Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Exodus 20:4
"Every one knows how thoroughly Romanist
is the use of the rosary; and how the devotees of Rome mechanically tell their
prayers upon their beads. The rosary, however, is no invention of the Papacy.
It is of the highest antiquity, and almost universally found among Pagan nations.
It is
commonly employed among the Brahmins of Hindustan; and in 
the Hindoo sacred
books reference is made to it again and again. Thus, in an account of the death
of Sati, the wife of Shiva, we find the rosary introduced: "On hearing of this
event, Shiva fainted from grief; then, having recovered, he hastened to the
banks of the river of heaven, where he beheld lying the body of his beloved
Sati, arrayed in white garments, holding a rosary in her hand, and glowing with
splendor, bright as burnished gold."
In Tibet it has been used from time immemorial,
and among all the millions in the East that adhere to the Buddhist faith.
The laity in China sometimes wear this at the wrist, perfumed with musk,
and give it the name of Heang-choo, or fragrant beads.
In Asiatic Greece the
rosary was commonly used, as may be seen 
from the image of the Ephesian Diana.
In Pagan Rome the same appears to have been the case. The necklaces which the
Roman ladies wore were not merely ornamental bands about the neck, but hung
down the breast, just as the modern rosaries do; and the name by which they
were called indicates the use to which they were applied. "Monile," the ordinary
word for a necklace, can have no other meaning than that of a "Remembrancer."
Now, whatever might be the pretense, in the first instance, for the introduction
of such "Rosaries" or "Remembrancers," the very idea of such a thing is thoroughly
Pagan.
* It supposes that a certain number of prayers must be regularly gone
over; it overlooks the grand demand which God makes for the heart, and leads
those who use them to believe that form and routine are everything." TwoBabylons
