Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: Wearing the Rosary as a Necklace

ROME, JUNE 28, 2011 (Zenit.or (http://www.zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

In the wake of our comments on wearing the rosary as a necklace June 14 (http://www.zenit.org/article-32848?l=english), a reader who now serves as a lay missionary in Honduras offered the following observations:

"In my experience in El Salvador and Honduras it is not uncommon to see men and sometimes women wearing a rosary around their necks. The rosaries are often very inexpensive, of plastic or wood. The people who wear them are largely the poor, most of whom have a strong faith. Though it might be uncommon in the U.S. and Europe, I see it here more often.

"In some ways it's a way for the people -- mostly, but not exclusively, young -- to identify themselves as Catholics. Some lay pastoral workers wear them since they don't have a cross to wear around their necks.

"I have heard, though, that there are some gang members in cities in Honduras who wear the rosary as a sort of talisman, to protect them. I don't think it is a way to identify their gang membership but rather a way of seeking security in the very insecure world of the urban poor. That's another case altogether.

"But it is important to remember that here among the poor, the rosary around the neck, though it might seem to be a type of 'jewelry,' is an expression of faith.

"I don't know how often the young people pray the rosary, but among many of the people in the countryside here in western Honduras the rosary is often prayed -- often in family groups, in base communities, or even over the Catholic radio station. The rosary, prayed or worn around the neck, is common here."

I believe that this enlightening information completes and confirms the central thrust of the original reply: that this and similar practices can only be evaluated by taking local context into account.