"In the morning while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. [Mark 1:35]

How do I Pray a Rosary?

Praying a rosary: one way to deal with obsessive thoughts which plague the mind is to give the mind something else to obsess about, that's less toxic, or even downright helpful. Enter the rosary, a string of beads that has a knot in it every so often, in a pattern, starting with a tail with a cross, a bead, three beads, and a bead, then having a repeating pattern of five sets of ten then one, before going back down to the tail:

     [cross]... 1 ~ 3 ~ 1 ... [ 10 ~ 1 ~ 10 ~ 1 ~ 10 ~ 1 ~ 10 ~ 1 ~ 10 ~ ]

We've included the Catholic practice, but we've also begun experimenting with other patterns. And our webmaster has written a new rosary prayer for you to try. It's entitled the Prayer of Sacred Belonging. This prayer was inspired by Celtic morning prayers, and we recommend it every morning on arising. (the first part of the prayer should show up on your screen in purple, the second in blue):

Prayer of Sacred Belonging
[part 1]
Mother Mary cloak me in your mercy,
Hold me this day in the embrace of sacred belonging.
Brother Jesus, take both my hands,
Hold me this day in the embrace of sacred belonging.
God before and behind me, above and below me, in and around me,
Hold me this day in the embrace of sacred belonging.
[part 2]
Holy Spirit in my seeing, my hearing, my every taking in and acting out,
Bind to me, to love and fill and inspire me, now and forevermore.
Thank you Mary~ Thank you Jesus ~ Thank you God
Amen

Yeah, but why do this?

Here at JesusSangha.com, since we like the way rosaries inspire peaceful contemplation, we're borrowing them from Catholic and Buddhist practice. Prayer-beads or worry-beads help our regular prayer practice in three ways. First, they are a reminder (oh yeah, let's pray) even in a rough moment, if you're wearing them around your neck or wrist. Second, they're a counting tool. Third, like chanting, they can get us into a meditative state. The repetitive words, like chanting, give our minds something else to play with, and pretty soon we're not feeling as plagued with worries, cravings or aversions. Some have found that saying the Hail Mary (even with its controveresial 'pray for us sinners' line) seems to inspire a sense of comfort and protection that's also helpful. You might want to try various versions, and see what works for you. Here are a few possibilities to get you started:

Example 1

For the beads by the cross: Lord's prayer, 3 Serenity prayers, Lord's prayer
For five sets of 10+1 beads, repeat this: ten "Sacred Belonging part 1" and one "Sacred Belonging part 2"

Example 2

For the beads by the cross: Lord's prayer, three Serenity prayers, Lord's prayer
For five sets of eleven beads, repeat the following: repeat the five Metta prayers (myself, you, friends, enemies, and all things) twice, followed by the Serenity prayer for the separator bead

Example 3

For the beads by the cross: Lord's prayer, three JesusSangha Refuge chant, Lord's prayer
For five sets of eleven beads, repeat: ten Serenity Prayers & one JesusSangha Refuge chant

Audio for you

To start you off, here is a little audio sampling, to give you a sense of the nature of the repetition of a rosary. Please let us know which prayer combination works for you, and whether you think recording more versions would be worth doing:

• 10 Metta prayers plus one refuge
• 10 Hail Mary's plus one Glory Be

Make a Rosary

Your JesusSangha can make a rosary... instructions are now online to make a rosary and to care for and use a rosary.

A little history

The rosary started with 150 beads, one per psalm. Catholics who use the rosary now use the 10 beads for Hail Mary's and the separator beads for each of five mysteries as they go around the rosary. There are four sets of mysteries, and each set is reserved for different days of the week except Easter, when Sorrowful Mysteries are said from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday, then Glorious Mysteries are said until Advent. The Joyful Mysteries (said Monday & Saturday) allow meditation on humility, charity, the love of God, a spirit of sacrifice, and a spiritual path; they are: the annunciation, visitation, nativity, presentation, finding in the temple. The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday, Friday) invite contemplation on repentance, mortification, courage, patience and perseverance; they are: the agony in the garden, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the cross, and crucifixion. The Luminous Mysteries (Thursdays) are also known as mysteries of light, and point to living the baptismal way, following Jesus, seeking forgiveness, being renewed in Christ, and participating actively; they are: Jesus' baptism, Christ's self-manifestation, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, his transfiguration, and his eucharist. And finally the Glorious Mysteries (Wednesdays) encourage faith, hope, zeal, meditation on the grace of a happy death, and a greater love of Mary; they are: resurrection, ascension, descent of the Holy Spirit, assumption, coronation.