Do you believe the Holy Rosary is not only for Catholics?

Question

I do believe in the power of the Holy Rosary.

http://www.michaeljournal.org/rosarypower.htm

Answer 1

Yes.

Anyone can pray to God.

Anyone can ask a saint like the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray for them.

Therefore the Rosary can be said by anyone.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Lots of People who are not Catholic pray the Rosary.

Anglicans, some lutherans and Methodists, Orthodox.

Non Christians pray a form of the rosary although not a marian prayer.

Answer 3

I *think* that some Anglicans use it as well, but I'm not totally sure about that.

Most other Christian groups don't use it becausein its current form, it is specifically a Marian devotion which is not practiced outside Roman Catholicism... like the person above said, there's no scriptural reference authorizing use of beads to keep track of how many times one has repeated a prayer.

However, it's historically interesting, anyway. Just FYI: Did you know that *originally*, prior to St. Dominic, the rosary was developed in order to count 150 repetitions of the Our Father, as a substitute devotion for memorizing the 150 Psalms, for those in the church who were illiterate (and therefore couldn't read the Psalms in order to memorize them)? It wasn't always used for counting repetitions of "Hail Mary, full of grace..."

The string of beads used to be called a 'Paternoster" for that reason (from the latin for "Our Father"), and there is still a Paternoster Street in London, as it was at that time the center of the bead trade. And the word "bead" comes from the old Germanic word for "prayer"... fascinating history, even if I don't practice it myself, being determinedly non-Catholic.

Answer 4

The rosary isn't for Christians. Jesus our only intercessor is all that is necessary for talking to our Father. Mary can do nothing for us in terms of prayer. She still "sleeps awaiting the Resurrection as many other good people of God. Jesus is her Savior as He is the Savior of all mankind. So we pray in the name of Jesus, and Jesus only. All else is blaspheme.

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" John 14:6.

God bless

Answer 5

I believe Jesus answered this question quite plainly

(Matthew 6:5-8) 5 “Also, when YOU pray, YOU must not be as the hypocrites; because they like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the broad ways to be visible to men. Truly I say to YOU, They are having their reward in full. 6 You, however, when you pray, go into your private room and, after shutting your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; then your Father who looks on in secret will repay you. 7 But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words. 8 So, do not make yourselves like them, for God YOUR Father knows what things YOU are needing before ever . . .

Answer 6

A rosary is a chain consisting of fifteen “decades” or sets of ten small beads, each set marked off by one larger bead; usually it also has a crucifix and a medal. What is popularly known as a rosary is technically merely a “chaplet,” or “pair of beads,” one third as large. It is a chain of five sets of ten or decades of small beads, marked off by five larger beads. The ends of this chain are joined by a medal bearing the imprint of Mary. Hanging from this medal is a short chain having three small beads, one larger one and a crucifix.

In the use of the rosary the following recitations are involved: The “Apostles’ Creed,” our Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and five “Mysteries.” Optional is the adding of the prayer of “the Lady of Fatima” and the concluding prayers. The so-called Apostles’ Creed, which starts off the reciting of the rosary, doubtless is familiar to most of our readers, even as also is our Lord’s Prayer.

But trying to remember all the various recitations required in saying the rosary and to repeat them in their proper order makes saying the rosary a memory test rather than a spontaneous expression of heartfelt prayer. Besides, one’s mind cannot help but wander when one has to say the same forty words fifty-three times in one prayer. Such repetition is but a variation of the prayer wheel of certain Oriental religions. It consists of a cylinder in which written prayers are placed. Each time the cylinder is revolved the prayers in it are supposed to have been repeated.

Nor is that all. The Hail Mary is said nine times as often as the Paternoster, or “Our Father,” fifty-three times as compared with six times. Is the prayer composed by men and directed to Mary nine times as important or effective as the prayer taught by Jesus and directed to God himself? The fact is that, look where we will in the Scriptures, not once do we read of anyone seeking access either to God or to Jesus by way of Mary.

Jesus said at Matt. 6:5-8: "Also, when you pray, you must not be as the hypocrites; because they like to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the broad ways to be visible to men. Truly I say to you. They are having their reward in full. You, however, when you pray, go into your private room and, after shutting your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; then your Father who looks on in secret will repay you. But when praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words. So, do not make yourselves like them, for God your Father knows what things you are needing before ever you ask him."

Answer 7

Can you give me the chapter and verse from the Bible that speaks about the Rosary? I've never seen it in the Word of God.

Answer 8

for anyone that is christian the rosary is acceptable.

Answer 9

The 150 Davidic Psalms have always been prayed by Old Testament Israel, post-Temple Jews, and by Christians for personal prayer, communal prayer, lamentations, praise, thanksgiving, and, in the case of Christians, to demonstrate the fulfillment of prophecy.


They came to form a large part of the Divine Office sung at the various canonical hours by religious. Lay people who didn't have copies of Scripture or the Breviary and lay people and religious who were illiterate would substitute 150 Pater Nosters (Our Fathers) or Aves (Hail Marys) in place of the 150 Psalms they could not read.

The prayers were originally counted by transferring pebbles from one bag to another, but soon enough Christians began to tie a rope with knots on which to count. This evolved further into using beads or pieces of wood in place of the knots, and this soon came to be called the "Psalter of the Laity." Around the end of the first millennium, Rosaries contained the present five decades (sets of ten beads), with the Ave beads shaped like white lilies for the purity of the Virgin, and the Pater beads shaped like red roses for the wounds and Passion of Christ.

St. Dominic de Guzman popularized the Marian Psalter in the form we have it today (150 Aves with a Pater after each 10) when Our Lady encouraged him to pray it that way in response to the Albigensian heresy. So associated with the Rosary is St. Dominic that the Rosary is often called the "Dominican Rosary."

Our Lady also appeared to the children at Fatima and asked that the Rosary be prayed daily, including the "Fatima Prayer," as part of what must be done in order to prevent Russia from spreading its errors throughout the world (the other things being the faithful wearing of the Brown Scapular, the First Five Saturdays Devotion, acts of reparation and sacrifice, and the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart by the Pope and all the Bishops in union with him. This last has not been done).

The Rosary, thus, has always been a weapon against heresy and trouble; in fact, the 7 October 1571 victory of Christendom over Islamic warriors at the Battle of Lepanto -- the first naval victory against the infidels -- was attributed directly to the Rosaries prayed by the faithful.

While non-Catholics see the Rosary as a mindless chant, what they don't understand is that the Rosary is a meditation on the lives of Mary and Jesus. Each decade (each set of 10 Ave beads in the circular part of the Rosary beads) represents a single Mystery in their lives, and as the prayers are prayed, we contemplate that particular Mystery. There are 3 sets of 5 Mysteries -- the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. 1

One set of Mysteries is traditionally prayed on different days of the week, and one who prays a single set (i.e., 50 Aves) can be said to have "prayed the Rosary," but, literally, a complete Psalter consists of all 15 Mysteries (150 Aves, going around the beads three times + the 3 Aves that introduce the Rosary). The typical way of Rosary-praying -- i.e., praying a third of a Rosary -- is more accurately, but uncommonly, called praying a "chaplet." (Note that there are many, many different kinds of chaplets -- some to Jesus, some to the Holy Ghost, some to Mary and the other Saints, etc. -- each with different arrangements of prayers and many having their own style of beads). Like the Mass, what you take emotionally from the Rosary is what you bring to it, but in any case, emotional highs aren't the point of prayer. Prayer is for the glory of God.

The Rosary beads themselves can be made of stone, wood, crystal -- even bakelite or plastic, and they can be of any color (sometimes the Ave beads will be of one color and the Pater beads of another). They are often bought according to one's birthstone, but as a general rule, men prefer black or wood rosaries, and women prefer white or colored ones. Where the two halves of the Rosary come together is a centerpiece, usually a medal with a depiction of the Sacred Heart, Our Lady, and/or a Saint. Most Rosaries are bought pre-made from Catholic gift shops, but there are also many Rosary makers who can put together a customized Rosary for you with your choice of beads and centerpiece.

There are also small 1-decade Rosaries that are meant to be highly portable. They're called "Pocket Rosaries" (some are sold to be used in car travel and are sometimes called "Auto Rosaries" or "Car Rosaries"). There are also 1-decade Rosaries that are worn on the wrist, and 1-decade "Rosary Rings" (see picture at right) worn on the index finger during prayer time (i.e., they're not worn as jewelry). All of these types of Rosaries would be used the same way as ordinary Rosaries, but one would count the same beads 5 times after the introductory prayers. There are also very long 15-decade Rosaries so that one can pray all of the Mysteries, going around the beads only once; these are mostly for the use of religious.





Latin Vulgate
Douay-Rheims Bible
Gospel According to Saint Matthew
Chapter 6
5 And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.

6 But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. 7 And when you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens. For they think that in their much speaking they may be heard. 8 Be not you therefore like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you, before you ask him.