***2015 Update: Deluxe Version of the Revolving Rosary Craft Kit
Available NOW: Mysteries of the Rosary with the Kelly Saints
6 different templates, fully illustrated with Kelly Saints, 3 distinct crafts including the Illustrated Revolving Rosary…with a few new surprises!
…and now for the original post:
My husband grew up in a family with 6 kids and each night they gathered, kneeling around their parents’ bed to say the Rosary.  If cousins were visiting, they lined up kneeling as well. It was the Rosary Novenas to Our Lady with beautiful words explaining the Mysteries of the Rosary, with each prayer representing a symbolic flower placed on a wreath upon Our Lady’s head.  To this day, my husband can recite these beautiful words for each of the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries.
Over the years, we have said the Rosary as a family infrequently and usually only one decade a day. Â We say a decade on our way out of town when we pass the Cathedral along the highway. Â We sometimes say a decade at bedtime, or for a special intention (a sick relative or friend) or when we remember during Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter.
I think my husband continues his devotion to the Rosary, if only one decade a day…and he always seems to remember which Mystery he’s on. When he invites the rest of us to join him, it seems pretty random when he announces ‘the fourth Glorious Mystery’ until we realize that that’s just the Mystery he’s on; he’s been saying it on his own, all the time.
I had been bracing myself for Lent, thinking of how I would present some new program or plan for the family to take on. Â To my surprise, my husband just announced a re-commitment to the Rosary for lent this year…and we’re going to do it one decade at a time, sitting at the dinner table before dinner. With Bill traveling and general chaos, it’s going to be me trying to keep us on track and I have resorted to what I do best…designing a paper craft to help us through!
I figured we needed a way to keep track of the Mysteries…and what a great opportunity for us to try learning the beautiful words of the special prayers that Bill learned as a child.
I present the first part of my Rosary project: the Revolving Rosary!
It’s a circle template, with all 4 sets of Mysteries radiating around the circle.
The same template was printed on white, green, yellow, red and purple paper and glued together so that the different sets of Mysteries stand out.
I have a cool little hole punch from the craft store, but a regular hole punch would work for all but the center hole. Â I would recommend making dots with a pin, along an “x” in the center, to make a large enough hole to slide the brad fastener in.
The ten little ‘rosary bead counters’ along the edge of the circle are actually colored brad fasteners that I already had…and they match the colors of the Mysteries, coincidentally! Â I’m not expecting everyone to have colored brad fasteners…but regular brass ones would work. Â Alternatively, sequins or beads could be glued in place, or the little circle markers could just be colored to stand out.
The idea behind the Revolving Rosary, is that the arrow can be used to point at each ‘rosary bead counter’. Â I know of at least one kid in my family who would jump for this job. Â I know another kid who would like this job, but wouldn’t be quite so diligent…Adam?Â
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At the end of praying the Rosary, the arrow is left at the next Mystery of the Rosary, as an easy reminder of where we will begin next time. Â This would be helpful whether you are saying only one or two decades a day, easing into the family rosary like we are…or even if you are a veteran Rosary family, committed to a full set of 5 decades a day.
Revolving Rosary PDF
Simple Mystery and Prayer Counter craft with instructions and multiple round templates, plus 2 Coloring Rosary templates. Print on colored paper for use right away…or color the black and white templates to customize for your family.
6 pages of instructions and templates ($5)
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both codes expired. I finally had time to print it off
I love this. Wilk be using it with my brownie troop’s family of God award activitiez.
This is GREAT!! I think I might also write on each set which day it is said, and during Lent I believe we say the sorrowful the whole time, right? I think I just exposed the fact that we aren’t doing it everyday, and have to look it up which set to do because we cannot remember!
We have been feeling committed to doing this more–like EVERY night. This will help a lot. As I’ve gotten older, and since I’ve been homeschooling, I realize that even though I used to be a different kind of learner, we often do better in our home with hands-on manipulatives, and this will help us. Thank you so much for blessing us!
Heidi
Love this.
Thanks
Chris
Monica,
This is WONDERFUL, and just what we needed. We tend to say the Rosary a decade at a time too. I think I’ll make two–one to keep in the car as a way to remind us to pray when we’re driving to sports practices and dance classes! Thank you so much for this gift!
Cheryl
http://www.diary-of-a-sower.blogspot.com