Prayer beads are used in many cultures and religions as an aide to meditation. Meditation has been around for a long time. There are many different kinds of meditation and many different forms of prayer beads. Malas, Chaplets , Chotkis, Rosaries and more each with it history and purpose.
Christians use chaplets to pray and meditate on various aspects of the Life of Christ. The most well know of these is the Rosary. What is a Rosary? I am asked this question a lot. In my humble opinion, it is a tool and method for quieting the body and mind so the soul can reflect on God. Simply put, it is an aide to meditation on the Life of Christ. The beads of the Rosary have evolved over the years and are used today by Catholics and Protestants alike. The Catholic Rosary has a Crucifix or Cross followed by a large bead or Pater, three smaller beads or Aves, another Pater and a Center Medal. From the center a circle of beads is attached which consists of five sets of ten Aves followed by a pater except for the last set which ends at the Center Medal. The sets of one plus ten beads are called decades. We announce Mystery of the Life of Christ on each of the next five Paters and meditate on that Mystery during the prayers of the ten beads.
The Prayers of the Rosary are a meditation of our Faith in God. We begin by dedicating our pray to the Holy Trinity. We pray in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. On the Crucifix, we repeat the Apostles' Creed. It is a statement of our belief. After the Crucifix there is a series of beads and on each bead there are specific prayers said. The first bead after the Crucifix is called the Pater. It is seperated by a space from the next bead and may sometimes be larger or accentuated in another way to make it distinct from the Ave beads as in the example below. On the Paters we recite the prayer given to the apostles in Matthew's gospel 6, 9-13; and Luke's gospel 11, 2-4; commonly know as the 'Our Father' which is another name for the Pater bead. On the next three beads or Aves we repeat the Hail Mary. Ave is the Latin word for Hail, to greet someone. The Hail Mary is a prayer taken from the Annunciationof the angel Gabriel in Luke 1, 28; and the greeting of Elizabeth to Mary as she entered her home upon visiting her in Judah before the birth of John the Baptist in Luke 1, 42;. they are followed by 'Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and will be forever. Amen.' The 'Our Father' is repeated on the next Pater and we announce the first mystery of the decade. There are 20 Mysteries divided into sets of five. The sets are named Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous. The Joyful mysteries are about the scriptural events in the birth and childhood of Jesus. The Luminous mysteries are the scriptural account of the ministry of Jesus. The Sorrowful Mysteries depict the events of the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus. The Glorious mysteries are scriptural account of the Resurrection, Ascension and promise of Jesus. The mystery is followed by ten 'Hail Mary's' and the 'Glory Be To The Father...' This is repeated with each of the five mysteries and the rosary is ended with 'Hail, Holy Queen' as we beseech our Holy Mother to pray for us to the Lord, Our God.
As complex as it sounds, reciting the prayers slowly leads to a rhythm and quiet that allows the soul to meditate on God and His gift to us, His only Son made man who is our Savior.
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