Rosaries / About rosaries When it comes to religion, many immediately imagine a monk with a stern face, kneeling in front of an icon, saying a prayer and fingering his rosary.
This idea of a religious ritual is not far from the truth, although it is not limited to the participation of monks in it.
History knows many religions of ancient origin that were associated with pagan beliefs, that is, polytheism. However, over time, humanity moved to another phase of development, where monotheistic religions took the main place, where they began to worship one God.
Today there are four main religions in the world that unite more than 80% of the world's population: Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The latter is the most numerous, covering more than 34% of believers. One of the attributes used in Christianity when performing religious rites is the rosary.
Is it appropriate for everyone to use a rosary?
Rosary beads are mainly used in monasticism. Even though they are used for counting (the required number of bows or prayers), their value is much higher than that of a counting instrument.
The serious importance given to this remedy is evident from the fact that sometimes the rosary is compared and even called a spiritual sword. In principle, this is not surprising.
Firstly, the most important element of the rosary itself is the cross - the image of the Cross of Christ, the instrument of our Redemption, the sign of victory over death, the devil and sin.
Secondly, the rosary serves as a reminder of wakefulness and prayer, and participates in prayerful work—the communication of the person praying with God.
Despite the fact that the scope of use of rosaries is not limited to the area of monastic life (there are no strict generally binding prohibitions on this matter), there are still restrictions regarding the admissibility of their use among the laity.
First of all, to use the rosary, a lay person must take the blessing of a confessor.
The use of rosary beads should not be perceived by their owner as a fashionable attribute, much less as a sign of superiority over others. Rosary beads should not give rise to self-aggrandizement and pride. Otherwise, their use will be akin to pharisaism.
In this regard, some pastors recommend that their spiritual children use the rosary more or less secretly.
It must be remembered that the rosary, being a “spiritual sword” and containing a cross in its composition, requires a special, reverent attitude, as required by every image of the Orthodox Cross.
The life of a Christian ascetic is work and prayer. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) - these apostolic words encourage holy men to perform many prayers. But the most famous of them was the so-called Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner .
If you collect together all the works written by the holy fathers on doing the Jesus Prayer, you will get an extensive library. Brevity and simplicity allows any Christian to include it in his daily rule (of course, with the blessing of his confessor), saying it a certain number of times - 50, 100, 200... per day. But how can you pray and keep track of your counting at the same time? Rosary beads help with this.
What are rosary beads for?
A rosary in Orthodoxy is a thread connected in a circle with knots or strung beads made of wood, stone, glass and other materials. Orthodox rosaries, their meaning and the number of beads are different from the rosary used in other religions. An obligatory component of the Orthodox rosary is the cross. The number of knots or beads varies from 10 to 100; monks may have even more. 33 balls are often used, according to the years of the earthly life of Jesus Christ.
“Hold the rosary in your hands so as not to forget about prayer, which must be done internally in the heart. And when you leave your cell, remember that the enemy is ready to attack. Therefore, remember that a good soldier, leaving a trench, always holds a machine gun in his hands. The rosary has great power, it is a monk’s weapon, and the knots are bullets that mow down demons” (Reverend Paisius the Holy Mountain).
Orthodox rosary
Rosary shape
Modern rosary is a closed thread consisting of small “grains”, divided into dozens of larger “grains”. The most common number of “grains” is 50 or 100. Monastic rosaries sometimes contain 1000.
In ancient times in Rus', the rosary had a different shape - a closed ladder consisting of wooden blocks covered with leather or fabric. They were called “ladder” or “lestovka” (ladder) and spiritually designated the ladder of salvation, ascent to heaven. The closure of the rosary and rosary means unceasing, eternal prayer.
Orthodox rosary: meaning for monks
Prayer beads appeared around the 4th century in monastic monasteries. Most of the monks in those days were simple, illiterate people and did not know counting. And to fulfill the prayer rule, it was necessary to repeat a large number of prayers. Therefore, the rosary was invented by St. Pachomius the Great, the founder of the monastic community in Egypt (according to other sources, Basil the Great). Initially, they had an exclusively practical use: they allowed the monks not to be distracted by counting the prayers they had read.
Later, the rosary began to serve the monks as a reminder of unceasing prayer. Nowadays, every Christian who receives monastic tonsure is given a rosary to perform the prayer rule. Such a rule could be reading the Jesus Prayer 100 times and the “Virgin Mother of God” 50 times. But there are no clear requirements for how many times and what prayers to read.
How to use a rosary
The rosary helps to count (hence the name) the number of prayers or prostrations. The person praying fingers the “grains” with the fingers of his left hand at the same time as he begins to say a new prayer. Each bead is one prayer.
Having reached a large “grain”, they usually stop and read “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” or “It is worthy to eat”, then again the Jesus Prayer.
At the end of the prescribed number, it is customary to read the Lord’s Prayer “Our Father.” You can perform any other prayers using the rosary.
Rosary beads in Orthodoxy - how to use them correctly
It is important that the rosary lies comfortably in the hand and is not too heavy. Only complete consonance of this accessory with the owner will allow the person offering the prayer to completely relax and renounce the outside world.
You can read any prayers using the rosary, the main thing is that they come from the heart and are sincere. For daily appeals to God, it is recommended to read the prayer to Jesus: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” After reading 10 times, your fingers will feel the jumper on which you can read the prayer to the Mother of God: “Most Holy Mother of God, pray to God for us.”
If some situation requires special attention, then these prayers can be replaced with ones that suit the occasion: for the sick, for the child, for health, for peace. Carrying a rosary with you, at every opportunity, sort through the grains while offering a prayer. Over time, the words will flow on their own, without any effort, and the state of the person praying will be similar to a light trance.
Monks and Orthodox ministers regard their rosary as a strong amulet against evil spirits and evil spirits, so they do not let go of this accessory, associating it with the holy shield.
Did you like it? Tell us about us
For prayer and health
Using a rosary brings not only spiritual fulfillment when reading a prayer, but also adds physical health.
Touching their elements with your fingers allows you to renounce worldly problems, calm your nerves, and relieve the stressful situation in which a person finds himself.
Their use is very useful for joint diseases, when the fingers of the upper limbs move poorly, to reduce the intensity of headaches. Fingering them after strokes is especially effective for restoring motor activity of the fingers.
When, when fingering, the knuckles of the rosary are pressed against the nail phalanx of the index finger, this helps to activate the gastrointestinal tract. To improve vision, you should use your fingertips.
Slavic rosaries are worn on the hand, and ring beads on the finger
Handling the rope with your right hand
Handle the links correctly after each prayer with your thumb, as shown in the photo. You need to pray with love and reverence, thinking that you are standing before the Lord. Say the words of prayers quietly and slowly.
You can perform prayer either standing or sitting, and if fatigue overcomes you, then lying down, and best of all, in complete solitude. Laymen can wear Slavic rosaries for convenience by wrapping them around their hands. Finger rosaries are usually placed on the index finger, and the beads are fingered with the thumb of the same hand.
The rosary can be kept in a home holy corner between the pages of church books
Orthodox rosaries should be used exclusively for their intended purpose. Treat with reverence and store in a specially designated place.
By leaving a comment, you accept the user agreement
Appearance
The design of the rosary is simple: it is an ordinary bracelet made of medium-sized beads, without a lock or fastening. All beads are strung on waxed thread.
It is easy to distinguish a real rosary from an ordinary model of souvenir beads - Buddhist rosaries have an inconspicuous knot after each bead, symbolizing the connection of each person with the creator of the world. In fact, all the information that signifies the passage of the Buddha’s spiritual practices is encoded in the rosary.
This design is completed with a large additional bead with a small thread “tail”.
In Buddhism, the main grain of a rosary is a symbol of Wisdom, if it is cylindrical, or Method, if the bead is a cone. The thread tail speaks of the freedom of choice of every person who finds and accepts religion and supporters on their own.
Such beads of increased size can be with hieroglyphs. For example, the hieroglyph sayxin may be inscribed there, which allows one to bring the natural principle of a person to harmony.
How many beads can there be in a rosary?
In classic Orthodox rosaries, the number of beads can be selected based on two principles. In the first case, there are 33 of them, which indicates the amount of Christ’s earthly age. The most popular are ropes with a number of beads that are multiples of ten. In a monastic “spiritual sword,” the number of beads is most often 100, but can reach up to a thousand.
Each ten beads are separated from each other by a separator different from the main set. This could be a bead of a different size, or shape, or another object that will stand out from the crowd to the touch.
"Tail"
It is worth talking in more detail about the final component of the rosary, the thread “tail,” since its color is associated with various vows that the owner of the mala makes. The black threads of the tail mean that a Buddhist has taken sacred vows.
The red threads are the first secular vows or the initial ones, when the believer becomes a novice. If such a thin thread is yellow, then this is a real monk.
If the “tail” of the prenva is divided into two parts, then one of them means Merit, and the other means Wisdom, or another pair – Clarity and Insight.
In addition to these primary colors, there may also be a weave of 5 multi-colored threads: white, blue, yellow, red and green. This is a symbol of the five aspects of Enlightenment associated with the mandala practice.
Rosary to protect men's health
Rosary guards men's health.
Agree that it is nice to give gifts that will not lie like dead weight, but will serve their owner well. There may be many options, but we offer one of the most reasonable and useful: you should buy a rosary and evaluate its beneficial effect in practice. It seems like what's going on here? Not the most expensive gift. And your man may not be religious. Also, it is customary to hold rosaries in the palm of your hand - not everyone will see them and appreciate their “coolness.” However, did you know that the rosary is already several thousand years old and will exist as long as humanity itself exists? Do you think this is an accident?
A little about the history of rosaries
The earliest surviving rosary beads were found in India. Their age, as determined by scientists, is more than 4 thousand years. And before that, in China, the birthplace of Eastern medicine, ordinary nuts were used, which were strung on elastic branches and threads. This is the prototype of the rosary. Why is there such increased attention to them? Yes, modern rosary beads, which you can buy in many stores, are very stylish and beautiful. But where does all the hype around them come from?
Secrets of the Rosary Revealed by Science
We will not present hypotheses and myths, but will provide you only with what has been scientifically proven:
- • Rosary has a beneficial effect on the nervous system. Today it is almost impossible to meet a person who does not know what stress is. This is especially true for men, who, like true gentlemen, prefer to keep everything to themselves. No wonder they live on average 10 years less than women! Ten years of life is a huge layer! Time to spend with each other, children and grandchildren. In this case, the rosary, reviews of which speak for themselves, eliminate most of the stress, and this, among other things, improves potency and activates sexual desire;
- • If a person works on a computer, the rosary will help him. Scientists have proven that prolonged monotonous tapping of keys does not create healthy vibrations. Meanwhile, there are nerve endings on the pads. The rosary will help you get rid of the consequences of such monotonous knocking, relieve stress from your hands and activate the work of your internal organs;
- • They are also useful for those who are engaged in mental activity. If you or your man have a stressful job for the brain or problems in your personal or family life, then you need to concentrate, immerse yourself, make an important decision... In this case, there is a risk of simply going into depression. But if you finger the rosary in your hands, you will be able to gather yourself, remove negativity, stress, “unload” your brain and make the right decision;
- • Improved vision. Yes, this also applies to the beneficial effects of using rosaries, but I would like to highlight it in particular. 90% of the information entering the brain from the outside passes through the organs of vision. And it is on the fingertips that their endings are concentrated. Of course, a woman and a man with glasses look impressive, respectable, and intelligent to some, but let's be honest - healthy 100% vision is much better. And for style and a respectable appearance, if such an accessory suits you or your loved one, you can choose special slightly darkened glasses, which have a preventive effect and, together with the rosary, will form a wonderful health tandem.
Rosary beads are capable of more...
- The examples above are just the tip of the iceberg. Thus, it is recommended not only to finger the rosary with your fingers, but also to knead it in your palms and rub it between them, since the human palm is very sensitive and nerve endings are located in large numbers over its entire surface.
- In addition, if you or your loved one is engaged in auto-training, then you can, while fingering the rosary, quietly say to yourself: “I am healthy, active, happy” - that is, give yourself any instructions. Measured, pleasant vibration will help convey the message to the brain. And if one day you get sick, then start repeating the rosary again, and a “health program” will start in your brain.
- If you have set yourself the task of presenting a loved one with something beautiful, comfortable, practical and beneficial to the body, then buy a rosary in our store and you will see how your loved one will simply blossom before your eyes!
