Beads have been used as a tool for prayer since pre-Christian days and the practice can be found in many of the world's major religions. They are often used as an aid when reciting prayers, and can also be used during meditation. Strands of prayer beads come in all shapes and sizes and are crafted from various materials, from semi-precious stones to plastic.
But perhaps the best known is the Catholic rosary, which most often is a strand of 59 beads although many variations exist, including rosary rings or bracelets.
The Rev. Jason Tyler, priest at St. Edward Catholic Church in Little Rock, said the rosary came about in the Middle Ages when priests and members of religious orders prayed the liturgy of the hours, which is based on the 150 psalms.
"Many laypeople weren't able to read and weren't able to pray the psalms but they could pray one they had memorized," he said.
Some used stones or beads to count the prayers and early rosaries had 150 knots or beads so those praying could keep track of their prayers, whether it was the "Our Father," also known as the Lord's Prayer, or the "Hail Mary," which venerates Mary, the mother of Jesus: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
"As time moved along, 150 prayers was quite a lot to say so they were split into three groups of 50 with different sets of mysteries to meditate on," Tyler said.
The rosary continued to evolve and eventually settled into the 59-bead form that is common today. Prayers include the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, Hail Marys and the Doxology or "Glory Be," as well as meditations on the mysteries. Specific beads correspond with each prayer.
The mysteries refer to stories from the life of Jesus and Mary and are divided into categories. Joyful mysteries focus on the life of Jesus from his birth through his childhood. The sorrowful mysteries focus on the events leading to his crucifixion and the glorious mysteries begin with the Resurrection. These were set by Pope Pius V in the 16th century and include a total of 15 mysteries in the three categories. The mysteries of the rosary remained unchanged until 2002 when Pope John Paul II added five new optional mysteries known as the luminous mysteries, which focus on the ministry of Jesus and the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
PRAYERFUL REPETITION
Sliding the beads through the fingers adds a tactile element to the prayers and for those new to the practice, the beads serve as a reminder of the order of the prayers.
"For some very devoted Catholics it's a daily form of prayer," Tyler said. "Some will pray the rosary while driving or walking and some like to pray to help them sleep at night. There's a tradition of people saying if you start off saying the rosary in bed and fall asleep, we hope the angels have helped you complete it."
Tyler said many people pray the rosary as a Lenten devotion, and it is also common to pray the rosary at funeral vigils. He said praying the rosary might seem monotonous to those just beginning the practice, but it helps to focus on the mysteries and try to think of what Jesus or Mary might have felt in a particular situation.
"Someone praying the rosary could also look at it as being a vehicle that is moving us to distance our minds from the concerns of the world and to enter into that connection with God," he said. "The repetition could be monotonous but it is intended to bring us to a mystical experience with God."
For Vera Zawislak, a "cradle Catholic" and member of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic Church in Little Rock, the rosary wasn't part of her family's devotional practice when she was a child. Her interest in the rosary came about while she was serving as a missionary in Honduras in 1998.
"The people I was with were devoted to the rosary so I started praying the rosary," she said.
Zawislak and her husband, Jon, have seven children ranging in age from 15 months to 13 years old. Praying the rosary has become a daily devotion for the family. It brings a sense of meditation and peace at the end of each busy day.
"With all these kids and all that noise it's a great way for us to be together peacefully," she said. "It's like a bedtime routine."
After dinner, the kids get cleaned up and in their pajamas and the family sits down to pray the rosary. The little ones do what they can and the older children lead.
"It's been a fluid experience," Zawislak said, adding that even the youngest can benefit from hearing and seeing what the others are doing. "It's a good way to teach them to hopefully have a love for the rosary."
Zawislak said the rosary has strengthened her faith and her day isn't complete without it.
"I don't feel right when I don't say the rosary," she said. "It feels like there is something missing in my life."
Sean Dunagin, a parishioner at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Rogers, joined the Catholic Church in 1989 and was introduced to the rosary by a friend in the Knights of Columbus.
"He gave me a rosary and said to carry it with me at all times," Dunagin said.
His mother-in-law helped him learn to pray the rosary and it has been an almost daily practice since then. He said it brings him peace.
"You've got to have some guidance and some peace in your life. It's hectic," he said. "Everybody has problems, their own bag of rocks they carry around."
Dunagin said he has had several rosaries over the years and has lost some. He says he lost the last one in Beaver Lake. But he always gets another one.
"It's kind of a daily thing," he said about his devotion to the rosary. "It's a much better thing to pray the rosary than not to."
BEAD BY BEAD
Other Christians also use prayer beads. An example is the Anglican rosary, which is used by Episcopalians and other Protestants. Anglican prayer beads were created in the 1980s as an alternative for non-Catholics who were drawn to the rosary. Anglican rosaries are smaller, with 33 beads, and they come with no formal set of prayers.
Cheri Lacock, a member of St. James' Episcopal Church in Eureka Springs, said she was introduced to Anglican prayer beads about 10 years ago at a women's institute that several members of her church attended.
"We all made a set of prayer beads and learned how to use them to enrich our daily prayer life," she said. "I had never heard of them in our church. I thought that only the Catholic faith used a rosary or prayer beads."
Lacock said she discovered that people had been using pebbles or strings of knots to keep track of prayers since ancient times. The women learned what each bead meant and how to pray with them. The 33 beads are for the number of years Christ lived on Earth and they are divided into four groups of seven beads, with additional larger beads separating the four groups. Those signify the days of creation and the seasons of the church year.
Lacock began using them to enrich her morning meditations.
"I always start with silence and end with silence," she said.
She begins with the crucifix and the Lord's Prayer and moves through the beads counterclockwise, saying the rosary three times to represent the Trinity.
"I found that holding the beads does allow me to center myself in stillness for prayers," Lacock said. "As I held each bead and recited the prayer I did feel a connection, more intentional, and the words had deeper meanings."
She now uses the beads to pray for those on the church's prayer list.
"The more serious illnesses get the bigger beads. This is my own, but it works for me," she said. "I will say that my prayer beads and holding cross have both enriched my prayer life as I journey along. A dear friend made me a set of prayer beads before she died and she always gets the big bead now. I do vary the prayers and miss them when I go a few days without holding them and praying."
The use of prayer beads can be found in many of the world's major religions, including the Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic and Baha'i faiths. Rabbi Jacob Adler of Temple Shalom in Fayetteville said beads don't have much of a history in Judaism, in part because of their close association with the Catholic faith.
"It would be forbidden under the principles of 'Gentile Customs' and 'Mar'it Ayin.' That is, one is not supposed to adopt the practices that characterize other religions, even if those customs involve nothing that goes against the principles of Judaism," he said. "And by 'Mar'it Ayin' one is forbidden to do things that would give others the impression that one is doing something forbidden, and using beads would make it appear that the person was praying the rosary."
The custom can be found among Muslims, who sometimes use strands of 33 and 99 beads while reciting the 99 names of God. Some Buddhists use beads for prayer but also use other pray objects, such as prayer flags or wheels, a tradition common among Tibetan Buddhists. The flags inscribed with sacred syllables are flown from trees or structures so the wind will catch them and set the prayers in motion. Prayer wheels do the same and can be small or large cylinders built into temples. According to the Harper Collins Dictionary of Religion, prayer wheels are most notably used to invoke the mantra "Om mani padme hum."
Prayer beads are sometimes used by members of the Baha'i faith, as well. Baha'is are instructed to pray daily, as well as to say "Allah-u-Abha" or "God Is Most Glorious" 95 times each day. Some use beads when doing so.
Religion on 08/09/2014