A Basque ring rosary (in Basque : Euskal arrosarioa) is a typical Basque

rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or ...

Traditional Basque rosary

The rosary is a circular wooden piece, 4 cm in diameter with a hole in the middle to introduce a finger. Like all rosaries, its aim is to enable a faithful of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

to count the number of recited prayers. At the top is a cross (typically with 4 branches of the same size) symbolizing the prayer Our Father. On the periphery, 10 small spheres equally distributed symbolize the

Hail Mary The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...

. The user places a finger in the opening at the center and puts his thumb on the cross at the top. They recite an Our Father, then moves their thumb onto the first small sphere. They recite as many Hail Marys as they wish, advancing one bead after each prayer. Image:Utilisation_du_chapelet_basque_1de3.jpg Image:Utilisation_du_chapelet_basque_2de3.jpg Image:Utilisation_du_chapelet_basque_3de3.jpg

Basque rosary in jewelry

The Basque rosary is a simple piece of jewelry, gold or silver, 1 to 4 cm diameter. Worn with a little chain around the neck. The central opening is then often replaced by a little figure like the

Basque cross The lauburu (Basque: ''lau'' ("four") + ''buru'' ("head")) is an ancient hooked cross with four comma-shaped heads and the most widely known traditional symbol of the Basque Country and the Basque people. In the past, it has also been associated ...

''Lauburu''. It is sometimes adorned with a slogan such as ''Ongi ene gogoa'' (= " oinggood smy wish/mind").

Other ring rosaries

Other cultures have also used ring rosaries, especially in cases of religious persecutions against Catholics. These rosaries are small and can be easily hidden. An example is the

Irish penal rosary The Irish Penal Rosary ( ir, An Paidrín Beag) was a single-decade rosary used during penal times in Ireland, when Roman Catholicism and its religious objects were forbidden.Rosary Basque culture