utilizing the rosary take place in many parishes.
Other than praying the rosary, the beads themselves have become a favorite tool for devotion. Catholics carry these objects in their purse or pocket, mount them on their rearview mirrors, or hang them on pictures of their deceased loved one. Sometimes, they wear rosaries around their necks like Madonna or Lady Gaga. People in Mexican culture are oftentimes seen wearing rosaries as necklaces. In other cultures, the wearing of the rosary around one’s neck is a representation of one’s membership to a gang. More recently in the news, a girl wore her rosary as a devotional to Jesus but was asked to remove her rosary during school hours because of her supposed membership to a gang.
A priest blesses the rosaries in a ritual by which these items become sacred rather than a secular object. However, many Catholics put special emphasis on rosaries that have been blessed by their local bishop or the pope himself because of their higher position in the Catholic “totem pole” and supposed closeness with the Lord R. God.
Praying the rosary became a national pastime for Catholics after the Virgin Mary made a special appearance to three little kids in the city of Fatima, Portugal in 1915. It was there that she told people to pray the rosary so that Russia would embrace democracy and leave communism. Tons of Catholics followed suit.
Since then every May, rosary parades were held in many cities and involved tens of thousands of people who gathered and marched throughout their towns reciting the rosary and singing hymns. Back then, radio stations all over the country broadcast the rosary in the early evening, and families were encouraged to make use of this time for family prayer. In this day and age, the Catholic Church broadcasts the rosary on radio, TV, and the internet.
Advances in technology have allowed the Catholic Church to utilize different forms of media to spread the word about the rosary and recruit more Christians into the Catholic Church.
In some cases, the rosary is a great tool to use to help you count up how many Hail Marys, Our Fathers, and Glory Be you need to say to get your rosary prayer right so that when you DO recite the rosary, your prayers will be answered.
Marissa Meme is an article marketer for CatholicFavors.com where you can buy the finest in Catholic related items such as Key of Heaven rosaries, First Holy Communion gifts for boys and girls Paola Carola rosaries, and Confirmation crosses.
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