Basque ring rosary
A Basque ring rosary (in Basque : Euskal arrosarioa) is a typical Basque rosary.
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 Roman Catholic Church 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 user places a finger in the opening at the center and puts his thumb on the cross at the top. He recites an Our Father, then moves his thumb onto the first small sphere. He recites as many Hail Marys as he wishes, advancing one bead after each prayer.
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 Lauburu.
It is sometimes adorned with a slogan such as Ongi ene gogoa (= "[Doing] good [is] my wish/mind").
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Other ring rosaries
Other cultures use ring rosaries. Specially in case of religious persecutions against Catholic people. These rosaries are small and can be hidden in clothes. An example is the Irish penal rosary also with 10 beads. However, they also were worn for protection and adornment at times when Catholicism was not persecuted, as it would be more difficult to break or wear-down a rosary ring, rather than a traditional rosary threaded onto a string. [1]