• Pause. Pray. Pass it on.

  • Why the Rosary?

    The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. That makes October the perfect time for us to launch our #PausetheScroll campaign, as well as spend some time sharing and reflecting on the prayer that brought us here in the first place.

    I started praying the Rosary essentially for mindfulness. I liked the routine, the repetition. I found a secular comfort in the meditations, a rational empathy grounded in my own Worldly worries and probably a long way from the spiritual fruits that I was later to experience. One day, a day that I cannot pinpoint in any way, the prayer stopped being a mental wellbeing tool. Slowly, my heart had been converted.

    The image at the top of this post is of a Rosary that I made. At some stage praying the Rosary itself stopped being enough and I started to make them. The problem is, that anyone who has started to craft their own Rosaries will recognise, it is an addictive practice. Very soon I was flooded with them. Rosary in Hand was formed in response to this, an initiative to raise funds to make and send Rosaries to growing Catholic communities in need. Our project Beads on Mission, is where that project now lives, sending Rosaries to Catholic Churches in Malawi, until by God’s grace that mission expands.

    The beauty of the Rosary is that it is a prayer that never grows old. It grows with you. On the surface it appears to be a repetition of the same prayer 53 times with some other prayers peppered in-between. This is what is known as the ‘body’ of the prayer, more about measuring time and engaging the body in active prayer whilst the ‘soul’ of the prayer lives on the meditation of the mysteries. 5 per Rosary.

    Repeating the prayers, the body, is easy. The meditation can be really, very hard. The mind wanders. Some Mysteries are easier to picture than others. I find, in particular, that the First Mystery of each Rosary I have extremely clear pictures of in my mind, allowing me to explore more deeply each time. This probably says more about my stamina than it does about the individual Mysteries.

    So as we prepare for October and dedicating time to the Rosary, I wanted to share my (inexpert) guide to praying the Rosary:

    1. Find the right place, and the right time. I have a chair that I always pray the Rosary in. I can be comfortable enough to relax but not so comfortable that I drift.
    2. Find the right soundtrack. I usually pray along with the Hallow App because there are various versions (I prefer a Scriptural Rosary or Bishop Barron’s reflections on the Mysteries). Sometimes I go solo, but I find that sparse Classical or nature sounds ground me in the prayer. Whatever works for you.
    3. Your mind will wander. Let it, and gently bring it back. Acknowledge the distraction, and get back in. Don’t let that deter you, stop you mid-Rosary or stop you going back.
    4. Do some light research. I have a PowerPoint presentation for each of the Mysteries of icons and paintings of the Mysteries. I lack visual imagination. That allows me to ‘step in’ to the Mystery more clearly.
    5. Grab a guide or use an online version, one that provides scriptural prompts, questions for reflection or additional notes on the Mysteries. Praying the Mysteries is not about something happening or something new and profound coming to you every time you reach for the Rosary. If I come away with one, new, half-formed reflection from one Mystery during the prayer, I consider that a win.

    Praying the Rosary as regularly as possible has changed my life. I pray with the Rosary almost every day and there is absolutely a noticeable difference between those days that I do and those where I don’t. And this leads me to the most important rule of them all:

    If you set a time to pray the Rosary on one day; make that time. Don’t delay. Don’t cancel. Do it. Keep your commitment. Making that time for yourself, in prayer, for as little as 20 minutes to really as long as you want to make it, will have an impact on your day. If you delay today, you will cancel tomorrow. If you cancel tomorrow, it’ll be two weeks before you go back to it. It is worth it. Make the time.

    We hope that throughout October you will join us in praying the Rosary, share with us your intentions and share with others the power of this incredible prayer.

    Pause. Pray. Pass it on.

  • The Lord’s Answer – behind #Pausethescroll

    The Lord’s Answer

    2 Then the Lord replied:

    “Write down the revelation
        and make it plain on tablets
        so that a herald[b] may run with it.
    3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
        it speaks of the end
        and will not prove false.
    Though it linger, wait for it;
        it[c] will certainly come
        and will not delay.

    Habakkuk 2:2-3

    Habakkuk was a Prophet who looked at the injustice and suffering in the World and found it hard to have faith in God. He is unusual among the Prophets – he did not go to the Kings or to the people and point out their sins, instead he turned his criticism towards God. How could he allow so much suffering and injustice to exist in His creation? To his people?

    God’s first answer is to reveal to Habakkuk His plan; Israel will be conquered by the Babylonian Empire. Habakkuk is outraged – the Babylonians, he says, will bring upon his people even more pain and violence than under their own leaders. Babylonians treat their people as animals, they worship violence and their military.

    In response, God lays out the instructions at the start of this post. He reveals the greater part of His plan – that he will bring down the Babylonians and bring the Israelites closer to His love and Divine will. He urges Habakkuk, whilst it may seem that the plan is taking time to become a reality, he was to have faith – ‘though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come’.

    Rosary in Hand exists partly in response to the inspiration from this short book of the Old Testament. Habakkuk is approachable as a Prophet; he is a man gripped with doubt. He looks at the World and cannot see God’s hand at work in the enormous suffering and exploitation that humans are capable of visiting upon each other. He confronts God with this directly, and is greeted with the instruction to deepen his faith.

    God highlights to Habakkuk the ‘Five Woes’ that he will visit upon corrupt Nations:

    1. Woe to the oppressor; greed, extortion – the plunderer himself will be plundered
    2. Woe to the exploiter; building security at the expense of others – destruction will fall on his dynasty
    3. Woe to the violent builder; building cities on bloodshed and violence – “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea”
    4. Woe to the corrupt debaucher; humiliating others with drunkenness – the exploiter will be shamed and exposed in turn
    5. Woe to the idolator; trusting in idols made by human hands – the idols are lifeless, but God gives life

    I am not an expert, and I do not seek to pose as one. But tell me that the internet is not the place, the space where each of these woes is lived out daily and celebrated as a virtue. As a right. That online in general, and on social media in particular, these woes are consumed casually and constantly.

    We celebrate the accumulation of wealth and greed. We turn each other into objects to consume. We use violence as entertainment. Decadent and debauched lifestyles are celebrated. Idols are everywhere.

    The antidote, as God says to Habakkuk, is to have faith. To ‘take the vision and make it plain’. We can stand out in the World as those that use the evil against itself. However simple, however small, taking a moment on social media to offer a prayer; to share it with others.

    Rosary in Hand is launching the #Pausethescroll for exactly this reason – to turn our vices into our virtues. If by sharing a prayer you can turn one person’s attention, even for 30 seconds, away from the distractions in front of them and towards the divine, you will have contributed to something significant. Together, we can achieve something truly special, turning private faith into public mercy and isolation to connection:

    Pause; remove yourself from what you are consuming, from the time that you are spending online.

    Pray; offer that moment in reflection, for the good that you have and the good that you can do.

    Pass it on; share it with others.

  • #PausetheScroll Campaign

    We live in a World filled with distractions. It is easy to believe that we have been moulded by this environment, sucked in to a culture of immediate and constant consumption as if we are helpless to some unstoppable force.

    But, we are the architects of our own distraction. It is not an inactive state of apathy. If the World is the chaotic waters flooding over us and threatening to pull us under; distraction is the driftwood that we cling to in the hope that it will carry us to something safer and more solid.

    We choose distraction. We choose to scroll – to consume content in 30-90 second snippets of trends and memes to make us feel connected. A part of something. And does it? Not often.

    Instead we feel more ‘outside’. We view what we don’t have with envy. As soon as we have latched on to one trend, the World has moved on to another. We can never be in the inner circle. We cannot affect the trend. Only catch a glimpse of it as it is replaced by something else.

    According to the WHO, approximately 280 million people suffer from depression Worldwide. During and immediately following the COVID pandemic, cases of depression increased by an estimate 25%. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15-29 year olds behind only road traffic accidents and homicide. Every year, approximately three quarters of a million people take their own lives.

    The TV show Adolescence has taken audiences and award ceremonies by storm. Shooters who carve their messages from internet chat rooms make Global headlines at an alarming rate. The most dangerous place in the World to be is online.

    The #Pausethescroll campaign is a first, trepidatious attempt to penetrate the social media space with messages of hope, love and community. The message of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel.

    We invite you all to be a part of it by taking the time to pause, pray and pass it on.

    The campaign will launch on 1st October and run through to 31st December. We’re sharing short prayers, guides, and reflections online to invite people to pause, pray, and pass it on.

    It would mean a lot if you could follow, share a post, or encourage others to check it out. Every share helps the mission grow 🙏✨

    #PausePrayPassItOn #RosaryInHand

  • Rosary in Hand – My Mission

    Social media often feels like a battlefield: everyone has to pick a side, everyone has to be an expert, and there’s little room for the words, ‘I don’t know.’

    Faith, however, begins with mystery and with questions.

    I don’t have answers to those questions. I’m not a theologian or a priest. I’m not launching Rosary in Hand to teach as an authority. I’m here because I’m still learning my faith, and I want to walk openly through that process. This is a place where doubt, questions, and discovery are all welcome.

    In recovery from a mental health crisis, I found it extremely challenging to talk about the way that I feel. I have never had a problem discussion how I think, in fact, I have always taken great enjoyment and pride in it. Faith sits somewhere at the intersection, and I find my faith very challenging to talk about. It is my hope that through Rosary in Hand, I can encourage others to explore the faith and be more comfortable in talking about it; without fear of being shut down, chastised or overburdened.

    One of the key features of my mental health recovery has been coming to terms with the disconnect between the way I thought the World worked and what was being reflected back to me. And it is a World that is extremely easy to be drawn in to.

    Scrolling offers us instant gratification; likes, shares, and constant stimulation. But Fulton Sheen once said, ‘The Rosary is the best therapy for these distraught, unhappy, fearful, and frustrated souls, precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of three powers: the physical, the vocal, and the spiritual.’

    In other words, what social media distorts, the Rosary can heal: turning distraction into focus, vice into virtue.

    My hope is that Rosary in Hand can become a space where we learn together. A space where it’s fine to admit what we don’t yet know, but where we can also practice a discipline that reshapes us daily. I want to share my own journey of conversion; because I believe others are searching too.

    Through my other projects, Beads in Mission and Upper Room, I hope to both spread the rosary to Global communities in need and provide a space for men suffering with mental health and addiction challenges to come together.

    I am starting from nothing. I have no contacts in the community, I have limited resources. I understand little of social media. The plan is ambitious, possibly even attempting to do too much, too soon.

    But it is, I am convinced, something that I am supposed to do.

    So I come to you, earnestly; to share my journey and my reflections in the hope that they reach the people that they are meant to.

    ~DM

  • From the Prayer Corner #1

    I find prayer difficult.

    Maybe, though, not in the way that you think.

    Environment, I’ve got nailed. I have my prayer corner at home, I have my rosaries, decade rings, holding cross. I have books for reflections and the Catechism and the Bible all close at hand. I have my statues of Our Lady and St Joseph and between them a crucifix. I have my icons. I’m all set.

    Routine? Not a problem. I have my routines set on Hallow and I’m now 150 days deep into daily prayer. Whilst I do not always dedicate the same amount of time to prayer and I miss some, there are others that I ensure I complete each day. I am grateful to Saint Ignatius for his famous and incredible Fifth Rule: “…in time of desolation never make a change, but be firm and constant in the proposals and determination…” Even if I don’t feel like it, I make sure that I turn up, safe in the knowledge that once I am there, I will be held.

    Both of these things help to make sure that I find the time to ‘properly pray’. To set myself aside. I love the words of Saint Paul that one should ‘…pray at every opportunity in the Spirit’, and I do try and find opportunities to send my attention Heavenwards in times of lull, rather than towards a phone.

    My biggest challenge is that I find it hard sometimes to focus. I find it hard to know what to say. There is a great deal that can be learned and gained from following set prayers, but it can also be limiting. I find the problem at home as at Church or anywhere else. When it is just me, just my thoughts and my own prayers, I never know what to say.

    I find it useful to follow the Our Father, adding statements after each in recognition. Starting with praise and thanks. But, as a person of great anxiety, often the thoughts at the very top of my mind are my own fears and worries. I then immediately lose my way, looping guiltily back to praise and then fighting the urge to go back to listing all of the things that I think I need.

    The rosary has undoubtably helped me grow spiritually in this regard. In particular, reflections on the agony in the Garden. When I don’t quite know what to say, or how to say it, I try instead to take a place next to Jesus in the garden and simply be with Him. And to repeat, as He said; ‘…not my will, but Your will be done’.

    If you are experiencing spiritual desolation, or if you are finding prayer challenging, please know that I am praying for you. You will, one way or another, find what you are looking for.

  • The Living Rosary – Prayer for Mental Stillness

    “Always say the rosary. Hold on to your rosary as you would a weapon. The rosary is the weapon for these times.” – Saint Padre Pio

    For me, the first time I picked up a rosary it was more in confrontation than in comfort.

    I had many misconceptions about the rosary before I first tried the prayer. In my life as an atheist, I had not done a huge amount of work discriminating between various Christian denominations but it represented all of the things that I felt were wrong about religion. Superstitious. Repetitive. Morbid. I pictured old ladies in shawls, kneeling painfully in freezing chapels.

    I came to it in the midst of a mental health crisis. The repetitive, meditative nature of the prayer suited me much more than any expectation of a spiritual awakening. And any religious experience that was gained from praying the rosary regularly was no ‘Road to Damascus’ moment. There were no burning bushes or Marian apparitions. Simply; my heart softened. Gradually.

    Still for the first year or so my faith was a personal one, not something that I discussed with friends or family and something that I felt inwardly. It was a shield and a protection. It gave me comfort through difficult times and helped me to see my own World through a different prism. And that was enough.

    Over the last year, something else has happened.

    Pope Francis passed. Whilst my faith had been laying some roots before this, his death precipitated a rapid growth of the shoots. I felt his absence. A mourning that I hadn’t really earned. A recognition that there was something significant shifting for a family which I was outside of but longed to be a part of. I realised too that there was a whole World outside of my own feelings and challenges and that there was something terribly, unmistakably wrong. Beyond even that, I was wrong about my faith; it is not just a shield, it is a weapon. As St Paul would say, faith is the shield but you must also be armed with the Sword of the Spirt, which is the Word of God.

    Now the rosary is my favourite weapon. One that can attack at the route causes of hate and disarm, with love.

    “The holy rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you’ll be amazed at the results.” – Saint Josemaría Escrivá

    It is important to note that I am not yet a Catholic. I am still undertaking the RCIA in my local Parish. I am not an expert and I will not claim ever to be. What I can share is my own journey, live, as it happens. I hope that in some way, I can contribute even at this early stage of a Catholic life to the growth and the strengthening of individual’s faiths.

    Starting with this: the rosary is truly the weapon that we need for our times. One of the first things that I learned from the Catholic social media space is that I wasn’t all wrong; the World is held up by the prayers of elderly Catholic women:

    • In 41 out of 106 countries surveyed by Pew, adults under 40 are significantly less likely than those 40+ to say religion is “very important.” Pew Research Center
    • Among U.S. young adults (ages 18-30), the proportion who identify as Catholic has dropped over decades. In the 1978-82 period, 27% described themselves as Catholic; in 2018-22, that number was around 19%. pillarcatholic.com
    • Retention of those raised Catholic is also declining. Only about 54% of those raised Catholic in that age group still consider themselves Catholic in adulthood. pillarcatholic.com

    There is, as always, cause for hope. Much like with myself there are the shoots of faith springing up from between the rocks. Young adults, men in particular, are more curious about faith and spirituality. There is a certain section of youth and young adults that have been completely left behind by a social media culture and political agenda in which everything is a commodity, there is no certainty – all is fluid. Faith, and in particular the Catholic faith, provides the structure and certainty that many of them crave.

    I was inspired to start this particular part of my faith journey by the words of God to the Prophet Habakkuk “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.” I hope, in some small way, to contribute to cutting through the commodification of ourselves and others, of the radicalisation of apathy and disconnectedness to do something meaningful in sharing my faith in others.

    Starting today.

    ~DM

  • Rosary in Hand

    Thank you for visiting the Rosary in Hand website.

    Rosary in Hand is a crowdfunded, non-profit dedicated to crafting unique handmade rosaries to communities in need.

    We need your help

    We have two main requirements at Rosary in Hand:

    Donations

    We desperately need your donations to support our growing mission. Donations are required to support with materials, postage and packaging for International shipping as demand grows. We ask you to consider ‘Donating a Decade’ – making a one off or longer-term £10 donation to support our work.

    Please consider supporting us by donating in one of two ways:

    👉 Donate via PayPal
    👉 Support via GoFundMe

    Expansion

    We are always looking for ways to expand our mission. If you know of communities in need across the World who would gratefully receive a donation of rosaries, please contact us at: rosaryinhand@gmail.com