Prayer beads as an aid to prayer
By Sharon Ely Pearson, former diocesan Christian education resource consultant (c) Good News, August/September 2001
Major religions have for centuries advocated the use of prayer beads as an aid to prayer. Since the earliest of times, people have used pebbles or a string of knots or beads on a cord to keep track of prayers offered to God.
Originally, a form of repetitive prayer was devised, enabling one to pray while doing routine jobs and between activities. Today, most of us are familiar with the Roman Catholic “Rosary,” and perhaps Hindu “Mala Beads,” Moslem or Buddhist prayer beads.
In recent years, a phenomenon has been circulating the Episcopal Church in a variety of settings including Education for Ministry, Christian Education conferences, the General Convention, and Spirituality Centers. Anglican Prayer Beads, also known as the Anglican Rosary or Christian Rosary, combines elements of both the Orthodox prayer rope (“Chotki”) and the Marian Rosary.
Since its beginning in the 1980s, the popularity of these prayer beads has grown rapidly with adults and children as an aid to learning contemplative prayer. Unlike the Catholic Rosary of 59 beads and the Hindu “Mala” of 108, Anglican Prayer Beads consist of 33 beads, the number of years in Jesus’ life. Grounded in incarnational theology and the Celtic view of the sanctity of all creation, the 33 beads are divided into four sets of 7 beads called “weeks.”
The number 7 represents wholeness and completion, reminding us of the 7 days of creation, the 7 days of the temporal week, the 7 seasons of the church year, and the 7 sacraments. Four larger “cruciform” beads separate the “week,” symbolizing the 4 points of the cross and its centrality in our lives and faith, the 4 seasons of the temporal year and the 4 points on a compass.
A cross is used instead of a crucifix, symbolizing the risen Christ, which is placed next to an “invitatory bead” which serves as an entrance point from the cross into prayer. The use of Prayer Beads is a very personal invitation to prayer. The prayers said can be recited aloud or in silence, in a group or alone.
There are a variety of prayers that have been written for its use, or one can be spontaneous, using a favorite Psalm, Scripture passage or Hymn. In using the beads, hold the Cross between one’s fingers to begin and then move around the beads. The first bead (Invitatory) invites us into God’s presence, in a similar way as the opening psalm of the Daily Office. Enter the circle of the rosary with one of the four larger beads (Cruciform), saying a prayer.
Each small bead can serve as a particular petition or mantra of thanks. Using a combination of the Trisagion (“Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One”) and the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”) are often used. Continue to pray around the circle, exiting by way of the Invitatory Bead and Cross. This can be repeated as much as one wants, becoming a lullaby of love and praise that allows the mind to rest and the heart to become quiet and still.
Prayer Beads use our mental, emotional and physical nature as well as our spiritual. It leads us to the center of our being - our heart. Feeling the solidness of a bead in one’s fingers can help one be mindful of creation and the world, while allowing the repetition of the prayers lead into contemplation. Perhaps because so many of us find it difficult to “quiet one’s mind” in today’s overactive culture, the tactile aid of holding beads in our hands allows our minds to block out other distractions. They can be held while sitting in traffic, in one’s pocket at the grocery store check-out line, or walking on the beach. It can be a powerful meditation tool in which an individual and personal door can be opened to a conversation with God.
Praying with Anglican Prayer Beads
By Sharon Ely Pearson, former diocesan Christian education resource consultant
(c) Good News, August/September 2001
(Ed. note: There are 33 beads, in four sets of seven, with each set separated by a slightly larger "cruciform" bead. Enter the beads through a cross, then an invitatory bead, then the first of the four cruciform beads. Going around the circle, pray through each set of beads and cruciform beads, ending through the invitatory bead and cross again. Two examples are below; others are in the article above.)
Example 1:
Cross: The Lord’s Prayer
Invitatory: Prayer before worship (BCP 364)
Cruciform beads: Sing or say a verse from a favorite Hymn or Song of Praise The Weeks: One prayer for each bead as follows:
First set of seven: Adoration
Second set of seven: Confession
Third set of seven: Thanksgiving
Fourth set of seven: Supplication and Petition
Invitatory: Prayer after worship (BCP 834)
Cross: The Lord’s Prayer
Example 2:
Cross: In the name of God the Creator, God the Redeemer, God the Sustainer, open my heart to Your grace and truth.
Invitatory: Spirit of the living God, come as a gentle breeze and dwell in my heart.
Cruciform beads: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.
My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.
The Weeks: Holy Jesus, Merciful Redeemer, enfold my spirit within your spirit.
Invitatory: Spirit of the living God, come as a gentle breeze and dwell in my heart.
Cross: In the name of God the Creator, God the Redeemer, God the Sustainer, open my heart to Your grace and truth.
Directions for making prayer beads
By Sharon Ely Pearson, former diocesan Christian education resource consultant
Making Anglican Prayer Beads Stone Cross Kit
28 8mm beads (“small”)
4 12mm beads (“cruciform”)
1 white stone / 10 mm bead (“invitatory”)
1 stone cross
1 32" waxed linen cord
1. Fold linen cord about 1/3 of the way down and thread folded end through cross, then put loose ends through the loop and pull tight to secure the cross.
2. Tie a little knot near the cross.
3. Put both ends through the white stone invitatory bead and tie another fat little knot above it.
4. Put one end of the cord through one cruciform bead and the other end through the same bead in the opposite direction.
5. Now, on the longer end of the cord, place: • 7 small • 1 cruciform • 7 small • 1 cruciform • 7 small • 1 cruciform • 7 small
6. This makes 4 “weeks” of 7 beads each, divided by the larger bead.
7. Bring the cord you have been working on (now full of beads) back through the first cruciform bead.
8. Adjust the tension of the beads to your liking, and tie a square knot with the two loose ends snugly under the first cruciform bead.
9. Clip ends neatly.
Recommended Resources
"Holding Your Prayers in Your Hands: Praying the Anglican Rosary" by Kris
Elliot & Betty Kay Seibt, 2505 Craig Lane, Denton, Texas 76201. 68 pages (1997)
Open Hands, 624 West University Drive, PMB 110, Denton, Texas 76201 or
bkseibt@iglobal.net
"Awake My Soul: A Liturgical Resource for use with Children and Adults" Julia
R. Huttar-Bailey & Ernesto R. Medina, co-editors. The Office for Children's
Ministries, Episcopal Church Center. 68 pages, (2000) $5.00+s/h Episcopal
Parish Services (1-800-903-5544) or http://www.episcopalchurch.org/myp
Other sources:
"A Doorway to Silence" by Robert Llewelyn, Darton, Longman & Todd, London
"A Rosary for Episcopalians" Incarnation Priory, 1601 Oxford Street,
Berkeley, California
"Reconsidering the Rosary" by Anthony Price, Grove Books Ltd., Bidley Hall
Rd., Cambridge, England CB3 9HU
For Books & Prayer Beads:
Viva! Bookstore - San Antonio, Texas (1-800-826-1143)
Cokesbury Bookstore at Virginia Theological Seminary (1-703-370-6600)
Episcopal Church Center Book Store (815 Second Avenue, New York)
(1-800-334-7626 x6118 or bookstore@episcopalchurch.org)
Soliatries of DeKoven
1101 County Road 204
Santa Anna, TX 76878
www.solitariesofdekoven.org
Trinity Episcopal Church, Bethlehem, PA
www.trinitybeth.org/prayerbeads.html -
(A ministry of this parish is to make Anglican Prayer Beads)
