January 19th, 2013
Today Catholics around the world are celebrating the memorial of St Wulstan. January is for many a time of reflection and renewed effort to better oneself by stopping smoking, drinking less, eating less, exercising more. So it’s only fitting that the patron saint of dieters and vegetarians is celebrated in January.
Wulstan was the only Anglo Saxon English Bishop to serve under William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He had served as the Bishop of Worcester since 1062 and was kept in his position by the new King. He was a man of self sacrifice, daily penance and ritual, he died at the age of 87 in 1095 while washing the feet of a dozen poor men in his cathedral, a task he performed every day.
He had studied and served Christ for his entire adult life, and when he died he had been a priest and bishop for nearly 60 years. He was fastidious in his work to improve the lives of his parishioners and the people of England in general. As the sole Anglo Saxon Bishop under the Normans he worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the people and arrest the draconian laws that the Normans were imposing on the indigenous population.
During his life he worked on many large scale building programs, mostly of cathedrals, priories and monasteries, some of which survive to this day including the cathedral at Worcester where a shrine to him stands to this day.
Even though Wulstan’s life pre dates the widespread use of Rosary Beads, his messages of love, ritual, sacrifice are still valid today, so when you’re tempted by that slice of chocolate cake or extra glass of red wine today why not think of St Wulstan and remember that January is the time of year when everyone is helping each other to improve their lives.
January 15th, 2013
Today is the feast memorial of St Ita of Killeedy in Ireland. An early nun who lived for around 95 years mostly during the 6th century, St Ita was a spiritual leader of the church when women were mostly ignored for their intellect and divinity.
Ita lived from 475 to 570, born in Waterford she settled in modern day Limerick and the town which grew up around her was called Killeedy meaning ‘The Church of St Ita.’ She led a group of women in the town and formed a school for young boys to be educated in the ways of the lord. She was a foster mother at the same time and some of her foster children became saints in their own right. She led a tight and frugal household and passed these virtues onto her foster children and nuns.
She was gifted with prophecy and many theologians and scholars at the time, men and women, asked for her advice and foresight into matters they were pondering. She knew she was getting close to the end of her life and summoned her nuns to her, she blessed them and the clergy and the town of Killeedy. She died, mostly likely from cancer, contemporary accounts suggest a beetle ‘consumed her side’ and grew to the size of a pig while still attached, but that was most likely to have been an aggressive tumour in reality.
Today her message of austerity is once again in the thoughts of the people of Killeedy but living frugally doesn’t mean you can’t have a beautiful new set of rosary beads, head over to our plastic rosary beads section to see some of the great offers we have available.
January 15th, 2013
Saint Kentigern is a Scottish saint who’s feast is celebrated every year on 13th January. He is known in England and Wales by his given name and in Scotland by his pet name of St Mungo.
During his life in the 6th Century he founded the city of Glasgow and is the patron saint of that city today. He is also the patron saint of salmon, people accused of infidelity and against bullies.
Born to a Scottish Princess out of wedlock Mungo was born on the banks of the River Clyde, he was brought up and taught by Saint Serf who was converting and preaching to the Picts in the region. Saint Serf renamed him Mungo and he used it for the rest of his life.
Despite their initial love for Christian teaching the people of Strathclyde soon turned on Christians following their King Morken’s wishes. Mungo decided to leave the city he founded and the life of austerity and chastity he had led for 13 years since beginning his missionary. He decided to retire to Wales. He travelled there via Cumbria and St David’s where he spent time with St David and eventually settling in modern day St Asaph where he founded the cathedral.
In later life he undertook to go to Rome on a pilgrimage but the new King of Strathclyde invited him to return to his homeland and he accepted. He returned and the city of Glasgow grew around him. He grew old and according to legend died in his bath.
He is credited with 4 miracles, bringing a bird back to life, restarted a fire that had been extinguished, the bell from Rome to mourn the dead and catching a fish that proved the fidelity of the Queen of Strathclyde. The symbols of these 4 miracles make up the crest of the city of Glasgow.
So if you are sitting today in Glasgow, one of the most Catholic cities in the UK and you are celebrating your patron saint why not head to our website and get a new set of rosary beads to help praise St Mungo.
December 13th, 2012
The Rosary is a Roman Catholic Sacrament and its place in worship is very important. Over the centuries the way the Rosary is prayed has changed very little, and for good reason, there is no need or desire to change it. Here I will explain how to pray the Rosary in case you are unfamiliar with it.
The sequence of prayers in the Rosary is very important. Each rosary is separated into Decades, each Rosary takes place over a decade of beads. Each decade is separated from the ones on either side by a larger beads, Our Fathers, which allow the believer to know when to finish one Rosary and start the next one. The sequence of prayers is as follows. On the first ‘Our Father’ the Lord’s Prayer is said, this is followed by ten ‘Hail Marys’ once each one is finished you move onto the next bead of the row of ten beads. Once you have recited 10 ‘Hail Marys’ you say the Glory to the Father, aka Glori Patri, on the next Our Father bead. This then completes the traditional Rosary prayers. There are 5 decades on a set of rosary beads and usually you would repeat the Rosary sequence on each of the 5 decades.
November 16th, 2012
St Margaret of Scotland is celebrated today with a feast all over Scotland. She was an Anglo Saxon Christian who married the King of Scotland, Malcolm III. She had fled with her family from the Norman invasion of England and sought refuse in Edinburgh.
Throughout her life she is known to have been a deeply pious woman, she was regarded as charitable and devote by all that met her. She launched a ferry service across the Firth of Forth so that pilgrims could visit Dunfermline Abbey more easily, the towns of North and South Queensferry take their names from this venture.
Margaret would fast regularly, insisting that she would not eat before the hungry peasants who could gather in the castle every day. If there was anything left she would then eat. She also spent long periods of time meditating in a cave on the Firth of Forth.
She helped to reform the church in Scotland, is credited with converting her husband by reading the bible to him and restoring the monastery in Iona. She died at the age of 48, just days after her husband and son were killed in battle against the English.
November 6th, 2012
The land of saints and scholars has too many saints to give each of them their own day. For a lucky few, Patrick, Brigit of Kildare, Malachy, Columba and Declan they get their own day. But for many others they don’t have a specific day. So in order that they don’t feel left out today we feast for them all, all the saints of Ireland.
During the Middle Ages Ireland was on the edge of the world, a hotbed of Christian thinking and fast becoming one of the most devoted nations on the planet. The Twelve Apostles of Ireland were part of a huge movement of Christian learning and thinking on the island. Monasteries, hermitages and abbeys were build all over the place, especially in the rugged and isolated west of the country. Ireland produced more saints and theologians than any other nation at this time proportional to its population.
Today Ireland is still regarded as one of the most devote and Catholic countries on earth. It is said that only in Ireland and Italy will the people listen to the Pope over the politicians. The people of Ireland love their saints and so today they will be praying, attending services and feasting in memory and praise of their beloved saints.
November 3rd, 2012
Today we celebrate the feast of St Malachy, one of the most important and influential Irish Saints. His work brought about the modern Irish church structure and his legacy is still being felt, as well as his controversies throughout the wider Catholic church today.
Born at the end of 11th Century in Armagh to noble parents Malachy was trained by the Abbot of Armagh before being ordained at the age of 25. He then studied further at Lismore. This was a time of great learning and theology in Ireland, it gave rise it the island being known as the land of ‘Saints and Scholars’ a title it still revels in today. St Malachy was the first Irish Saint to be canonized giving him a unique place in history and a more significant place in national remembrance.
During his lifetime he was Bishop of Bangor, Down & Connor and Armagh as well as Legate of Ireland. His influence over the church was sealed when he became a negotiator between the Irish Church and the Pope in Rome. He restructured the church in Ireland which has lost its way on the periphery of the Christian world, out of sight out of mind from Rome had led to a rather lax and undisciplined organisation. He has been likened to Boniface in Germany around the same time, bringing in discipline and monasticism to the core of the church’s practices.
Malachy died in Northern France in the arms of St Bernard after falling ill on his second trip to Rome. He was 54 years old.
October 25th, 2012
Like many things to do with faith the devotion, tradition and significance of the Rosary has changed very little in the last 400 years, but look beyond that and we can see the journey the Rosary took along with the rest of Christianity to become a central part of our daily faith practices.
In 1569 Pope Pius V announced a Papal Bull that laid down the rules and practices of praying the Rosary, these have essentially not changed from then until now and there seems no reason to change them any time soon. This aspect of the history is not contested as it is still happening, however the journey that took the Rosary to be included in a Papal Bull is a little more contested.
Prayer beads are found in religions all over the world and dating back to before Jesus walked the earth. The first recorded use is in India around 300-400 years before Jesus and over the next 1000 years their use spread around the world and now they can be seen in use in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism today.
They are used in all religions to count the repetitions of chants and prayers, to ensure that the praise or penance is said enough times and not too few. This simply method does not need to be changed, it allows the devotee to concentrate to praising God or asking for forgiveness, not on how many times they has done so.
As Christianity and in fact all the modern religions spread across the globe the simple and effective way of counting your prayers spread too. It’s an ancient tradition that doesn’t need to change, so it hasn’t.
September 24th, 2012
Here at RoasryBeads.co.uk we cater for both the fashion rosary bead market and the religious/traditional rosary beads market and are thrilled to offer such a wide range and selection of rosary beads to our customers.
This week I wanted to show you some of my favourite fashion rosary beads which have proved very popular with our teenage customers. Fashion rosary beads celebrate the very essence of style in the traditional rosary bead; the large cross pendant. Fashion rosary beads come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colours and materials and for that reason have proven very popular with both our male and female customers.
Fashion rosary beads look great when worn loosely over the top of a t-shirt, shirt or jacket and dark rosary beads such as black rosary beads, brown rosary beads and natural wood rosary beads look great with both bright coloured clothes and muted tones.
If you are looking to give a fashion rosary bead as a gift why not try out 2 for 1 offer on glow in the dark rosary beads and plastic rosary beads? They are sure to go down a treat and with one pair free…you could even claim one for yourself.
As always here at RosaryBeads.co.uk if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to contact us via the website www.rosarybeads.co.uk
September 16th, 2012
Today the Catholics of Scotland are celebrating the memorial of Saint Ninian of the Picts, a man who brought Christianity’s message to the people of what is now Southern Scotland in the 5th Century AD.
Not a lot of precise information is known about Saint Ninian, he is thought to have been a Briton who was educated in Rome, he travelled north to the Picts land in the Scottish Lowlands where he introduced the people there to the word of Christ. He is known as the Apostle of the Southern Picts. In Scotland he is sometimes referred to as Ringan.
Scotland is these days a very religious nation with the highest proportion of Catholics in the UK. So today, if you’re in Scotland or not, as you head to confession or as you kneel to pray with your rosary beads say an extra prayer to Saint Ninian who brought Christianity to the people of Southern Scotland.
Saint Ninian isn’t a Saint usually found on an All Saints Bracelet but our selection is a great way to keep your faith on show everyday. And for those of you who want to make your loved ones’ prayers even more special why not check out our Sterling Silver and 9ct Gold Rosaries
Below is a prayer to Saint Ninian from the Saint Ninian Cathedral in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada:
Lord our God, You brought to Scotland the faith of the apostles through the teaching of St. Ninian. Grant that we, who have received from him the light of your truth, may remain strong in faith. We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen