Beads that Bind to Mary

These are the rosary beads I use. Note the beautiful cross depicting the Face of Christ. My wonderful friends over at the Rosary Workshop made this rosary for me. They understand that beauty and careful craftsmanship serve to lift the heart and mind to God. Do visit their site. It will delight your eyes and nourish your soul.
At the recitation of the Angelus today, Pope Benedict XVI said:
The seventh of the month, next Saturday, we will celebrate the feast of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, and it is as if, each year, the Madonna invites us to rediscover the beauty of this prayer, so simple and so deep. The beloved John Paul II was a great apostle of the Rosary: we remember him on his knees with the rosary beads in his hands, immersed in the contemplation of Christ, just as he himself invited us to do with the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae. The Rosary is a contemplative and Christocentric prayer, inseparable from the meditation of Sacred Scripture. It is the prayer of the christian who advances in the pilgrimage of faith, following Jesus, and preceded by Mary. I want to invite you, dear brothers and sisters, to recite the Rosary during this month in families, in community and in parishes for the intentions of the Pope, for the mission of the Church, and for peace in the world.