Rosaries increasingly popular

The rosary for the world - Catholics and non-Catholics alike. This article is fairly well-balanced and favorable to the "original" Catholic devotion of the Rosary, though it does falter in a few spots (for example, it says the traditional Catholic rosary "prescribed meditation on 15 mysteries of the birth and death of Jesus and the life of Mary." Well, not quite... the entire rosary is focused on meditation on the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, never on Mary herself, but always on her Son.)

There also seems to be a tendency to see the idea of "bead praying" to be mere invention, more of a "self-help" method rather than the powerful prayer of intercession that we believe it to be, as given to us by the Virgin Mary through St. Dominic.

A lot of focus is given to "alternate" rosaries, Protestant-ized rosaries that use "scripture" instead of "Hail Marys" (hmmm... isn't the Gospel of Luke scriptural?), and the "centering" aspect of "repetitive prayer." This is not very good, but at least respect is given to the Catholic rosary. There is even a mention of EWTN on there that is favorable.

All in all, it might be a good article to show to your friends and family when they tell you that the Rosary is "pre-Vatican II" or "not said anymore" or some other silly thing like that.

It is encouraging to see that there are many people who are not Catholic who are discovering the Rosary, and even if they feel the need to make their own versions that reflect "their" beliefs, perhaps the very knowledge that they are using something so "Catholic" will plant a seed for the future...

Portsmouth Herald It: Varied worshippers draw bead on rosary