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7 1/2" prayer rope in black. Made of high quality wool with tightly pulled complex knots. Made with the traditional knotted cross where the prayer rope joins together to form the loop.
This prayer rope has the traditional tassel - which, in tradition,
serves to dry the tears shed due to heartfelt contrition for one's
sins. The tassel can also be said to represent the glory of the
Heavenly Kingdom, which one can only enter through the Cross.
The history behind Prayer Ropes:
A prayer rope is used by Eastern Orthodox Christians and Eastern
Catholics to count the number of times they have prayed the Jesus Prayer
(or - for Catholics - the Angelic Salutation).
Tradition says that monks used to gather and move small pebbles to count
their prayers. To make the counting easier, the practice developed
into tying knots in a rope so that the monks could count their prayers
knot by knot. To keep the devil from untying the knots, a cross is made
on the rope.
Prayer ropes come in different bead of knot numbers - the most
traditional are 33 knots, 50 knots and 100 knots. The knots are
sometimes referred to as "Tears of the Mother of God".
- 33 knots represents the years of Christ's life.
- 50 knots represents the number of days between Pascha and Pentecost.
- 100 knots represents the number of days between the beginning of the Great Fast and Pentecost.
When praying, the prayer rope is normally held in the left hand, leaving
the right hand free to make the Sign of the Cross. When not in use, the
prayer rope is wrapped around the left wrist or placed in the left
pocket.
The prayer rope is considered to be the sword of the Spirit, because
prayer which is heartfelt and inspired by the grace of the Holy Spirit
is a weapon that defeats the Devil.
St Paul, in his Epistle to the Thessalonians admonishes us to "pray
without ceasing". The most traditional prayer said with the Prayer rope
is the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a
sinner". This prayer aims to provide for inner peace and allows one
to draw nearer to God.
Other terms for Prayer Ropes
Greek: κομποσκοίνι
- or kombioskini
Russian: вервица
Romanian: mătănii
Macedonian and Serbian: бројаница / brojanica,
Bulgarian: броеница
Chord knots are called "chotki" in Russian and "martyria" in Greek.
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