How to Make a Cord Rosary

The rosary is a powerful prayer to obtain the grace of God through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A cord rosary was given to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin Mary. Throughout the years, cord rosaries have been smuggled behind the iron curtain. People wore them around their necks and under their coats by the hundreds. This way they could not be picked up by metal detectors.

The number of conversions and miracles, known and unknown which had their beginning in the devotion of the rosary are innumerable. The word rosary means a garland or wreath of roses. Each rosary made is a spiritual bouquet offered to our Blessed Mother.

Our Blessed Mother has asked each of us to pray all three mysteries of the rosary daily! That is the Joyful, Sorrowful and the Glorious Mysteries. Begin a new life of love and devotion to our Lord and his mother through rosary making, and sit back and receive all the graces that our Father in Heaven will bestow on you. MAY THE PEACE OF CHRIST BE ALWAYS WITH YOU!

MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR MAKING THE CORD ROSARY:

To start you will need some type of cord, heavy string, or rope the size of cord. This can and will vary by choice and availability. We recommend #36 white nylon twine. This cord knots and dyes easily and turns out rather beautifully as well as being very durable.

The following measurements are required for the different sizes of string used to make a rosary:

• #36 REQUIRES 6 1/2 YARDS OF CORD
• #48 REQUIRES 7 YARDS OF CORD
• #60 REQUIRES 9 YARDS OF CORD
• #72 REQUIRES 10 1/2 YARDS OF CORD
• #96 REQUIRES 12 YARDS OF CORD

These measurements will vary according to the tightness of the knot, the stretch of the cord and if the cord is dyed or not. If you are dying the cord before making the rosary than you should allow 15% for shrinkage.

You will also need a butane lighter in order to seal the ends of the cord and to cut off excess string. It is not recommended that you use a scissors. The string will unravel.

The last items you will need are patience and a love of the rosary.

DYEING THE CORD ROSARY

Dying your cord rosary is fun, exciting and creative. It is a very simple process to dye the cord before or after it is made into a rosary. Most cords readily take to Rit dye.

A decorative technique dates as far back as the 6th and 7th century is the tie-dyed method. Sections of the cord are folded or gathered and then tightly tied together with rubber bands. The cord is then dyed. The tied off portions are prevented from absorbing the dye, leaving a pattern on a colored background. The result can be a precise, controlled pattern or wildly abstract. No two designs are ever the same.

To achieve multicoloured rosaries, the three primary colors are used (red, yellow and blue). Start by dyeing the cord with one color and allowing it to dry. Then, retying it and dyeing it in a second color; then repeating the process a third time. For example, a cord tie-dyed yellow and white, retied and re-dyed in red, then becomes yellow, red, white and orange. Then, retied and re-dyed in blue, becomes yellow, white, red, blue, orange, purple and green.

To achieve solid colored rosaries, just pick the color of dye that you wish to use and take your cord and place it in the dye. You can control the color by the length of soaking time. The lighter the color, the less time in the dye. The darker color, the longer time in the dye.

A short cut is to dye the whole bolt at once. For a solid color use a deep bowl or empty coffee cans. Fill with the desired color and place the whole bolt of string in the solution. For multicolored cord, follow the instructions for the single piece of cord, except use a turkey baster or spoon to drip solution on cord. Be sure to dye bolt in 2 or 3 sections. For example: to achieve pink and blue, dip the end of the bolt in pink, drip blue solution next to the pink, drip the pink solution next to the blue, and blue solution next to the pink. By doing this you will achieve a variegated effect when you cut the string into individual pieces.

Remember, it takes the whole bolt of cord, about three or four days to dry. If you put it in a warm, dry place like an attic or the back window of your car, it will dry at a faster rate.

LET'S GET STARTED

A tip from a helpful visitor:

Your instructions to make from the middle out, is excellent. I wonder if I EVER would have thought of that. (see the note at the end of these instructions) Something for you: I wind the cord on my finger and then use a "G" or "F" crochet hook to guide the loose end through to make the knot. This is much faster for me. Lettas

STEP 1 AVE MARIA

Take the cord and measure about 6 inches from the end (1 inch is about equal to the tip of your thumb to the knuckle). With the cord in your left hand, wrap the cord clockwise 3 times over the cord and first finger. Be sure to keep the cord flat and in a tight row. Slide the string carefully off your finger and then pull the entire length of cord through the circle of string where your finger used to be. Pull the string tight to form a knot. (Be sure to guide the knot so that the strings don't cross over each other and as a result you have an untie and start over). This completes your first Hail Mary. Just think, only 52 more to go!

STEP 2

Repeat the first step placing the second knot close or against the first knot. Tighten up the knot and manoeuvre the second knot close to the first knot keeping the desired space. (We recommend you leave only a small space between each Hail Mary. About the size of a bead itself.) Do not leave too much space because you don't want to run out of string when you come to the end.

STEP 3

Repeat steps one and two for the next 8 Hail Mary's. This will complete the first decade of your new rosary.

STEP 4 - PATER NOSTER

Now let's make the first Our Father. Wrap the cord clockwise 4 times over the cord and your first finger. Be sure to keep the cord flat and in a tight row. Slide the cord off your finger. Then pull through the entire length of string through the circle of cord where your finger used to be. This sounds familiar doesn't it? It is just like the Hail Mary but it is 4 times around instead of three. Be sure to leave extra space on either side of the Our Father. As a rule of thumb, I like to measure the space between the Hail Mary and the Our Father as if there were an invisible Hail Mary between the two.

STEP 5

Repeat steps 1 through 4 for the second, third, fourth and fifth decades.

STEP 6

After you have completed the 5 Decades and 4 Our Fathers it is time to bring together the ends of the cord. If you have come this far, you are home free! Take the first Hail Mary and the last Hail Mary in your left hand. Wrap both cords around your first finger twice. Then pull both ends of string through the circle. (Just like making the other beads), and tighten. Be sure to pull the short cord first, then the longer one. Tighten as tight as you can.

STEP 7

Take a butane lighter and burn the short string at the base of the end closer to the knot. Be sure not to burn the knot or the rosary as you burn off the cord. Work on flattening the little nub flat against the knot. (Burning the end it seals the light coat of wax which is on the string and prevents the cord from coming unravelled.)

STEP 8

With the remaining string, tie 1 Our Father, space, 3 Hail Mary's, space and one Our Father. Now you are ready for the Cross.

STEP 9 - THE CROSS

Making the cross is much simpler than it looks! All that is, is 5 Our Father's. After you have made the last Our Father on your rosary, leave a space and make another Our Father. Make a second Our Father leaving only space enough between the two for a piece of cord to fit. Then make one more Our Father and place it as tightly as you can against the Last Our Father. Burn the excess cord at this point. (Refer to step 7 for instructions for burning the cord.) Now take the extra piece of string and tie it as you would tie a shoe string between the first and second knot. (You should have equal amounts of string on both sides.) Proceed to make an Our Father on either side and burn the ends.

IMPORTANT: PULL THE KNOTS ON THE CROSS AS TIGHTLY AS YOU CAN!

Once you have mastered the art of making a rosary, you can cut your production time by about a third to a half by using the following method. Take the cord and fold it in half. Start in one direction and make three decades. Go back to the middle and make two decades in the other direction. Then proceed with the regular directions for bringing the ends together. This method keeps you from having to pull the entire string through each knot you make.

Learn How to Make a Bead Rosary