Lestovki

[JM]

What can you tell me about the lestovki? Is it still being used? Anyone here use one?

 

[Anhelyna]

Yes - I do

 

[JM]

Where can I find one?

 

[Anhelyna]

AHA - now that's the interesting part - there are plenty available on the dreaded eBay or you could try [ which I think is possibly better ] the Church of the Nativity in Erie. Beware though - they are not cheap as they are handmade .

I actually have a few - but I mainly use my mini lestovka as I term it - because I have damaged sensation in both hands - and this I can feel and use easily - mine is very soft and pliable.

This is very like my little one

Mine is black and as it is small I can use it easily in Church when Father is preaching - I don't speak Ukrainian and he preaches first in Ukrainian and then in English

 

[JM]

Interesting. Thank you.

 

[Anhelyna]

You are welcome . I also strongly recommend the Old Orthodox Prayer Book - also available from Erie

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Orthodox...7757&sr=1-5&keywords=old+orthodox+prayer+book

 

[JM]

Intro to this vid is pretty cool.

 

[All4Christ]

Levstoka?

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Levstoka?

Lestovka...old style Russian prayer rope...Lestovki is plural

 

[All4Christ]

Lestovka...old style Russian prayer rope...Lestovki is plural

Thanks!

 

[ArmyMatt]

St Seraphim of Sarov used them (and often has one in his icons). canonical Old Believers still use them as well. a priest I know (before he was ordained) got one I think in Erie at the cathedral there

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I hear Lestovki 'R Us has plenty. Free shipping.

 

[~Anastasia~]

AHA - now that's the interesting part - there are plenty available on the dreaded eBay or you could try [ which I think is possibly better ] the Church of the Nativity in Erie. Beware though - they are not cheap as they are handmade .

I actually have a few - but I mainly use my mini lestovka as I term it - because I have damaged sensation in both hands - and this I can feel and use easily - mine is very soft and pliable.

This is very like my little one
View attachment 184362

Mine is black and as it is small I can use it easily in Church when Father is preaching - I don't speak Ukrainian and he preaches first in Ukrainian and then in English

Soft sounds nice ... but I'm thinking it's not easy to change shapes.

I was wondering earlier today how long prayer ropes ought to last, or if there is a way to soften them. They seem to become hard with use.

 

[Anhelyna]

Can't answer that one Anastasia - since I can't use a knotted prayer rope - I can't feel the knots unless they are really big This is why I usually use wooden beaded Chotki or this lovely little Lestovka - there's a very marked beginning /end [ if you see what I mean] to the bead or rung on the ladder.

 

[jckstraw72]

I could send you one from here in Holy Mother Russia, the Third Rome of Moscow!

 

[~Anastasia~]

Can't answer that one Anastasia - since I can't use a knotted prayer rope - I can't feel the knots unless they are really big This is why I usually use wooden beaded Chotki or this lovely little Lestovka - there's a very marked beginning /end [ if you see what I mean] to the bead or rung on the ladder.

My knots are on the small side and sometimes I count one twice or miss one. But overall I do well enough. The exact count isn't usually so important for me. In fact, my favorite is one I picked up at the monastery and it has no beads - just some threads making the shape of a cross on one knot so that I can check and see if I've gone round if I want to, but I can also just pray uninterrupted too. The beads and tassel tend to distract me sometimes.

But that one is getting hard now too, and it's wool. It's still useable, but I wish they would stay soft. The knots are more easily felt if they are hard though.

For whatever reason, my SF insisted that I use a regular knotted prayer rope when I was fairly newly with him. I needed a longer one and couldn't afford it, so my plan was to make my own with beads, but he told me no. I'm not sure if it would still matter to him anymore. But I'm so used to the knotted rope that it might prove a distraction to change to something as different as a lestovka. I had been interested to try one before though.

 

[JM]

I could send you one from here in Holy Mother Russia, the Third Rome of Moscow!