This Pretty Piece of Jewelry

This Sunday is a beautiful day, the sun beams down on use and the church bells sound. We walk into the church and are seated. In my attendance of Mass, I learned about a very important symbol, or piece of jewelry that many people of this religion wear. I didn't necessarily take notice to this until it was mentioned in the sermon. This necklace is called a “rosary”. It is not only a piece of jewelry, but an important symbol of the Catholic religion. But when hearing about this in church, it made me remember that the rosary was a part of the style. It was a piece of jewelry that teenagers and young adults would wear as part of their style. But these youngsters would wear these rosary necklaces with no meaning.

The Father explains that one should pray to the Rosary every day. There are specific ways, and steps to take to do this. You are to say a prayer for each bead before the metal bead, which has the Hail Holy Queen on it. If you don’t know what a Rosary looks like, then imagine a Marty Gra beaded necklace. There are just a few slight differences. For one, the beads are a bit smaller and at the middle of the necklace, there is an Apostle Creed mounted on a cross. Five beads above that is the Hail Holy Queen bead as I mentioned before.

The steps to praying on the rosary are as followed. Hang in there with me, because it can get a bit overwhelming.  The pastor explained first to say the Apostles Creed at the crucifix, as you sign the cross. After this you recite the Our Father Prayer on the first bead about the crucifix. Then, you say three Hail Mary Prayers. Now, moving on to the metal Hail Holy Queen Bead and say one Glory Be prayer. Following this, you say your own prayers and talk to God, telling him your sins, asking for forgiveness, or just speaking to him. Then recite the Our Father Prayer again and follow that with ten Hail Mary Prayers and then one Glory Be praters, and finally topping it off with the Fatima prayer. Again you will say your own prayers and then repeat the four prayers again five consecutive times. To end the rosary prayer ritual, you sign the cross and say amen.

Taking all this in today during service was a lot. It is amazing to see how dedicated one is to their religion such as my great-grandmother. When I visit her on the weekends to go to Mass with her on Sundays, I have witnessed her praying to the rosary, on her knees, three times a day. Morning, noon, and night. The process of the rosary again shows how much more the Catholic religion is intensifies compared to other religions such as the Christian religion that I am used to.