Rosary

A few days ago a friend and I walked into a bead shop and I was entranced by the many strands of beads hewn from a variety of stone and crystal. I was particularly attracted to a marvellous blue stone called lapis howlite. Inspired by their natural beauty, I decided it would be wonderful to try and make something with them - a Rosary.

I went home and thought about it for a few more days, and decided that I could try to construct a full twenty-decade Rosary. Yesterday, I returned to the shop with a friend (armed with her discount card) and bought the blue beads, a string of larger pink stone beads (I forgot the name of the stone) and small sterling silver beads to space out the larger beads. The shop also sold the crucifix and connecting medallion for a Rosary and I bought strong nylon thread.

Finally, I had some time to myself at 9pm, so armed with some coffee and my MP3 player and listening to music from the Philippines, I started on my first beading project and Rosary ever. It wasn't too difficult and within 45 minutes I completed the first five decades. I decided then that they would make very lovely presents! I carried on threading - the silver beads were quite tricky - and my sister Bridget helped with one decade.

Finally at 1.15pm, I put the final knots on the Rosary, praying that they were secure enough and would not unravel! You can judge the results for yourself above. The whole experience was actually quite therapeutic, a 4 hour exercise of prayer and a labour of love. It's so much better than just buying one from the shop, which are so over-priced!

I love the Rosary as a way of prayer, especially when I feel tired or lost or ill at ease. Saying the Rosary helps me to feel like I am holding Mary, my Mother's hand and she is taking me to her Son, leading me into the mysteries of his life, death and Resurrection.

Would anyone like to commission a hand-made Rosary?!