I have been inspired recently (by this forum!)to pray the rosary every day. But I'm an exchange student in Germany right now, and my rosary is at home. Does praying the rosary without a rosary have the same effect?

-- Cameron (shaolin__phoenix@hotmail.com), November 21, 2004

Answers

Yes. It is the prayer that matters. The beads are a sacramental, and may be blessed, but essentially they are simply a counting device. The value of the prayers is not contingent upon using the beads. Originally people counted the prayers using a knotted cord or a pocket full of pebbles.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), November 21, 2004.

why bot just get or make a Cheap rosary? Not that I know yur fullsituation or anything, but I am curious as to why it is difficult to procure one.

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), November 21, 2004.

The price might have gone up Zarove! I understand that Rosary beads are the latest fashion MUST HAVE for the cool cat crowd, both men and women.

-- kiwi (csisherwood@hotmail.com), November 21, 2004.

The drive to and from work is an opportune time for me to pray the Rosary. I'm not dexterious enough to steer while holding the beads, so I use my fingers to count the prayers.

Besides, praying the Rosary is a great cure for road rage. ;-)

Using our bodies to pray aloud and count the beads, and using our imaginations to meditate on the Gospel ultimately aids our souls in speaking with God. The beads certainly help, but are not necessary.

Another way of praying without the beads Cameron, is to pray a Scriptural Rosary. You read a line or two from Scripture that pertains to the mystery of the Gospel you are meditating on. It also ends up being a great way to keep track when you don't have beads.

-- Andy S ("ask3332004@yahoo.com"), November 21, 2004.

It is hard to procure a rosary because I am in what was East Germany right now, and under communism, religion was suppressed and discouraged. Consequently, not many people practice any religion, and when they do, it is protestant since Germany is the birthplace of the reformation. Because of these two reasons, I have no religious contacts in Germany. I'm sure there are ways to get one, but that is why I was asking, to see if the rosary itself was important.

-- Cameron (shaolin__phoenix@hotmail.com), November 21, 2004.

Hi Cameron,

Since you have internet access, you may want to consider praying the Rosary online. The following website has pictures and meditations including the luminous mysteries. You click on the boxes as you go along.

http://rosary.virtualave.net/

-- Joseph (jtg878@hotmail.com), November 21, 2004.

Hi Cameron, I am so delighted to hear about your desire to pray the rosary! I found a link with instructions about how to make a knotted rosary, and if that is too complicated or you don't have time, perhaps you could do your own modified version by just making knots on a rope/thread/cord.

http:// www.rosaryworkshop.com/SERVICEcordRosaries.html If you scroll down a bit there are pictures of the knotted rosaries.

Here are some other sites I found that might be useful:

Pocket Rosary

Military Knotted Rosary

I found these on a simple google search for [tying rosaries]. Indeed, there are many sites on the Internet with rosary-making instructions. It is best to pray with a rosary that is blessed by a priest, but if no priest is accessible then I'm sure Mary and Jesus would understand :)

Do you not even have a local parish to attend? That must be very difficult. You are in my prayers.

God bless,

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), November 21, 2004.

Cameron

I don't understand. I was backpacking through Germany last summer with some friends. We spent some time in East Germany (berlin, frankfurt, dresden, suhl) and we had absolutely no problem finding Catholic Churches in each of these towns. We even stopped at some gift shops and bought some icons and rosaries and such.

So why the problem Cameron?

-- brian (brian@brian.com), November 21, 2004.

Brian-The problem is that I haven't found a place. That's why I was asking if the rosary itself was important when wanting to pray the rosary.

Emily-There is a Catholic Church about 20 minutes away by bus. I have just now gotten a good enough grip on the language to try and go there. I have absolutely no idea what time Mass is celebrated, so I'm going to just pick a random time and see if the priest is there. Thanks for the prayers!

-- Cameron (shaolin__phoenix@hotmail.com), November 22, 2004.

Cameron

i am happy to send you a Rosary ring. i have a few spares. they're much handier than the beads - i carry one in my pocket everywhere.

i even take it on the plane even though it looks far more dangerous than a pair of nail clippers, but be careful.

i post under false details but Emily knows how to contact me. so, if you're interested, email her yr details. Emily, i hope this is OK. let me know if not.

don't worry about p&p - its a good cause.

at a push i can let you have some beads that in truth i never use. i just like having them in the car.

-- Ian (ib@vertifgo.com), November 25, 2004.

Cameron:

I have all the free blessed rosaries you want. Drop me an email & consider them sent. sempertrad at yahoo dot com.

-- jake (j@k.e), November 25, 2004.

I am moved by your generosity. But I'm not sure if it would be smart to have them sent here to Germany, because I only have about a month and a week left. But if you think you can make it, I would be so glad to have one for the plane ride home! I will say a special prayer for you two, who are so generous!

-- Cameron (shaolin__phoenix@hotmail.com), November 26, 2004.

Dear Cameron, I should have thought to tell you this sooner. I have this wonderful book that I use when praying the rosary, and it has been an immense blessing, especially because I can get distracted easily. It's called the Seven-Day Scriptural Rosary. There are seven mysteries, one for each day of the week. They are Joyful (Monday), Salvation, Healing, Eucharistic, Sorrowful, Consoling, and Glorious.

You don't even really need rosary beads to pray it because each Hail Mary has a verse from Scripture that relates to that mystery, so that helps you count. This book has enhanced my devotions while helping me learn and remember key verses in Jesus' life. Highly recommended for all!!

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com"), December 16, 2004.