Why I made a Rosary and What I learned from it

Okay so many of you know by now that I have decided as one of my spiritual disciplines to make my own rosary, and many of you have questions like why did I choose this and how did I do it.

I have always been interested in the traditions and origins of our church history.  Well not always, but I sometimes feel that most modern churches like to structure their buildings without much flare and art in the construction.  We also have done away with many practices of more established churches thinking that liturgy is unimportant and too practiced lacking in passion and meaning.  This may be true, but I think we may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

While I do not agree with the Catholic Church theologically and pragmatically on some points, I must admit that they have an excellent model in teaching and perpetuating their faith.  The Rosary is one of the tools they use to meditate on the meaning and mystery of the life of Christ.  I became interested in the Rosary after meeting many Catholic and former Catholics both students and otherwise.  I became more interested in it after reading the book The Year of Living Like Jesus by Ed Dobson.  One of the
disciplines he adopted was praying the Rosary.  I became more intrigued.  Also many of the Rosaries I have seen are beautiful works of art and Jewelry.  I wanted one.  Just to have at first.  I began pricing the nice ones which ranged in price from $50 to $400+ dollars.  I thought that was too much.  Then one day it hit me.  I could make one.  This 6 weeks of disciplines was the
opportunity to do that.

The process I took was to create a different type of prayer rope than a rosary.  I wanted something unique and tactile.  something I could hold and say was mine all mine.  The first week I went to Michael's craft store and found the items.  I wanted a wood feel so I bought wood beads.  I then investigated several cord options from leather straps to rope to yarn.  I landed on 330 Paracord which was Made In The USA (big selling point for me).

I then approached my Catholic Friend Father Peter and asked about the Rosary.  I set to work to make my own design.  I thought I had it, but when I tried to pray through it or with it, I found the design to be more confusing and distracting which was not the purpose of this exercise. I also did not like the color and designs of the beads I was using. I decided to make a more traditional model of a rosary. This past week I found myself at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts looking for better options.  I found raw wood beads.  I bought two sizes.  Went home and stained them myself. and made myself a semitraditional Rosary.

 

What I have Learned from this

1. First I have learned that the traditional design of something is not always a bad thing.  I do not have to redesign everything in order to make something worthwhile.

2. The Rosary is an excellent tool for teaching Christology and reflecting on the life of Christ.  

3. With prayer and guidance every project can be accomplished.

You see the biggest problem I had was finding the right cross.  It not only had to look right, it had to have a good texture and feel to it.  I did not want a crucifix for Christ is not on the Cross, but I wanted a good cross.  the solid wood ones I had were just not interesting.  I could not find a good one in the stores.  but I had this one on my backpack as a key chain/zipper pull.  I cut the cord on it and used it.

4. Perhaps I learned that I had what I needed all along. 

Sometimes God works like that.

To sum up I have completed this task.  Now I must determine how I will use this in my spiritual journey.

Will I just look at it as an interesting project that I took something away from?  Or will I use it as my Catholic bretheren do?  Or will I simply hold it as I pray? Or will it become just something I wear?  I hope the answer to that last question is no.

my completed project