Handmade Rosaries: A Guide to Choosing One That Means Something

October is the month of the Holy Rosary in Catholic tradition, and October 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. It's a fitting time to talk about one of the oldest and most loved prayers there is, and the handmade beads that help people pray it.

What a rosary is

The word rosary comes from the Latin rosarium, meaning "rose garden." Each prayer is pictured as a rose offered up, and the beads simply help you keep count while your mind stays on the meditation. A traditional rosary has five decades, five groups of ten beads. Each decade is separated by a single larger bead and paired with one of the mysteries, the events from the lives of Jesus and Mary that you reflect on as you pray. Pope John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries in 2002, bringing the total to twenty.

Tradition credits St. Dominic with spreading the devotion in the 1200s. Its shape has stayed the same for centuries, and because of that, every rosary connects the person holding it to everyone who has prayed with one before.

What makes ours different

Each of our rosaries is designed and strung by hand by Catherine, our jewelry designer, and no two are alike. Many have names, like Anna, Grace, Penelope and Tillie, because each one has its own personality:

• Anna is mostly white, with translucent aqua beads that shift from soft pastels to deep teal across the decades, and a copper cross
• Grace is pastel green with clear beads, like early spring, and has a gold cross with dark green accents
• A cat lover's rosary uses kitty beads for the decades, with wood and rainbow-metallic accents and a bronze crucifix

We also love giving old jewelry a new purpose. For many centerpieces we upcycle beads from broken jewelry and pieces we find at secondhand shops, so a rosary may carry a small piece of someone else's story, too.

Choosing a rosary as a gift

Think about who will carry it and when.

• First Communion: a smaller, colorful rosary, or one of our pocket rosaries for kids with dinosaurs, horses, butterflies, cats or sports themes
• Confirmation and graduation: a fuller rosary in the recipient's favorite colors, something they'll grow into
• Weddings: our silver rosary with crystal accents is made as a keepsake for the bride and groom
• Father's Day: earthy designs with copper and bronze crosses, in rust, red and black, or teal marble
• Mother's Day and birthdays: soft pastels and pearls, like Grace or our pearl-bead rosary

Caring for a handmade rosary

Keep it in a small pouch or box when you're not carrying it, so the cord and links aren't strained. Avoid perfumes and lotions on the beads and metal, and wipe it with a soft cloth. Most of all, use it. A rosary that's worn smooth from prayer is a rosary doing what it was made for.

A note on blessings

Many families like to have a new rosary blessed by a priest before it's given, especially for sacraments. It's a simple request after Mass, and it makes the gift even more meaningful.

Looking for something specific, like birthstone colors, a saint medal or a matching set for siblings? Ask us for a custom rosary.