The Prayer Rope

Horseless Headsman

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"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
I'm speaking of the red beads in this photo, for example.

uploadfromtaptalk1455254347352.jpg
 
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~Anastasia~

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There is nothing set. It's not like the prayers on a Catholic rosary. Sometimes I pray the Our Father, or "By the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us."

A prayer rope I recently received has the beads at intervals of 10 instead of 25, so I stay with the Jesus Prayer on the beads too, so that I'm not interrupted so often and the beads just count off 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77 (etc.) prayers.
 
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Horseless Headsman

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There is nothing set. It's not like the prayers on a Catholic rosary. Sometimes I pray the Our Father, or "By the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us."

A prayer rope I recently received has the beads at intervals of 10 instead of 25, so I stay with the Jesus Prayer on the beads too, so that I'm not interrupted so often and the beads just count off 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77 (etc.) prayers.
I pray the Lord's Prayer, Glory Be, or Trisagion. I've always wondered if there was a standard, but had never seen anything on it.

Ironically, "By the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us" was prayed on Ancient Faith Radio as I was typing my reply.
 
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~Anastasia~

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Yes, I've also prayed Glory Be or the Trisagion. I like all of them. Sometimes it depends on my mood or what I feel like praying I guess. But there's no standard, unless your SF or director assigns one. Mine hasn't.

I kind of wish the beads weren't at intervals of 10 on my nicest prayer rope. It was a gift from a monk friend who is a bishop in ... I'm always forgetting. I think his monastery is in Lebanon? But it's beautifully tied, wool, and all the knots are perfectly consistent. The beads are the same size and shape as the knots, just a little harder, so I treat them like knots when I pray. But that means I only get to say an interval prayer after 100. I prefer them around 25 or 33. But I can't complain - it's such a nice prayer rope. I hope I will work around to using it differently in the future, or else manage to commission him to make another for me with beads further apart. I like to have interval prayers a little more often. :)

I have another very simple one made by an iconographer friend that has intervals of 25, also a gift. :) It's easier to carry without notice, so I take that one to Church or often carry it in my purse to use elsewhere. I get to pray the intervals I want with that one. :)
 
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Anhelyna

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I have both Chotki [ in wood ] and what I term a mini Lestovka [http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/2819...ICEP3.0.0-L&ff14=122&viphx=1&ops=true&ff13=80 ] as well as a larger Lestovka.

I have damaged sensation in both hands and have discovered that if I'm using a woollen prayer rope I can't feel the knots - but I can feel the wooden beads on my Chotki.

My 'mini' lestovka is wonderful to use - it's soft and I can feel each rung without a problem and being so small it's very inconspicuous in use [ think when our priest is preaching in Ukrainian ;) ]

I just use " Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner " on each bead/rung.
 
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~Anastasia~

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I have both Chotki [ in wood ] and what I term a mini Lestovka [http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/2819...ICEP3.0.0-L&ff14=122&viphx=1&ops=true&ff13=80 ] as well as a larger Lestovka.

I have damaged sensation in both hands and have discovered that if I'm using a woollen prayer rope I can't feel the knots - but I can feel the wooden beads on my Chotki.

My 'mini' lestovka is wonderful to use - it's soft and I can feel each rung without a problem and being so small it's very inconspicuous in use [ think when our priest is preaching in Ukrainian ;) ]

I just use " Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner " on each bead/rung.

I've wondered what using a lestovka would be like. I've seen only pictures, so I have to just imagine. I'm thankful you have something that works for you. :)

I first made a chotki out of beads when my SF changed my prayer rule, but he insisted I get a traditional prayer rope instead. I'm still not sure why. I do find it rather amusing though that the chotki I had made actually burst apart and sent beads flying everywhere - I still have not managed to collect them all! - I think the day after he told me not to use it. (As I recall, I DID toy with the idea of using it anyway, at least temporarily, because I could not afford to buy a prayer rope of that length. So there's a bit of shame in that story for me.)

(And, btw, I am experienced at making jewelry by hand. I used a strong silk cord and doubled it - the bursting apart should not have been possible. I wanted exactly to prevent such a thing and losing my chotki.)

The result though was a gift of two prayer ropes from my iconographer and monk friends, the permanent addition of both of them on my prayer lists, and a greater awareness than ever of how the faithful at my own parish and all over the world have helped me (these prayer ropes coming from Lebanon(?) and Australia) and more intentional prayer for all the faithful all over the world as a result.

I've been curious about lestovka. But I don't dare ask my SF or look for one, lol.
 
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