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The Copts pray the Kyrie Eleison 41 times at the end of their Agpeya (book of hours) services. Alex said they have special 41-bead prayer beads for this purpose, and suggested I make some.
Does anyone know the name of this special prayer rope? I have asked on 3 different Coptic Orthodox forums and have received no reply. I'd like to know what to call it. Right now I have one listed on my site as a "Coptic 41-bead Rosary" for lack of a better term.
Tammy
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Thanks, but I've already read that article. He only briefly mentions the Coptic use of the prayer beads for the 41 Kyrie Eleison's. I also ran a google search and didn't find anything helpful. Alex couldn't help me with the name, either, except that it wouldn't be 'chotki' because that's a Slavic term!
Tammy
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Tammy I just thought it was humorous that I found that. I also had found where you posted on a forum asking about them. Just struck me funny. I figured out how to seach for them...taaadaaa the Coptic Rosary http://www.chotkis.com/diversity.htm Coptic 41-bead Rosary After praying the Agpeya, or Book of the Hours, the Coptic Church prays the Kyrie Eleison 41 times, using a special rosary to keep count. 41 is considered a sacred number for the Copts. Some say it represents Jesus' 39 scourges with the whip, plus the wounds from the crown of thorns and the spear thrust in his side. Others say that in their hatred for Jesus, the Jews scourged him 40 times PLUS one, instead of their customary 40 times MINUS one. This rosary is made of opaque black glass beads, to represent the blackness of our sins that brought the scourges and wounds upon Our Lord. The accent beads are silverplated, and the cross is antiqued silver Pewter. they have a picture if it  Thats bad when the most exciting point in my day is trying to figure out how to find something on a search engine. ONly Joking! Pani Rose
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Rose, That's Tammy's site Many years, Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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Tammy, I suspect part of the problem is that you're using the Copts (Egyptians) to try and find something connected with the Ge'ez (Ethiopians). The prayer stick, which is still used, is called a mequamia. It's typically about the length of a walking staff (approx 4 feet) and reasonably sturdy since, in addition to its use as a prayer counter, it served to provide support during the lengthy Ethiopian Divine Liturgy. I can't give you a specific name for the Ethiopian or Ge'ez rosary. I can tell you that it's ordinarily described as made of either amber beads or of dried seeds and is usually surmounted by an Ethiopian cross; examples of those can be seen here: Ethiopian Crosses [ rosaryworkshop.com] Many years, Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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Rose,
Thanks for going to the trouble of searching, though! Your post did tell me one thing I didn't know - my Coptic prayer beads are already showing up in google! I only uploaded them on Friday! That was FAST!
Neil,
Thanks for the info. Someone I know on a yahoo group went to a museum, and the ladies in the gift shop were Coptic. I asked her to ask them what they call their prayer beads and she said they had already told her and it started with an 'm'. So maybe they use the same word for the beads as for the Ethiopian prayer staff...
BTW, my husband would LOVE to see a picture of one of those Ethiopian staffs. Do you know of a site that has them pictured?
Tammy
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What exactly is the prayer of the Kyrie Eleison? i understand that to be, "Lord, have mercy," but i was curious what the full prayer for the Coptic prayer beads is (if that is not the whole thing)? i ask because this sounds like a wonderful addition to one's prayer life.
“A time is coming when people will go mad and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, 'You are mad, you are not like us.'”
--Abba St. Anthony the Great
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I believe that the kyrie eleison is said 41 times after the Orthodox Creed is said durring all of the hours of the Agpeya (coptic book of hours). THe Agpeya is a great prayer book. I love to pray it when I can, but I admit that it is rather long at times (but surely worth the time).
In His Name,
Stephen
In His Name,
Stephen
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Originally posted by Irish Melkite:
The prayer stick, which is still used, is called a mequamia. I can't give you a specific name for the Ethiopian or Ge'ez rosary. Alex went down to his local Coptic parish and asked the priest about it for me! It turns out the name for the beads is very similar: "mequteria". He even got the pronunciation for me: "MAY-koo-te-ria". He also found out other configurations besides the 41-bead kind. I think I'll put up a page on my site just for Mequteria. But I have to make some in the other configurations first! Tammy
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Originally posted by Tammy:
BTW, my husband would LOVE to see a picture of one of those Ethiopian staffs. Do you know of a site that has them pictured? Tammy, Here's some more info. Saint Yared was born on April 25, 505 A.D. in the city of Aksum (Ethiopia) to parents named Adam and Tauklia; his lineage was from a priestly line. He is spoken of as Re'ese Liqawnt (the Great Teacher). The Saint devised the liturgical chant used by the Ethiopians, invented their system of musical notation, and introduced the mequamia to provide support during the long liturgical services. His chants and hymnody are still in use and, as the singers in the church choir chant they slowly move their prayer sticks back and forth or up and down in an orchestrated movement known as tirkeza. For more info (and a picture of Saint Yared holding what is likely a ceremonial mequamia) see: Saint Yared [ st-gebriel.org] You might also try writing (I can't find an e-mail addy for him) Abba Tesfaye Woldemariam Fesuh, the pastor of Kidane-Mehret Ge'ez (Ethiopian-Eritrean) Catholic Church. Abba Tesfaye's mailing address is: 415 Michigan Ave. NE P.O. Box 29616 Washington, D.C. 20017 Many years, Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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Thanks, Neil! One of the things Alex found out for me is that Mequteria come in 41-bead, 64-bead, and 100-bead configurations. The 100-bead configuration of Coptic prayer beads also comes in a 'combination' style, that is divided after 7 beads, another 12 beads, 41 beads, 4 beads, and then has a remaining 36 beads. If one prays from the cross to the end of the 4-bead section, one will have covered 64 beads. 64 years is how long Mary lived on the earth according to Coptic tradition. I have made one of these combination style Mequteria and posted it on my new site at Orientale Lumen Rosaries [ chotkis.com] . Thank you to Alex and Neil for the information on these! Tammy
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The first article I open is done by none other than 
