Rosary in the Car: Custom, a Clear View and the Right Place

It hangs from many a rear-view mirror: a rosary that swings at every bend. The car rosary is a widespread custom, and it has a good core, for whoever spends a lot of time on the road has time to pray. On the rear-view mirror, however, it obstructs the view, and it is no substitute for prayer and caution. This guide shows what German road traffic law requires regarding a clear view, how the Church blesses vehicles and where a rosary in the car has its proper place.

Why do Catholics keep a rosary in the car?

Catholics keep a rosary in the car so that they can pray on the road and are reminded of God as they get in. The Church has always accompanied travel with prayer and has a blessing of its own for vehicles in the Rituale Romanum, the Benedictio vehiculi seu currus.

The rosary is a string of prayer beads. Its beads count the prayers of a decade, that is, one Our Father, ten Hail Marys and the Glory Be, while one meditates on a mystery from the life of Our Lord and of His most holy Mother. On a long journey, in a traffic jam or as a passenger, one decade after another can be prayed in this way. How this goes, bead by bead, is shown in our prayer companion for the Rosary.

The Church’s blessing for a vehicle recalls a scene from the Acts of the Apostles: the deacon Philip meets the treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia, who is sitting in his chariot reading the prophet Isaias, explains the Scriptures to him and baptises him on the way (Acts 8:26–39). Seen in this light, a car is not a place far from God, but a stretch of road on which one can meet Him.

May a rosary hang from the rear-view mirror?

German traffic law contains no express ban on a rosary on the rear-view mirror. Under § 23(1) StVO, however, the driver is responsible for ensuring that his view is not impaired by devices or the condition of the vehicle. A rosary swinging in the middle of the field of vision therefore does not belong there.

The wording is brief: “Whoever drives a vehicle is responsible for ensuring that his view and hearing are not impaired by the occupants, animals, the load, devices or the condition of the vehicle” (§ 23(1), first sentence, StVO, translated from the German). For the vehicle itself, § 35b(2) of the Road Vehicle Licensing Regulations (StVZO) requires “an adequate field of vision under all operating and weather conditions”. And § 1(1) StVO puts this before everything else: “Taking part in road traffic requires constant caution and mutual consideration.”

The interior mirror sits in the middle of the windscreen, exactly where your eyes keep going while you drive. A rosary with a cross and medal swings there every time you brake and at every bend. Whether it impairs the view in a particular case is not for this guide to decide; we are not lawyers. Our advice is simple: do not hang the rosary on the mirror. There are better places, and none of them costs you your view.

Does a rosary in the car protect against accidents?

A rosary in the car does not protect against accidents by its own power. Once blessed, it works as a sacramental through the intercession of the Church and the prayer of its user. Whoever prays with it asks God for protection on the way, but does not thereby replace care at the wheel.

The 1917 Code of Canon Law defines sacramentals as things or actions which the Church uses in order to obtain, ex sua impetratione, through her intercession, effects above all of a spiritual kind (can. 1144). The blessing of a vehicle, too, is a prayer: the Church asks God to give the car His holy angels, so that they may guard all who travel in it from every danger.

St Thomas Aquinas draws the line precisely. To pronounce sacred words or carry them on one’s person is lawful, if one looks solely to reverence for God, from whom the effect is expected. It becomes superstitious when one places one’s hope in the manner of writing or of tying them on (Summa theologiae II-II, q. 96, a. 4). A rosary that only dangles from the mirror and is never prayed comes dangerously close to that line. And whoever relies on it and drives carelessly as a result does something that St Thomas, elsewhere, calls by its name with a phrase from the Gloss on Deuteronomy.

“He tempts God who, having something he could do himself, exposes himself to danger without reason, testing whether he can be delivered by God.”

Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae II-II, q. 97, a. 1, after the Gloss on Deut 6:16 (Deum tentat qui, habens quid faciat, sine ratione se committit periculo, experiens utrum possit liberari a Deo), our translation from the Latin

Where is the best place to keep a rosary in the car?

The best way to keep a rosary in the car is within easy reach and not swinging in your field of vision: in a jacket or trouser pocket, in a storage compartment or in a small rosary pouch. For the journey a finger rosary, which comprises just one decade, is well suited.

For blessed objects the rule of the 1917 Code applies: they are to be treated with reverence and may not be put to profane use or to a use foreign to them, even when they are privately owned (can. 1150). A rosary therefore does not belong among parking tickets and sweet wrappers, but in a fixed, clean place.

The finger rosary is made for the road. It has a cross, an Our Father bead and the beads of one decade, lies in one hand and fits in any pocket. Our product descriptions state that it can be fastened in the car or to a carabiner. If you attach it there, choose a place outside your forward view. You will find a selection among our finger rosaries from the workshop.

May you pray the Rosary while driving?

No rule of the Church forbids praying the Rosary while driving. Under § 1 StVO, however, the driver must exercise constant caution. Our advice: your hands belong on the steering wheel and your attention on the road. Passengers can hold the beads; the driver joins in only if it does not distract him.

The Raccolta, the official collection of indulgenced prayers (English edition 1943), contains two provisions on this. First, the decades may be prayed separately, provided the whole part of the Rosary is completed on the same day (Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, 8 July 1908). A drive to work and one back can thus together make up a third of the Rosary.

Secondly: whoever, because of manual work or for some other reasonable cause, cannot hold a blessed rosary in his hand still gains the indulgences of the Rosary, provided he carries it on his person in some way while praying (Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, 9 November 1933). Carrying it on one’s person means on the body, in a pocket for instance. A rosary on the mirror is not on your person in this sense.

For plenary indulgences the Raccolta names the usual conditions in its preface: sacramental confession, Holy Communion, a visit to a church or public oratory and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father. For the plenary indulgences of the Rosary, no. 360 names specific conditions in each case, such as confession, Communion and a visit to a church.

How do you have a car blessed?

To have a car blessed, you ask a priest to say the Benedictio vehiculi seu currus from the Rituale Romanum. This blessing is not reserved to a bishop; any priest may give it. It consists of versicles, a prayer and the sprinkling with holy water.

Under the 1917 Code any priest can bless, except for the blessings reserved to the Pope, to bishops or to others (can. 1147 § 2). A blessing is valid only with the formula prescribed by the Church (can. 1148 § 2). In the 1925 edition of the Rituale Romanum the blessing of vehicles stands among the non-reserved blessings (Appendix, no. 25); the 1952 edition numbers it as Title IX, chapter 8, number 8. Reserved to the Ordinary, usually the bishop, or his delegate, by contrast, is the solemn blessing of a railway with its carriages (Benedictiones reservatae, no. 10).

Ask your parish priest or a priest of the Traditional Latin Mass after Holy Mass. The rosary itself is best blessed separately, with the blessing provided for rosaries.

Propitiáre, Dómine Deus, supplicatiónibus nostris, et béne ✠ dic currum istum déxtera tua sancta: adjúnge ad ipsum sanctos Angelos tuos, ut omnes, qui in eo vehéntur, líberent et custódiant semper a perículis univérsis: et quemádmodum viro Aethíopi super currum suum sedénti et sacra elóquia legénti, per Levítam tuum Philíppum fidem et grátiam contulísti; ita fámulis tuis viam salútis osténde, qui tua grátia adjúti bonísque opéribus júgiter inténti, post omnes viae et vitae hujus varietátes, aetérna gáudia cónsequi mereántur. Per Christum, Dóminum nostrum. Amen.

Be gracious, O Lord God, to our supplications, and bless ✠ this car with Thy holy right hand. Join to it Thy holy Angels, that they may ever deliver and guard from all dangers all who travel in it. And as Thou didst bestow faith and grace through Thy deacon Philip upon the man of Ethiopia, who sat in his chariot reading the sacred Scriptures, so show Thy servants the way of salvation, that, strengthened by Thy grace and ever intent on good works, they may deserve, after all the changes and chances of this way and of this life, to attain to everlasting joys. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Rituale Romanum, Benedictio vehiculi seu currus (1925 edition, Regensburg printing 1937, p. 417); our translation from the Latin

Mentioned in this article Paracord Finger Rosary, Silver/Black One decade for the road, hand-knotted from 550 paracord, with stainless steel beads, Pardon Crucifix and St Benedict medal. View the finger rosary Mentioned in this article Combat Rosary Compact Finger rosary with 6 mm copper beads on a ball chain, with a linen pouch for the road. View the finger rosary

Frequently asked questions about the rosary in the car