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Is anyone on the Forum familiar with how The Rule of the Mother of God is actually prayed in Russia today? Has anyone who knows Russian translated the entry on this subject in the Encyclopedia of Orthodoxy? (Alex?)

More specifically, I would like to know whether the Lord's Prayer is recited after each ten Angelic Salutations, or before, as in the customary Rosary pattern.

Also, are St. Seraphim Zvezdinsky's introductions to each decade used, or is there a different manner of introducing the "Mystery?"

Finally, is the Theotokion, Open unto us the Gate of Compassion said after each decade, as St Seraphim of Sarov directed, or is some other prayer used?

Gabriel

How, by the way, would St. Seraphim Zvezdinsky understand the place of the "Mysteries" of the Rule of the Theotokos? Ought they, according to him, to be used as they are in the Western Rosary, subject for imaginative composition, and the object of meditation simaltaneous with the vocal prayer?

St Seraphim of Sarov's method of praying the "Rule of the Theotokos."

Recite the Our Father

"Open to us the doors of Mercy, blessed Mother of God, so that we who hope in Thee may not perish, but be saved by Thee from troubles, for You are the salvation of the Christian people."

Then St Seraphim divided his rule into fifteen decades of Hail Mary's with the above prayer "Open to us" said at the end of each decade (No further Our Father's).

At the end of each decade, the following 15 requests are also made:

1) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, save and protect all Orthodox Christians, increase their faith and repentance, and give repose to the dead in the eternal glory of our Lord.

2) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, save and reunite to the Orthodox Church thy servants who are lost and who are fallen away.

3) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, save and protect my spiritual Father and by his holy prayers have mercy on me a sinner.

4) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, assuage our sorrows and bestow joy on thy suffering and pained servants.

5) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, save me from all evil attacks.

6) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, help me so that everything I do will be for the glory of God and the service of my neighbours.

7) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, protect me from all evil and cover me with Thy Holy Omophorion (Mantle) of Protection.

8) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, resurrect my soul and grant me constant prayer to You.

9) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, help me obtain the mercy of Your Son and our Lord and grant me the grace of fervent and continual prayer.

10) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, pray our Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy on me a sinner, to forgive all my sins and save my sinful soul.

11) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, imbue me with Your love, strengthen me with Your faith, and enlighten my eyes that are darkened by sin.

12) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, save me from evil thoughts and grant me a mind and heart that strives after salvation.

13) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, send me peace of soul and health in body.

14) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, grant me an untroubled and peaceful end and lead my soul through the terrible toll-houses.

15) O Most Holy Sovereign Theotokos, be for me, O Mother of God, an Unmoveable Wall and mighty intercession. Do not reject me a sinner, who is unworthy, who runs to your invincible Protection, for you are the hope of Christians and the refuge of sinners.

Then: It is truly meet and right to hymn Thee, the Birthgiver of God. Lady Ever-Blessed and Most Glorious and the Mother of Our God. More honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim Thou who without corruption gave birth to God the Word and art truly the Mother of God we magnify Thee, Magnify Thee. AMEN

Thank you Theophan, for your response.

Just to fine-tune my question a bit, I am aware of Saint Seraphim of Sarov's use as you gave it, and of Saint Seraphim Zvezdinsky's method as reported in ch. 6 of the book Starets Zechariah.

In the latter book, instruction is given to recite the Our Father after every decade of Angelic Salutations ("Hail Marys").

However, St Seraphim of Sarov placed the Our Father at the beginning of the prayer as a whole, which suggests a precedent for placing it at the beginning of each decade.

I have produced several editions of a manual which uses the 15 Mysteries appointed by Bishop Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) of Dmitrov; however I used the pattern common to the Holy Rosary: Our Father, Hail, O Virgin Theotokos (10 x) Glory... and O my Jesus (the Fatima Decade Prayer). I wish to revise this and use the pattern for the decades which is prayed in Russia today.

So, as I am requesting information to know what the actual practice is in Russia. I hope someone can and will help in this regard.

A blessed feast day of the Holy Protection to all!

Gabriel:

Glory be to Jesus Christ!! Glory be to Him forever and ever!!!

I copied for you what a former poster had given us here on this forum some time ago and I had downloaded to my own database. As to actual practice in Russia, I'd have to try to contact him and ask if this is the actual practice or not.

Also, according ot this, the Our Father is recited only once during the whole recitation--at the very beginning.

In Christ,

BOB

Dear Gabriel,

There are several ways in which the Rule of the Theotokos is prayed in Russia today, just as there are several ways in which the Rule of the Jesus Prayer is prayed in Orthodox monasteries.

Here is a quick translation from the Russian concerning the Rule of the Theotokos directly from the "Encyclopaedia of Orthodoxy" published in Moscow, 2003 and beginning on page 213:

"The Rule of the Theotokos, that embraces within it the entire life of the Mother of God, is divided into 15 levels/parts in accordance with the most important aspects of Her life.

"In accordance with a revelation of the Mother of God, the fulfillment of the Rule is more important than Akathists and those who fulfill it (the Rule) live under the special Protection of the Queen of Heaven."

Then the Rule is outlined in terms of 15 decades, each decade is headed by an Our Father, followed by 10 Hail Mary's. In the Rule of the Theotokos as outlines, there is no reference made to the prayer "Open to us the doors of Thy mercy" but there is no reason to omit it, as St Seraphim of Sarov taught this prayer as indicated in "Staretz Zechariah: An Early Soviet Saint" and also in other Russian language descriptions of St Seraphim of Sarov's various prayer rules that he both used and prescribed for others (such as the 3 Our Father's, 3 Hail Mary's and 1 Nicene Creed, said thrice daily for busy laity etc.)

In Staretz Zechariah, the prayer "Open to us" can be said following the Our Father at the start of each decade or else it can close each decade - no matter.

Any other prayers that frame the decades would be allowable, of course. The Nuns of Diveyevo, for instance, fulfill the Rule by walking around their monastery three times and praying the Rule out loud as a group. On feast days, they actually sing the Rule together in choir as they walk.

What the form of the Rule that is given in the Encyclopaedia of Orthodoxy 2003 presents is a Troparion that closely approximates the aspect of the life of the Theotokos under consideration. This Troparion follows each decade but there is no reason why it could not begin each decade or else follow the Our Father.

So the first decade noted in the Encyclopaedia's version of the Rule is in honour of the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Troparion of Her Nativity is prayed. The second decade is in honour of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple and so the Troparion of that feast is prayed following the decade. The third decade is in honour of her sorrow at the death of her parents Sts Joachim and Anna and the first Kontakion of the Akathist to Her is prayed. The fourth is in honour of the Annunciation - and the Troparion of that feast is used. The Fifth decade is for the meeting of the Theotokos with St Elizabeth and the prayer "It is truly meet" is used (although the Magnificat could also be used).

The sixth decade is for the Nativity of Christ and the troparion is used there. Then the seventh for the Meeting in the Temple and this prayer is used: "Rejoice Theotokos Virgin Full of Grace for from you has shone the Sun of truth, Christ our God, enlightening those in darkness. Rejoice and you, Righteous Elder, who embraced the Redeemer of our souls,bestowing upon us resurrection!"

The 8th decade is for the flight into Egypt and again the first Kontakion of the Akathist to the MOther of God is used. The ninth is the finding of Christ in the temple and the aforementioned Kontakion is again used.

The tenth is for the Crucifixion and the Troparion of Joseph and the Winding Sheet is prayed.

Then the following four decades are the same first four decades of the Latin rosary with the Eastern troparia appropriate to the feasts used for them.

The 15th is the "Glorification by the Holy Trinity" of the Mother of God and the prayer "It is truly meet" is prayed, ending the Rule.

This is what is given in the Encyclopaedia of Orthodoxy. Modern versions of the Russian Rule are united in heading each decade with an Our Father and the other prayer as well. In some Russian monasteries, it is customary to make a prostration to the ground or a metanoia after each Hail Mary.

Western forms of praying the rosary that would be appropriate in an Eastern context would include praying the decades before an icon of each "mystery" and also the form whereby a few words are added to each Hail Mary to reflect on the aspect of the life of the Theotokos being considered.

The mysteries have some variation as well. In the Kyivan Baroque period especially, the mysteries that were used were taken directly from the West and there was little difference. I like using the mysteries contained in the 20 decades of the rosary of Pope John Paul II. One may also use the Rule to cover the 15 Stations of the Cross (as did St Tikhon of Zadonsk) ie. the 14 Stations plus the Resurrection mystery.

St Dmitri of Rostov honoured the seven Joys and Sorrows of the Theotokos highly and included these in his "A Tale of Five Prayers" which is actually a form of an early version of a Marian chaplet used in Paris (which he obtained from one of the many Western books and scholarly publications he used in writing his voluminous "Lives of the Saints" - St Dmitry Tuptalenko also practiced praying one Hail Mary at the beginning of every hour and when the clock struck another hour throughout the night, he would force himself out of bed and onto his knees to pray out loud another Hail Mary (an amazing devotee of the Most Holy Theotokos!).

May the Most Holy Theotokos bless you for your interest and work in this respect!

Alex

Just what I was looking for, Alex! Thank you.

ALEX:

How does one begin? Does one begin with the Creed or does noe simply begin with the Sign of the Cross?

BOB

Dear Alex,

Do you have access to the correspondance between Ven. Metropolitan Andrei Sheptitsky & Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky concerning the Rosary? If it is not in English, how much trouble would it be to translate it?

Also, in the mind of the Kyivan Baroque Orthodox, what does one DO with the mystery for any given decade? Would he have allowed or constructed a mental representation of the mystery such at least a Western Catholic might've?

Dear Bob,

The Rule of the Theotokos is begun with the Rule of St Pachomios i.e. the Trisagion Prayers and after the Our Father the "Come let us worship" the Creed and Psalm 50, the Rule of Prayer (as many decades (also so referred to in Russian) and then the "It is truly meet", the Glory be . . . Lord have mercy (3x) and the longer Jesus Prayer at the end.

One may shorten this beginning, of course. The Serbian Orthodox have a beautiful way of starting the Rule of Prayer to the Theotokos which is a form of the "Come let us worship" and which I love to use - when you use it, you will always wish to use it!

"Come let us bow to our Queen the Theotokos!

Come let us bow to the Ever-Virgin Mary, our Queen the Theotokos!

Come let us bow and fall down before our Sovereign and Ever-Virgn May, our Queen the Theotokos!"

An appropriate salute at the beginning of her Rule!

In Christ and the Theotokos,

Alex

Dear Josaphat,

I do not have that correspondence - but would be more than happy to translate it for you should you come across it.

You are asking about the use of mental images as part of the spirituality of the Kyivan Baroque and its reference to Western models.

In fact, the Kyivan Baroque and also, at the same time, the Greek Orthodox tradition at that time (i.e. St Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain) made wide use of the imagination and believed it to be a very healthy spiritual thing (see St Nicodemos' writings).

In fact, St Nicodemos translated the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius the Jesuit which is today in the libraries of the monasteries of Mt Athos!

He also defended the role of the heart in spirituality at a time when even St Alphonsus of the Redemptorists were saying the heart was but merely a symbol of love. St Nicodemos strongly attacked this view. The borrowings from the Latin West throughout Orthodoxy at this time have yet to be fully studied and assessed - but it was rather deep, one could say.

The Eastern Catholics weren't the only ones under the Latin sway - the Orthodox, Kyivan Metropolia and Greece, were just as (if not more than) under the same sway.

It is sufficient today to meditate on the Mystery at the beginning or end of a decade and attend to the prayers themselves.

However, the BEST way to keep focused on the prayers and the mysteries is by the method of adding a few words reflecting the mystery to each "Hail Mary." This makes the prayer a refrain - everyone should try it but once.

After that, you won't want to stop!

(Dear Administrator, some things just never change with me! God bless you!)

And you, Josaphat, too!

Alex

Dr. Alex,

Chotki or Rosary?

Dr. Eric

Dear Dr Eric,

In fact, there is an Old Rite article online that affirms it is legitimate for Orthodox to use the term "Rosary" when discussing this issue in English (for the benefit of those who are most familiar with this word).

In the time of the Kyivan Baroque era, it was indeed common among the Orthodox to refer to prayer-beads as "rosaries" but only those used in praying the Hail Mary's. Translations into Slavonic of the Little Office of the Virgin Mary were also popular as were the 15 prayers of St Brigitte of Sweden (!).

The fact remains however that the Old Rite Orthodox have always had the Rule of the Theotokos and, given their strict adherence to ancient tradition, it begs the question whether this is indeed a witness to the tradition of the Rule that predates St Dominic and the West and goes right to the Thebaid and the revelation of this Rule to an Eastern monk (which is how it is always explained by those Orthodox Saints, such as St Seraphim, who had a great devotion to it).

Athonite monks, to this day, are obliged to pray as many Hail Mary's as possible, with a protration or bow at the end of each, up to 150 daily (as is reported in the Jordanville publication on monastic prayer rules).

Alex

A Catholic hermitess asked me to look at this thread. I knew vaguely that there was this thing the “Rosary” of Saint Seraphim. I have never encountered it in any Orthodox venue, either real life or the Internet. I think that it is unknown and used by nobody. The whole thing seems kind of Roman Catholic. And it is obvious from the messages here the Eastern Catholics don't know how it is recited and don’t use it. Bit of a non event.

I just searched the 4 largest Orthodox e-mail forums,. Nothing at all about this rosary except a question from a Reader asking what it is and nobody answered him.