How to use a prayer rope?

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I am considering buying one. How do you pray a prayer rope? From what I have seen there are 100, 50 and 33 knot prayer ropes. How long does it take to prayer a 100 knot prayer rope? 50 knot? 33 knot?

Thanks and God bless,
ZP
 
What is a prayer rope?
Do you mean some variation on a set of rosary beads?
 
Reepicheep said:
What is a prayer rope?
Do you mean some variation on a set of rosary beads?
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No - it’s used in the Eastern Christian tradition for praying the “Jesus Prayer” (some variation of “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner”).

Here’s the wikipedia entry on “prayer ropes” which has some fairly accurate info & a couple of good photos.

Most Eastern Christian supply stores will have them. You might check to see if there are any Eastern Catholic churches in your area - many of them have gift shops where they sell such items.

I myself run a little gift shop at our church (St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic church in Sherman Oaks, CA), and we have a couple of small prayer ropes (called “chotkis”) made from wool at a nearby monastery. (Stop by and tell me you saw this post and I’ll give you a discount! 😉 )
 
theistgal said:
No - it’s used in the Eastern Christian tradition for praying the “Jesus Prayer” (some variation of “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner”).

Here’s the wikipedia entry on “prayer ropes” which has some fairly accurate info & a couple of good photos.

Most Eastern Christian supply stores will have them. You might check to see if there are any Eastern Catholic churches in your area - many of them have gift shops where they sell such items.

I myself run a little gift shop at our church (St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic church in Sherman Oaks, CA), and we have a couple of small prayer ropes (called “chotkis”) made from wool at a nearby monastery. (Stop by and tell me you saw this post and I’ll give you a discount! 😉 )
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Thanks theistgal 👍

How is a prayer rope used? I would like to purchase one from one of our Catholics stores here in Albuquerque (if they have one). If not I will contact the Priest at the Byzantine Catholic Church here in town. Maybe even the Greek Orthodox Church.

I also saw that there are 300, 100, 50, and 33 knot. How long does it take to pray at 300 knot prayer rope compared to lets say a 50 knot?

Thanks,
ZP
 
There are many ways of praying the Jesus Prayer, and often one will pray according to the guidance of the spiritual father.

One common rule for the Jesus Prayer is the “Rule of St. Pachomius”:

By the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on us. Amen.

Glory be to You, our God, glory be to You.

Heavenly King, Advocate, Spirit of Truth, Who are everywhere present and fill all things, Treasury of blessings and Bestower of Life, come and dwell within us; cleanse of all that defiles us, and O Good One save our souls!

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us. Thrice.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and for ages of ages. Amen.

Trinity most holy, have mercy on us. Cleanse us of our sins, O Lord; pardon our transgressions, O Master; look upon our weaknesses and heal them, O Holy One, for the sake of Your name!

Lord, have mercy. Thrice

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and for ages of ages. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

By the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on us. Amen.

Lord have mercy (X12).

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and for ages of ages. Amen.

Come, let us bow in worship before our King and God!

Come, let us bow in worship before Christ, our King and God!

Come, let us bow in worship and fall down before the very Lord Jesus Christ, our King and God!

Have mercy on me O God, in the greatness of Your compassion; according to the multitude of Your mercies blot out my offence. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. Against You alone have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, that You may be justified when You speak and win when You are judged. Behold, in wickedness I was conceived and in sin my mother bore me. For see, You have loved truth; You have shown me the hidden and secret things of Your wisdom. Sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness; the bones that were crushed shall rejoice. Turn Your face from my sins and blot out all my lawlessness. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not from Your presence, nor deprive me of Your Holy Spirit. Give me again the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with Your sovereign Spirit. I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall ring out Your justice. Lord, You will open my lips, and my tongue shall ring out Your justice. Lord, You will open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise. For if You had wanted sacrifice, I would have given it; You will not take pleasure in burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit. A humbled and contrite heart God will not spurn. Deal favorably, O Lord, with Sion in Your good pleasure and let the walls of Jerusalem be rebuilt. Then You will be well pleased with a sacrifice of justice, oblations and holocausts; then they will lay calves upon Your altar.

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,* maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.* I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,* eternally begotten of the Father.* Light from Light, true God from true God,* begot¬ten, not made, one in being with the Father.* Through Him all things were made.* For us men and for our salvation He came down from heaven:* by the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary,* and became man.* For our sake He was cru¬cified under Pontius Pilate;* He suffered, died, and was buried.* On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;* He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.* He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,* and His kingdom will have no end.* I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,* who proceeds from the Father.* With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified.* He has spoken through the Prophets.* I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.* I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.* I look for the resurrection of the dead,* and the life of the world to come. Amen.

**Jesus Prayer **(Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner) X 100.

It is truly right to bless you, O God-bearing One, as the ever blessed and immaculate mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and by far more glorious than the Seraphim, ever a virgin you gave birth to God the Word. O True Mother of God, we magnify you!

Glory…now…
Lord, have mercy (X3). O Lord, bless.
O Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, by the prayers of Your most immaculate Mother, our holy and god-bearing fathers, and all the saints, have mercy on us and save us for You are good and love mankind.
 
One can also just say “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” or even a shorter version of this on each knot.
 
Formosus said:
One can also just say “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” or even a shorter version of this on each knot.
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Thanks for the info. So you can say the prayer on each knot. I have noticed beads on the prayer ropes as well. What do you say when you come to a bead? Thanks,

God bless,
ZP
 
ziapueblo said:
Thanks for the info. So you can say the prayer on each knot. I have noticed beads on the prayer ropes as well. What do you say when you come to a bead? Thanks,

God bless,
ZP
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There is no “official” rule for the prayer rope comparable to the Western Rosary. My experience has been a rope of just knots and a prayer said on each knot. That way, if your rope has 50 knots and you want to pray the Jesus Prayer 100 times, you know that you have reached your goal when you’ve gone around the rope twice.
 
I am new here so please bear with me.

If anyone is interested in a prayer rope I make them.

Mind you they are not made from wool but I make them from silk cord which is permissible.

If anyone wants a prayer rope I make them in lots of colors, but at the moment I only stock 4 colors. I can get other colors by the end of the month.

I charge $10 for 33 knots, $15 for 50 knots, $25 for 100 knots, and $30 for 150 knots.

I do make larger ones such as 300 and 500 but these take a lot more time and pricing will vary depending on what you want.
 
I have a 100-knot prayer rope, with a cross and with beads every 10 knots.

Here is what I do:

on the cross: the Apostles’ Creed
on knots: the Jesus Prayer
on beads: the Anima Christi prayer

but thats just me
 
Trilor said:
I have a 100-knot prayer rope, with a cross and with beads every 10 knots.

Here is what I do:

on the cross: the Apostles’ Creed
on knots: the Jesus Prayer
on beads: the Anima Christi prayer

but thats just me
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Cool.

I guess traditionally a prayer rope is wrapped around the left wrist and worn to remind us to continue to pray. Do you or anyone else wear a prayer rope in this way?
 
I can’t speak for the prayer ropes but when I prayed the Rosary the first time last week it took me 40 minutes. I was told by a friend that some can do it in 6 minutes. So to sum it up, it would depend overall on experience and depth of prayer to lengthen or shorten the time it would take to pray a prayer rope. HTH.
 
Traditionally on the dividing beads is said: Most Holy Theotokos save us!
 
Just some advice, I wouldn’t prayer the Jesus prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner) or any version of this unless you’re under the direction of an experienced master of this prayer method. There is spiritual danger in this prayer that only a spiritual father can guide and help you through. Almost everywhere where it talks about the fruits of the Jesus prayer, it also talks about the dangers and how you need a spiritual father to guide you or else you shouldn’t pray it. I’d recommend talking to your priest about this and if he’s of the western rite, maybe also talking with an eastern rite Catholic or Orthodox priest (just because I’ve heard that this is not a popular prayer in the western rite but a western rite priest may know about it, I’m not sure). I don’t mean this as a discouragement, but just to warn you about it since you may not be familiar with the dangers. And if you can’t find a spiritual father, there’s always other prayers to the saints and the Theotokos that you can pray instead of the Jesus prayer.

Best of luck 🙂
 
I would say the danger is not the Prayer itself but the attempting of Hesychast practices that need not accompany the Prayer and which require the guidance of an experienced spiritual father. The practice of the simple recitation of the prayer is still of great spiritual benefit and can be safely practiced without supervision.

Fr. Deacon Lance
 
Deacon_Lance said:
I would say the danger is not the Prayer itself but the attempting of Hesychast practices that need not accompany the Prayer and which require the guidance of an experienced spiritual father. The practice of the simple recitation of the prayer is still of great spiritual benefit and can be safely practiced without supervision.

Fr. Deacon Lance
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Forgive my ignorance on the subject Father Deacon, but could you possibly explain the difference in praying the prayer simply without hesychast practices and praying it with hesychast practices? Thank you
 
In simplest terms practicing Hesychasm means one devotes an immense amount of time to reciting the Jesus Prayer combined with extreme physical and mental ascesis. The mental ascesis involves the analysis of the temptations and distractions that assualt one during prayer and their rejection. Perfection of this leads to spiritual sobriety-nepsis. This allows one to move the prayer from the mind to the heart, empting the mind of images and achieving inner stillness and through this to true contemplation of God which may result in the vison of the Uncreated Light as witnessed on Mt. Tabor. In practical terms this can only be undertaken by an experienced monastic under the guidance of an even more experienced monastic.

On the otherhand, simple repition of the Jesus Prayer without undertaking the extreme mental ascesis is often prescribed as a prayer rule itself or as part of a prayer rule by spiritual fathers. Modest use of the Jesus Prayer (100-300 repitions in a day) in this manner is of no danger.

Fr. Deacon Lance
 
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