The Anglican Tradition:

The Anglican Rosary relates contemplative prayer to several levels of traditional Christian symbolism. Contemplative prayer is enriched by these symbols whose purpose is always to focus and concentrate attention, allowing the one who prays to move more swiftly into the God's Presence.

The circle of the Anglican Rosary symbolizes the wheel of time. Prayer, which moves around the wheel of the Rosary, represents the Christian's spiritual pilgrimage through time following Christ as Lord.

The Anglican Rosary is made up of thirty-three beads divided into four groups of seven called weeks. Between each week is a single bead called a cruciform bead.

Symbolism of Four (Cruciform)
In Christian tradition the number four represents several sacred truths. Following are just a sampling of those.

• Four quadrants of the church's year.
• Four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance - the four corners in the moral foundation of all human life.
• Four weeks to a lunar
• Four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west
• Four primary elements: earth, water, wind, and fire.

Symbolism of Seven (Weeks)
The number seven repeats four times in the Rosary and creates a conventional month. In the Judeo-Christian tradition the number seven represents completion and spiritual perfection with prayer being the Christian's cry for completion.

Symbolic completion is represented by adding together the four weeks of seven week beads to the four cruciform beads plus the additional entry bead representing the divine Unity at the beginning of the Rosary.

The full number of the beads, thirty-three, (the number of years Christ lived), prayed three times (signifying the Trinity) equals ninety-nine. Adding the crucifix at the beginning or the end, brings the total to one hundred which is the total of the Orthodox Rosary and represents the fullness of creation.