Bulletin Q&A article; Published 2-4-24:
If you pray with a rosary that is not blessed, do the prayers still “count”?
When items, such as rosaries, are blessed, they become sacramentals. The Baltimore Catechism states: “A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion” (Question 1052). It also states: “The sacramentals … move us to truer devotion, to greater love for God and greater sorrow for our sins” (Question 1054). It is therefore good for us to have our rosaries blessed so that they can help excite good thought and increase devotion when we use them to pray.
But our prayers still “count” even if our physical rosary beads are not blessed. Saying the prayers of the rosary while holding a sacramental can be beneficial, but the prayers are still effective without it just like the many other prayers we recite daily without holding a sacramental. During the Rite of Baptism, the priest or deacon blesses the water to be used for the baptism. It becomes a sacramental. But if, for some reason, the water was not blessed, the baptism would still be valid—it would still “count”.
Our physical rosaries are an aid to guide us, to keep track of the individual prayers of the greater rosary prayer. But our rosary prayer can still be effective even without a physical rosary at all. I sometimes find myself without a rosary in my pocket—maybe I’m sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office and I left it in the car. But God gave me ten fingers and I can pray the rosary using my fingers rather than beads. And there are times when my hands are busy and I can use a different method to guide me. Praying the rosary while walking on the treadmill is a wonderful way to put the time to good use. But for me, my hands are holding onto the handles to monitor my pulse, and so I don’t fall over. And so, I have a rosary app on my phone that I can pray along with to make the time more productive.