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I know the beads are used in prayer, but what is their significance and how many beads are there?

2006-11-16 21:39:37 · 8 answers · asked by Leo B 2 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

8 answers

Using beads to pray in a meditative fashion goes back a long way in Christianity -- to at least the third century, in fact.

There are 59 beads, with 11 beads included in each "decade" plus four other beads used for introductory prayers at the start of the Rosary.

You start off the Rosary at the crucifix by praying the Apostles' Creed. The next four beads are where you pray the Our Father, then three Hail Marys followed by the Glory Be.

Then you get to the decades. You pray the Our Father before getting to the first bead of the decade, at which point you then pray ten Hail Marys.

As you're praying the Hail Marys, you reflect on the first of the five mysteries of the day. There are five Joyous Mysteries, five Sorrowful Mysteries, and five Glorious Mysteries. You can look those up on the Internet.

After the tenth Hail Mary, you finish the decade by praying the Glory Be. Then you move on to the next four decades, repeating the prayers while reflecting on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th mysteries respectively.

After the final Glory Be that closes out the fifth and final decade, you can finish by praying the Hail, Holy Queen.

That makes a total of 67 prayers.

Of course, the idea of the Rosary isn't just to mindlessly recite the prayers -- it's to reflect on joyous, sorrowful, or glorious events in the lives of Jesus and/or Mary, and to offer prayers for the world in general and for those in need in particular.

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2006-11-16 21:50:54 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2 1

reciting the rosary is meditating upon the life and death of Jesus Christ. it's really hard to explain if you're not a catholic to begin with. sorry, i am short for words here as i am not a native english speaker. i'll try to explain later.

in each bead there's a particular prayer to be recited. basically, it's the apostle's creed, the hail mary's, the our Father, the Glory be, the Fatima prayer.

there are mysteries of the rosary, which are the Joyful, the Sorrowful, the mysteries of Light, and the Glorious.

the rosary is a complete gospel, from the birth of Christ to His Death.

and yes, there are 59 beads all in all (i just counted my Rosary beads lol).

the two below my answer gave you a very detailed answer. :-)

2006-11-17 05:47:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

The Rosary is simply a tool that can be used by anyone in prayer.

A rosary has 59 beads.

53 Ave (Hail Mary) beads and 6 Pater (Our Father) beads.

On the circle, there are
five sets of ten Ave beads [50]
separated by four single Pater beads [4].

On the pendant, there is
one Pater bead at each end [2]
of a set of three Ave beads [3]

With love in Christ.

2006-11-17 21:37:34 · answer #3 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0 1

The beads are for saying Our Father who are in heaven, holy is your name. The spaces in between are for the Hail Mary. It has been a long time since I held a rosary so I may be a little off and I cannot tell you the number of beads.

2006-11-17 05:51:25 · answer #4 · answered by martha d 5 · 0 1

There are 5 decades...there are 4 major mysteries (joyful, glorious, sorrowful and luminuos) then the 5 mysteries of each major mystery...which has an event that gives praise to Mama Mary and Jesus.

There is, of course, the cross first then
1 bead = (our father)
3 beads = (hail mary)
1 bead = (glory be and our father)
10 beads = (hail mary)
1 bead = (glory be and oh my jesus...)
10 beads = (hail mary , second mystery)
1 bead = (glory be and oh my jesus)
10 beads = (hail mary , third mystery)
1 bead = (glory be and oh my jesus)
10 beads = (hail mary , fourth mystery)
1 bead = (glory be and oh my jesus)
10 beads = (hail mary , fifth mystery)
1 bead = (glory be and oh my jesus and hail holy queen)

over all 60 beads in the Holy Rosary which should be prayed everyday!

god bless~ :) :) :) :) :)

2006-11-17 05:49:48 · answer #5 · answered by Princess Answers 3 · 1 1

used for counting prayers

2006-11-17 05:45:16 · answer #6 · answered by raven 3 · 0 1

No offense, but Jesus told us not to pray in vein repetition and that's exactly what you are doing when you pray the rosary. It got brought into catholism from ancient paganism.

2006-11-17 05:44:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1 5

this is a guide in praying, long ago our mother Mary told the people "please pray the rosary.

2006-11-17 06:00:05 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

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