There are many apps for saying the Rosary on your smartphone. Michael Guglielmo, a Catholic and a keen cyclist wrote with an idea that he has come up with for a bicycle handlebar Rosary attachment. Unlike smartphone apps, this is one you make and install manually. Here are the instructions:
There's not much to making it. Two decorative pipe cleaners, two light brackets, two longer screws to replace the short ones that came with the brackets and one or two old rosaries which I hope would carry their former blessings with them. You can also use craft store beads and with the intent of bring the completed project to church for a blessing. The beauty of this is that the pipe cleaners hold the beads in place so they stay in place when moved. In addition, if it breaks, the beads don't scatter and its an easy fix.Michael does add the caveat that it should only be used in safe areas. Probably not wise to use it when weaving through traffic in central London.
4 comments:
Fantastic low-tech app:D Will have to get my bicycle out and customise it!
The same idea can be easily applied to cars. On the back of the steering wheel are grooves for your fingers. Count to ten from the left or right, and either mark the tenth groove with a slight cut or whathaveyou. Voila, you've got a "rosary" that you are holding all the time anyway.
That said, there is something about saying the rosary while driving that turns one's mind to mush. Paying attention to the road, meditating on the mysteries and saying the Hail Marys all at once is not really doable. It is possible, though, to focus on the Hail Marys and drive at the same time, just as it is possible to have a conversation.
Still, as much time as this may seem to open up for prayer for commuters and those who drive for a living, if my experience is any guide, less is more. In other words, it is not a setting that lends itself to protracted prayer. Even saying one rosary well in this way is a real feat, and attempting more tends toward distraction and mindless repetitions. My two cents.
Lee - I have a CD with the Rosary said by Pope John Paul and a group of sisters. I agree that you can't really concentrate properly but it is way better than listening to Radio 4.
I recently changed my car radio to one that has a plug for an mp3 player (those FM transmitter things don't work well). I pick up good talks from places like "Keep the Faith.org" and find that the time spent on my weekly drive to Wonersh and back can be used a little better.
I recall a certain Dominican brother saying that he always considers the Rosary a prayer to be said while walking or travelling, and found this preferable to formal recitation in church.
I tend to agree with him, and often say the Rosary quietly while out for a stroll, or when on a train. For this I tend to use a small single-dacade chaplet, which can conveniently be manipulated in one hand. I am not a cyclist or motorist, but am interested to see that they have found equivalents.
Queen of the Holy Rosary, pray for us.
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