30 day Orthodox challenge
Day 10 — How many prayer ropes do you have?
Hmm… let me think. I think I have around 6 prayer ropes. The majority of them are in my icon corner. My most favourite is a prayer bracelet that is blessed from my priest, it’s a special gift.
Love is a prayer rope,
Like fingers moving along the prayers,
Life runs along our lovestory,
From moment to moment
along the thread of time,
From knot to knot
along the prayer life;
Until at the end,
our fingers holding the cross,
to help our hearts broken by love,
to bow down at its foot,
for a final kiss.
- Copyright 2012 V. Borisevitch (Tr: Nikita Eike)
Hello dear friend! :)
Sure I can :) Well, both of them are forms of prayer. The prayer rope is used by the Orthodox Christians and the Rosary is used by Catholics. They are really important for the spiritual lives of the believers.
I’ll start with prayer rope, with which I am more familiar. It is an ancient Eastern Orthodox tradition. We use it to pray to Jesus Christ. It is usually made of wool but sometimes of wood that is used during praying to keep track of the number of prayers which have been said. It is part of the habit of Eastern Orthodox monks and nuns. The rope is usually used with the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” After this, we often say “Most Holy Theotokos save us (through your prayers to Jesus)”. According to the Orthodox tradition, the method of tying the prayer rope had its origins from the Father of Orthodox monasticism, Saint Anthony the Great.
Now on the Rosary… It is a Marian devotion to prayer and the commemoration of Jesus Christ and events of his life. The prayers said on rosary are the repetition of the “Hail Mary…” and its meditations. The Rosary is known in many parts of the world, mostly in western countries.
Hmm… on which came first, I had to search a little about it. We read in orthodoxwiki the following:
The prayer rope was formed by St. Pachomius in the fourth century. From there the rosary developed, some say as early as the eighth century. It is said that even centuries later St. Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833) used it to pray to the Virgin Theotokos. In the thirteenth century, Roman Catholics started using in the West following its discovery by Dominic de Guzmán, a Spanish priest.
So, I hope my reply answers your question :)
Greetings from Greece!
1) Be mindful, O Lord, for the peace of the world!
2) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our Church and our Orthodoxy.
3) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our Bishop and his clergy.
4) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on all Orthodox clergy and laity in every land.
5) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our spiritual father and his community.
6) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our country and on our armed forces.
7) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the civil authorities.
8) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on those who hate us, on those who love us, and those who pray for us.
9) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our parents, our sponsors, and our teachers.
10) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our brethren and relatives, according to the flesh and spiritual.
11) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the elderly and the monastics.
12) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on infants, the defenseless, and the powerless.
13) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the youth in schools.
14) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the adolescent and our youth.
15) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the drug-addicted, alcoholics, and smokers.
16) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the marriages of Orthodox families.
17) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our sisters who are pregnant.
18) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the widows and orphans.
19) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our brothers and sisters who are martially separated and tempted.
20) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the weak in soul and body.
21) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on those who do works of mercy and labor in the holy monasteries and parishes.
22) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the pious pilgrims of monasteries and churches.
23) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on those who journey by sea, by land, or by air, those who are imprisoned and the despairing.
24) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on the poor and our brethren who are afflicted.
25) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on our judges and elected representatives.
26) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on those who are deceived and blaspheme our Orthodoxy.
27) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and grant peaceful seasons.
28) O Lord Jesus Christ, guard us from sickness, wrath, and danger, and enlighten our physicians and nurses.
29) O Lord Jesus Christ, guard us from poverty, danger, and misfortune.
30) O Lord Jesus Christ, guard us from heat, fire, and earthquake.
31) O Lord Jesus Christ, guard us from flood, drowning, and frost.
32) O Lord Jesus Christ, grant rest also to the souls of our fathers, mothers, brethren, relatives, grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
33) O Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, the sinner!
Love alone is enough to make a miracle happen. Neither Prayer nor the Komboskini (Prayer rope) have such power.
From the book: ”Mother Gabriel, The Ascetic of Love”, by Sister Gabriel.
