+JMJ+
I know there are Rosaries available. I have at least a dozen in my possession as I type this. Most were given to me by people who had Catholic parents or grandparents that passed on.
These, however, are NOT traditional Rosaries. It may seem as though I am splitting hairs, but the traditional Rosary is comprised of beads for 10 recitations of Pater Noster and 150 recitations of Ave Maria. I'm guessing, although I cannot be sure, that the 5-decade Rosary so common throughout the world was introduced in response to the teaching that one should pray the Mysteries assigned to a particular day of the week. Of course, I know that praying the entire Rosary has always been encouraged, but in the earliest years after its introduction into the prayer life of the Church, the Rosary was understood as a lay-person's substitute for praying the Office, as priests and religious do.
I'm not suggesting that the 5-decade Rosary is wrong or somehow yet another product of the false Conciliar regime; I am, however, suggesting that perhaps the concession by the Church granting that the faithful could/should pray only 5 decades each day was an early attempt to encourage prayer without demanding too much from people who had already begun to compromise their faith in small ways.
I'm not suggesting that people shouldn't pray the daily Mysteries; far from it!
I am simply wondering why the Rosary should ALWAYS be separated in people's minds into sections and 'chapters', if you will, that St. Dominic never told us of.
Isn't longer prayer and finding ways to adapt your life to that longer time in prayer a greater sacrifice of our time and efforts? Isn't praying Our Lady's Rosary in its entirety a greater opportunity for mortification of our selfish wills?
My original point of this post was to lament how hard it is to find 15-decade Rosaries for sale, especially durable ones that I am sure will hold up over a long time. The ones I have found for sale that are advertised as 'unbreakable' are very (for me, prohibitively) expensive.
Do any of you CI members own/use a traditional 15-decade Rosary? Do any of you pray the entire Rosary daily? Please remember poor beggarly sinners like me in your prayers.
St. Dominic de Guzman, pray for us.
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph soon!
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.