Catholic Rosaries If you are not a Catholic, you may not understand the importance of a string of Catholic rosary

beads. This is because a Catholic's rosary beads are an aid to p rayer and penance. It is because of this that Catholic rosary beads have the sam e number of beads all around the world. The beads are ticked off as the prayers are said. Rosary beads are gifted to young Catholics and frequently a set of beads will be handed down through generations as heirlooms. It is considered an honour to be given a set of rosary beads that are decades or more old, just as it would be if a relative left you anything else old and valuable. Old rosary beads can be ver y valuable, depending on what the beads are made of, their age and the type of m etal used to string them together. The Catholic Rosary is used to tick off the number of prayers said in repetition s in the same way that an abacus is used for counting money. Rosaries have ten s mall beads followed by a large one to indicate that the repetition ought to be c ommenced again. It is an old style of prayer harking back to when people were less schooled. How ever, beads aid the person praying concentrate on the prayer and not on the cou nting too. Most Catholic rosary bead chains have enough beads for five cycles of prayers. T his makes it easier for devotees of the Catholic Church to repeat their prayers and do the penances metred out to them by their priest for 'committing sins'. In fact, the Catholic Church is losing ground very rapidly in Europe especially in such traditional strongholds as Eire (Southern Ireland) and the southern prov inces of the Netherlands. They are also losing ground in Spain, Portugal and Ame rica, mostly due to the sex scandals involving priests. Whatever one thinks of the Catholic Church, the pope and the Catholic clergy, ro sary beads are a part of the history of mankind's advancement in the Developed w orld during the last 2,000 years. Whether you see Catholic rosary beads as a sym bol of devotion to God or as a symbol of the Catholic Church's tyranny over scar ed people, the rosary in itself is an interesting phenomenon. Some individuals create a hobby out of collecting rosaries because they are broa dly traded and can be very valuable. It is not unusual for a set of Victorian ro sary beads made of a semi-precious stone on a gold chain to go for thousands of dollars at auction. Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with <a href="http://whatisreligiousbelief.com/religious-beliefs-in-c hina.html">religious beliefs in China</a>. If you would like to know more go to <a href="http://whatisreligiousbelief.com">What is Religious Belief</a>?