by Jeanne HeibergLong ago, people living in the desert or in monasteries used pebbles, sticks, or lines drawn in the sand to count their prayers. Herein lies the early roots of the Catholic Rosary. People progressed to counting knots on a cord, then to the beads we know today.
At one time, monks prayed the Our Father 72 times, keeping count with 72 beads. Because the Hebrew practice of praying 150 psalms in the temple continued in Christian monasteries, the practice of praying 150 beads gradually evolved. Educated priests and monks could read and pray the psalms from books. The large majority of people who could not read, however, were able to count their prayers and devotions with beads.
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