Welcome

Thank you for visiting Anno Domini (Year of Our Lord) Rosaries.

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We make our rosaries by hand in a wide variety of bead types and colors here in St. Augustine, Florida.

Pray as you are able
If you are new to praying the rosary, be assured that whatever time you can give it pays honor to Our Lady and her Son. While the often-heard advice to "Pray the rosary daily" is certainly ideal, it is not mandatory. If you can only pray a full rosary once a week, do that. If a frantic schedule allows you only a few minutes a day, pray a reverent decade (set of 10 beads) whenever you can.

A few words about the mysteries
 The rosary practice given to St. Dominic in the 1200s by Our Lady included meditations on three sets of mysteries. Why do we call them mysteries? Saint Louis de Montfort, the great champion of the rosary in 18th-century France, wrote that "A mystery is a sacred thing that is difficult to understand." The mysteries of the rosary describe key events in the lives of Mary and Jesus. Each set of mysteries contains five events, one for each decade on the rosary. Typically, one set of mysteries is prayed on its designated days of the week. The original mysteries are the Joyful, the Sorrowful, and the Glorious.

Pope St. John Paul II added a new set, the Luminous, which includes important aspects of Jesus' ministry such as his baptism and the institution of the Eucharist. The Luminous Mysteries are optional, however, and are outside of the original symmetry of 150 Hail Mary's that correspond to the ancient practice of reading through all 150 Psalms. (One rosary includes 50 Hail Mary's, which is 10 for each of of the 5 mysteries in a set. It takes 3 recitations of the rosary to cover all of the original 3 sets of mysteries, so 50 x 3 = 150.)

How to pray the rosary
A good guide to praying the rosary, using the traditional mysteries, can be found here. That site also gives background information on the history of the rosary.

Whether to have your rosary blessed
You can certainly pray using a rosary that has not been blessed by a priest or deacon. The spirit you bring to your prayers is what is most important. However, it is always a good thing to have your priest bless your rosary either with holy water or with a short prayer and the sign of the cross. This imparts a special effect to the rosary and your prayers and makes the rosary a true sacramental, akin to the benefits of holy water versus normal water. 

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Please note the contact information shown under "Contact Us" if you have questions or comments for us. (If you are reading this on a phone, the right-hand column with this info may not appear. The contact email is DoyleAnn@comcast.net)

Thank you for visiting!