How to Make Your Own Rosary

The rosary is an object that we can make ourselves, once we have gathered all the necessary supplies. It is an activity that can be carried out individually or during a scouting activity. Making your rosary is also a way of praying before you even use it to recite the five decades that make it up.

 

  

The Steps

Creating rosary requires following these steps. Beforehand, we can find the supplies either in kit online or in different Christian shops such as abbey shops, Christian bookstores, or monastic craft shops.

1st step: prepare the material

Before we begin, let's gather on the table all the equipment necessary to make the rosary. 

• 1 pair of scissors
• 1 meter of wire, not too rigid or too flexible, like kitchen wire
• 1 small cross for the rosary
• 1 medal of the Virgin or a saint of our choice
• 53 pearls of the same color for the Hail Marys
• 6 pearls of another color for other prayers to be recited
• 1 straw to make the knots

 

NB: it is possible to use wooden pearls, but to differentiate them, you must choose different sizes, for example 53 small pearls and 6 large pearls.

2nd step: put on the 5 decades

Then, prepare the 5 decades by making 5 small batches of 10 pearls as well as 4 pearls of different colors or sizes. 

Take the thread and thread the 5 decades, that is to say 10 small beads each stopped by a simple knot. Between the decades, we put on one of the pearls of a different color that will serve us for the Glory of the Father separated by two knots.

3rd step: the last pearls

Once we have put on the 5 decades, we can gather the ends in front of us to form a circle. We will join the two ends of the thread by one of the remaining beads and then tie a knot with the straw.

To properly make the knot, take a straw and make a cut with a pair of scissors. We need to join the two ends of the thread, take one end and roll up the straw and thread to get a nice knot. Then we slide the straw to remove it and we can tighten the knot.

It is necessary to repeat the operation to insert the 3 pearls used for the Hail Mary. Redo a knot, then insert the last pearl that will be used to recite the I Believe in God. 

Step 4: the medal and the cross

To fix the medal and the cross, we must follow the holes provided to pass the string we have left and tie a knot after each hole. 

Once the cross is fixed, we make one last knot and have the finished rosary in our hands. 

How to pray while making your rosary?

Making one's rosary is a form of prayer even if it is not the meditation we are used to. We can make this manual activity a time of prayer.

• Taking the cross that we must attach to finish the rosary: we can think of the passion of Christ and thank him for the gift of his life.
• Taking the medal of a saint or a representation of the Virgin, chose it carefully so you can pray to the represented saint or the Virgin and ask for her intercession.
• By threading the 5 decades of the rosary, we can think of the mysteries of the rosary that we prefer and take them one by one, threading the different beads. It is not a question of reciting the Hail Marys, but simply remembering the mysteries, for example the luminous ones added by Pope John Paul II in 2002: the baptism of Christ, the wedding at Cana, the proclamation of the kingdom of God, the transfiguration and the institution of the Eucharist. 

 

It is like a heart-to-heart with Christ and his mother. We are in their company and we can let ourselves be shaped by them.

The Orthodox also make their own rosary. They recommend not to trade it, because it is about prayer, and a privileged moment with Christ. These moments are not to be bought!

Bless the rosary

Once the rosary has been made, we can go to the parish priest of our parish or any priest we know to ask him to bless the rosary we have just made. The rosary, like any other object of piety, serves to support our faith. The priest who blesses the object also addresses the person so that they can continue to live Christianly and walk in holiness. 

 

"The religious objects you have brought to be blessed express your faith in a certain way, as they serve to remind you of the love of Our Lord and to increase your trust in the assistance of the Virgin Mary and the saints. By invoking God's blessing on these objects and images, it is essential above all to be attentive to giving ourselves the testimony of Christian life that we are entitled to expect from us if we make use of these objects.” - (French Bishops' Conference) 

 

With Hozana, pray the rosary with the one you made

With the rosary you have made, you can participate in different prayer communities on Hozana.

• By answering the Pope’s call to pray the Rosary.
• praying the rosary in a community.
• by downloading the Rosario application created by Hozana.