What Are Rosary Beads?

I went to Catholic school for 11 years and had Religion class every day of school - the basics of Catholic beliefs are nearly instinctual at this point.  My biggest shock attending public school has always been the lack of knowledge of Catholic doctrine my peers have.  When someone asked today what Rosary Beads are, I realized that this post needed to be made.  This likely won't be the most interesting post written tonight, but just bear with me.  You may even learn something.

The book I read was Catholic Faith in America by Chester Gillis.  On page 16, my friend's question is answered.  A rosary is a string of 59 beads usually connected to a small crucifix, although mine has a replica of the Pietà statue found in the Notre Dame Cathedral.  The origin of the prayer beads are questionable, but there is significant evidence that the rosary took shape by the hands of St. Dominic. [Fun fact: there is a rosarymart.com]

The Catholic Church is the world's largest charitable organization.  Catholic hospitals, food banks, adoption agencies, and other entities serve more people than any other organization in the world on a daily basis.  Public education and hospitals, two things upon which millions of people rely on daily, have their roots in the Catholic Church. 

This book also referenced Pope John Paul II, who stated in a document titled The Church and Computer Culture, published in 1989, that "with the advent of computer telecommunications and computer participation systems, the Church is offered further means for fulfilling her mission."  23 years later, Pope Benedict XVI joined Twitter.  Pope Francis, who was recently elected by the College of Cardinals as Pope, now tweets in nearly ten different languages.

I think my topic will still work.  My next book is Are Social Networking Sites Harmful?, part of Greenhaven Press's At Issue series unless I find something in the area which combines Catholic doctrine and Social Media.  I think that people like Mark Hart, Chris Padgett, and Leah Darrow will be helpful in my endeavors and hopefully others will be unearthed through research.  

Works Consulted

Gillis, Chester. Catholic Faith in America. New York: Facts On File, 2003. Print.

References I didn't use, but that I trust:

The rosary: http://lifeteen.com/why-do-catholics-pray-the-rosary/

Video on the Rosary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czDfk0RbN6M

I'm currently watching this, but I think it may be helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMLoEGCeAHs

An article on Facebook from a Catholic perspective: http://lifeteen.com/facebook-frenemy/

This is mostly for me for future reference, sorry: http://lifeteen.com/type-nice-digital-evangelization/

I'm sorry if this was mostly rambling, but thank you for reading the whole post if you chose to do so.  Internet hug for you <-(^.^)->

I promise to try to make my next post more interesting!

R