The Catholic Nook: Chaplet to Our Lady Star of the Sea (Stella Maris)

This is one of my very favorite Marian devotions, and this day is quickly becoming icky poo, so I desperately needed a soothing distraction. :)

I've blogged about my discovery of Our Lady under the title of "Star of the Sea/Stella Maris" here before, which was an interesting tale about a book that I read and a chaplet that I spotted in my favorite online rosary shop. For some reason, the title just evokes serene images to me, Our Lady dressed in blue, calming rough waters and coming to our aid, we all need that, right? So I thought I'd write about this devotion again and flesh it out a bit more, since it's been awhile since I've discussed it.

Our Lady Star of the Sea is traditionally the patroness of those who are seafarers. She is also, however, the patroness of all those needing guidance "on the sea of life" which is certainly all of us when we're going through a tough time. I think that's a lovely way of looking at things. The water of our life is going to always be a mixture of rough and calm, but it's a matter of finding a way to ride out the rough waters. We can ask for Our Lady's intercession for these intentions under this title.

Carm put together this page with information on the chaplet itself, and in an update since I wrote the post I linked to above a few years ago, I acquired a Stella Maris chaplet. I don't think it's a surprise to anybody that I acquire as many rosaries and chaplets as is humanly possible, because I love them so much:

I am lovely.

Here I am posing with it, because I am a nerd.

This chaplet has a Stella Maris medal on which you say a special prayer asking for Our Lady's intercession, and there are three beads on the "drop" prior to the chaplet center. On these three beads you recite an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be for the intentions of the pope, your bishop, and your parish priest. Moving past the center, we now have 12 beads which represent the 12 stars of Mary's crown. On each of these beads, you pray a Hail Mary, ending each with:

"Our Lady Star of the Sea, help and protect us! Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands."

It doesn't take long to pray this chaplet, and I always feel SO much better after doing so. I'm planning to pray one on my way home from work, so if you'd like me to add your intention, just leave me a comment. :)

My beautiful chaplet was a gift from my knitting friends, who purchased it from Carm's shop. She doesn't have any Stella Maris chaplets listed now, but if she does, they will appear in the chaplets section, and you can always request a custom order from her if you would like your own. I just love the blue/green and dark blue sparkly beads on mine, very water-inspired.

This is one of my favorite chaplets. Perhaps it will become one of yours too!