By Special Correspondent.
The title itself is explanatory; however the Prayer Beads Museum is not a collection of exotic Rosaries or Chaplets, made of gold or silver beads. Nor is it a display of colourful beads ground from rubies, diamonds or jade. Neither is it a pageant of beads, crafted from expensive woods, like Sandal wood, Olive wood or Olive seeds.
Many are likely to presume that it is an ensemble of Rosaries with some ancient myth, fantasy, fable or historical narrative attributed to them. We also lay no claims, to establish the original countries, of their inception.
“Rosaries” and “Chaplets”, almost every religion uses beads for counting the times, one has recited a certain prayer, mantra or “nam jappa.” So, praying beads are not the monopoly of any given faith. In themselves they have no claim to sacredness. They are just aids used to count. Many religions use knots on a chord instead of beads.
Roman Catholics are generally accustomed to the Rosary of St. Domnic, O.P, made up of a crucifix followed by an Our Father bead and three Hail Mary beads and another Our Father Bead. These are followed by a circlet of five decades of beads, distinctly separated by a single, Our Father bead.
This is perhaps the only catholic Rosary, many of us are aware of. It would be very interesting to learn that there are very many variations to this Rosary.
There are Rosaries with mysteries different from the twenty, we are accustomed to. There are Rosaries to the virtues, joys and sufferings of Mary and Joseph.
There are numerous Rosaries, actually Chaplets, for invoking the intersession of the plethora of saints.
At the Prayer Beads Museum there are about two hundred and ten, variations of the Rosary/Chaplets. These are made up of the usual Five decades, Seven decades, Nine groups of nine, Thirteen groups of thirteen and the usual chaplets of Seven plus one bead.
The longest Rosary on display has Eighteen decades called The Mexican wedding Rosary, while the shortest is of just six beads.
The beauty of these Rosaries and Chaplets is that each of them has a very unique set of prayers to go with the beads. These prayers are displayed in their original texts, alongside the beads.
We also have on display one set of counting beads each, used by the Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Bahais, Muslims, Jews and Jains. We are yet to ascertain and acquire, a Parsi, or Zoroastran, set of praying beads.
In a casual conversation with Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas, of the Holy Spirit Church, Margao, the author was made aware of the fact that there were Rosaries recited and even sung, to saints Anna, Sebastian, Roque and Anthony, around the village, ward/‘vaddo,’ crosses and chapels. This was what triggered off the enthusiasm, to try and re-discover these long forgotten devotions prevalent in every Goan village.
These prayers are a treasure trove for catechises. Genuine devotions can be cultivated, through the understanding of these prayers.
This not an effort to promote rituals or pious devotions, but to help the faith-seeker find, understand and practice the spirituality enshrined in these theologically and Biblically sound devotions.
Learn more about your religious convictions, your faith, your devotions and finally even, your so called ‘religious’ rituals.
A collection by Fr. Savio Rodrigues s.j., Mob: 9890708892
Prayer Beads Museum Inaugurated at the Big Foot
The Prayer Beads Museum was inaugurated by the Arch. Bishop Patriarch of Goa and Daman Filipe Neri Ferrao on 16 January 2015, the FIRST ever Feast Day of Saint Jose Vaz, at the Big Foot in Lotoulim. Speaking at the occasion, the curator of the collection Fr. Savio Rodrigues s. j. said that praying beads are not the monopoly of one single faith; they have no claim to sacredness as they exist merely as counting aids. He further added that the Praying Beads Museum aims to help the faith seeker find, understand and practice spirituality and to learn more about faith, devotion and ‘religious’ rituals. This collection, started in 2012, was begun as a means to document devotions practiced in the different villages of Goa. Today the collection stands at over 250. When asked to address the gathering His Grace spoke about the devotion of St. Joseph Vaz to the Virgin Mother, stating that we should emulate his humility. He then proceeded to bless the museum and opened it for public viewing. Maureen Alvares proposed the vote of thanks; she compared the beads of a mala, rosary to citizens of society - bound by one string, working in unity towards the betterment of the society/ nation. The Prayer Beads Museum is a whole new unique collection forming part of the Big Foot, furthering the aim to conserve and promote Goan culture and traditions for posterity.
