I couldn't find my beads so my wife gave me a nice pair, heavy wooden, masculine, blessed specially in Rome or somewhere, gift from a priest. She said I could use them but to take care of them. I gave them back to her and found my cheap pair. I did not want the weight of "taking care of them."
Rosary beads are to me like ball point pens: they are with me all the time, wherever I go. But I lose them; I leave them places; occasionally I give them to someone. I need them to be simple, practical, cheap, dispensable; not special, valuable or consecrated. I do not want them to be blessed and become a sacramental.
"Sacramentals" are a big deal to us Catholics. We have tons of them: crosses, crucifixes, statues, stain glass windows, holy water, medals, ashes, palms, candles, scapulars, paintings, icons, incense, chapels, basilicas, pilgrimage sites, altars, vestments, and other. This sets us off from other Western monotheisms: Judaism, Islam and Protestantism all disparage them as idolatrous, magical or superstitious.
In the Catholic cosmos natural things are open to and welcoming of the supernatural, the heavenly, the eternal. This because God became physical in Jesus Christ. He remains physically with us in the Eucharist and all seven sacraments. But on a lower plane, many other places, persons and things can become holy; can become sacramentals.
Only a priest, deacon or bishop can bless a sacramental. All of us can "bless" anything good by thanking God for it and receiving it as a blessing from heaven, a natural union with God. The sacramental does not undergo as deep a transformation as a sacrament; but it does change ontologically. It is no longer just a natural object. It becomes an expression of the heavenly.
Imagine a boy joins two sticks together in the form of a cross. He might use this as a sword. But it is still two sticks together; the sword usage is external, not internal. If he hangs it over his bed to remind him of Jesus' death, it becomes a symbol, with a psychological meaning. But he still might use it as a sword if necessary. But if the priest blesses it, the thing changes. It becomes part of a sacramental world of things which point to heaven. He would not want to use it as a sword, even in play. If it is no longer usable, the wood is burned and the ashes buried.
The sacramental is not efficacious in itself in the way of the seven sacraments. Its effect relies upon the psychological receptivity of the person: if I wear my scapular all week but never think of it, it may have little or no effect. But If I recall, at least when I remove it for my daily shower, that it expresses my consecration to our Mother Mary, then it has influence.
A sacramental is "consecrated" or set aside to draw us closer to God. Disposal of such is important. Old, blessed rosaries or medals cannot be simply thrown in the trash. Rather, they must be "deconstructed" of their natural form, in which the supernatural presence abided. So, palms are burnt; rosaries might be burnt or cut up into small pieces; and then buried out of the way, the natural elements returned to the earth. When a Church is sold to become condos it must be de-consecrated.
Religious jewelry is an interesting reality. I have myself no taste for use of such on my person. The value, of say a gold cross, would be a distraction to me. But costly art in Church is edifying. Also inspiring is the sight of a precious gold or silver cross or medal on a woman. It helps me, as a man, to recall, in a visible and physical way, her sanctity.
With the conception of Christ, by the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the earthly became receptacle of the heavenly. With Pentecost this invasion of Mercy and Holiness surged around the globe. And so, certain very specific persons, places, times, events and things become the presence of the Eternal.
How happy, how holy...to live in a sacramental world!
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