www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Rosary vs. Comboloi/Chotki

I found some discussion of this in another thread, and the issue interests me.

I'm eastern Catholic, and I pray the Rosary daily. Of course I "Byzatinize" it by using the Eastern version of the Hail Mary(hail Mother of God, Virgin Mary full of grace...), but I find that meditating on the Mysteries of the Life of Christ enriches my prayer life.

I also use the comboloi five days a week. I find that the Jesus Prayer combined with breathing techniques makes a wonderful "walking meditation" for that mile between the end of the bus line and the community college tech center where I go to school. I carry either a single decade rosary or my 33 bead comboloi, which I made myself.

I was wondering how many other Eastern Christians pray the rosary. I understand it is in common usage with the Maronites, and that it isn't uncommon with other Greek Rite Catholics.

If you pray the rosary, is that your main or only medtative prayer, or do you also use the comboloi/chotki?

Also, the other thread mentioned the Russian Orthodox Rule of Mary, and listed the mysteries. Could someone here explain it in more detail, or direct me to a website with a full explanation of how to pray it?

Dear Thea,

You've come to the right place!

St Seraphim of Sarov taught the Rule of prayer of 150 Hail Mary's to his children and told them that it is important to pray them daily.

St Seraphim Zvezdinsky the Archbishop, shot by the Reds in 1937, prayed 15 decades, just as the West does, but with these mysteries:

1) Nativity of Mary

2) Entrance into the Temple

3) Annunciation

4) Visitation

5) Nativity of Christ

6) Meeting in the Temple

7) Flight into Egypt

8) Finding in the Temple

9) Wedding at Cana in Galilee

10) Mary standing underneath the Cross of Christ

11) Resurrection

12) Ascension

13) Pentecost

14) Dormition

15) Protection of the Mother of God

I find it helpful to add some words to each Hail Mary for each mystery

For example, if we are meditating on the Scourging of Christ, this can be said:

"For You have given birth to Christ the Saviour (by Whose Stripes we are healed) the Redeemer of our souls."

There are some letters by a fellow named "Alexander Roman" from Toronto on one of my favourite sites that explain more about what I've only outlined above. Just scroll down to read some of his letters - he seems to do a fairly decent job of explaining, but you'll have to decide for yourself.

http://www.montfortmissionaries.com/thoughts.phtml

I find that the Hail Mary Rosary leads one to the Jesus Prayer.

St Seraphim of Sarov expected his spiritual children to say the Jesus Prayer throughout the day and, when they were having a discussion, to continue praying, "Lord have mercy!"

In addition, in Greek the prayer-rope is a "Komvoschinion" not a "Kombologion" which are worry beads.

Alex

Alex

what can I say but

: :p

I agree with Our Lady's Slave in Scotland, some guy named Alex in Toronto ? Please..........I thought Alex was traded to the Yankees .


james

My understanding that the Komologion was made of beads, and the modern "worry beads" commonly used in Greece were a descendant of those, and the Komvoschinion was a prayer rope made of knotted cord.

Dear Thea Logica,

Yes, you are right - but the kombologion is still the worry beads!

On Mt Athos, one may purchase komvoschinion made of wooden beads.

The Greeks draw a careful distinction, as I understand it, between the two terms as the kombologion are used as a "play-thing" to give occupation to the hands.

I've always used a knotted string for the same purpose - a kind of "tension destroyer."

Alex

Dear Jakub,

Niech bedzie pochwalony Jezus Christus!

Yes, I'm always impressed with you Yankees south of the border.

Your patriotism and your love for the American flag etc. always inspire me whenever I'm privileged to visit your country and partake of the many benefits that we don't have in Canada (ie. Florida sunshine).

Alex

Let's wait for Thea logically connect the dots from here to Toronto and discover the Alpha and the Omega are one and the same!

What a put on!

Amado

Dear Amado,

I don't know what you are talking about, Big Guy!

The "Alexander Roman" I referenced is a wonderful gentleman who never calls people names and is always ready to be of service to others.

I just can't say enough about him!

Alex

Sure, many Byzantine Catholics pray the rosary as well as pray the Jesus Prayer.

Some of us also pray the Servite rosary or the Franciscan Crown as well.

I have recently seen prayer ropes from Ukraine which are divided into groups of ten like a Dominican rosary. There is not "exact" model for divisions of knots in prayer ropes; a lot of that depends on the specific "prayer rule" that is being prayed.

You can also say different prayers on the prayer rope such as "Most Holy Theotokos save us". or "Holy Angel my guardian, pray to Christ our God that my soul will be saved".

You are not limited in which prayers you want to use.

With Best Wishes for All!
Stefan

Yes, I did make the connection, but I did not feel it was proper to point it out, being something of a shameless self-promoter myself.

I do have one major difficulty with praying the Rosary-since the particular sets of mysteries are associated with certain days of the week, if I miss a day, I feel like I have to wait for the cycle to come around again. It's probably silly, but I feel weird praying the mysteries on the "wrong" day. Then I'll get out of the habit of praying the rosary altogether for a while.

With this set of mysteries, I think I'd feel more free. It seems fairy liberal as far as being able to pray five mysteries a day but if something happened and I miss a day, I can just pick up where I left off.

I still like the Jesus Prayer as a walking meditation, though. It makes that half-hour walk to school seem like less of a burden on my time if I can spend it in prayer.

Dear Thea Logica,

Actually, I was simply making a joke, and I didn't want to repeat what we've already said about the Rosary and the Chotki here a number of times before!

Eastern Orthodox understand this prayer to include 150 Hail Mary's in its entirety.

One need not meditate on any mysteries, but one can.

Novices and beginners are invited to start with five decades, but the full 150 Hail Mary's constitutes the full "Rule of Prayer" in the East.

Alex

Thea-
Technically the five mysteries a day were only suggested for those of us who don't have the fortitude to pray 150 (now 200) decades a day! So you aren't really praying the "wrong" mysteries on any day! You could always pray yesterday's mysteries AND today's mysteries to catch up if you miss.

Alex-
LOL! How's the new job?

Tammy

Alex,I don't know if I could get my mind to sit still long enough to pray 150 Hail Mary's, unless I broke it up and prayed three times a day.

I generally pray once a day, in the evening, then a little later (or sometimes right on the heels of my evening prayers) pray the rosary. In the morning, I pray the Jesus Prayer as I walk to school, and again more days than not as I walk back to the bus stop.

BTW, I have been known to use fortune beads to pray the Jesus Prayer. It's a very handy way to pray, since the beads are usually on an elastic band that can be slipped over the wrist for easy access. I talked to Fr. Francis about this, he says it's OK.

I've also been known to pray he Jesus Prayer when I'm stuck standing in a long line. Keeps me from getting aggravated.

Dear Thea, don't worry, just pray. It is a favorite trick of the devil to plague the mind with questions like "am I doing it right?" "Is my breathing really in synch with my prayer?" "Should I, as a Byzantine, really be fingering THESE beads?" and so on ...
Just remember that the purpose of prayer is union of the soul with God, and He really doesn't care about the details! If it works, do it.
-Daniel, the voice of experience