prayer beads

Prayer beads are a form of beadwork used to count the repetitions of prayers, chants, or mantras by members of various religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Umbanda, Islam, Sikhism, the Baháʼí Faith, and some Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Common forms of beaded devotion include the mequteria in Oriental Orthodox Christianity, the ''chotki'' in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the Wreath of Christ in Lutheran Christianity, the Dominican rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Roman Catholic Christianity, the ''dhikr'' (remembrance of God) in Islam, the ''japamala'' in Buddhism and Hinduism, and the '' Jaap Sahib'' in Sikhism.

Origins and etymology

Beads are among the earliest human ornaments and ostrich shell beads in Africa date to 10,000 BC.''Beads and bead makers: gender, material culture, and meaning'' by Lidia D. Sciama, Joanne Bubolz Eicher 19988 page 1 Over the centuries various cultures have made beads from a variety of material from stone and shells to clay.

The English word bead derives from the Old English noun ''bede'' which means a prayer.''Your Faith, Your Life: An Invitation to the Episcopal Church'' by Jenifer Gamber, Bill Lewellis 2009 pages 134-136 The oldest image of a string of beads in a religious context and resembling a string of prayer beads is found on the fresco of the "Adorants" (or "Worshipers") at the Xeste 3 building of the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri, Santorini (Thera,) Greece (Wall Paintings of Thera.) dating from the 17th c. BC (c. 1613 BC.) It was used in Hindu Prayers and meditation Hindu prayers in India. Buddhism later on adopted this custom. As the Ancient Hindus migrated towards West Asia this practice was carried to many parts of the world and became a part of different religions.''Bead One, Pray Too'' by Kimberly Winston 2008 pages 4-10''Linking Your Beads: The Rosary's History, Mysteries, and Prayers'' by Patricia Ann Kasten 2011 OSV Publishers pages 11-13 The statue of a Hindu holy man with beads dates to the third century BC.

Structure

The number of beads varies by religion or use. Islamic prayer beads, called Misbaha or Tasbih, usually have 100 beads (99 +1 = 100 beads in total or 33 beads read thrice and +1). Buddhists and Hindus use the Japa Mala, which usually has 108 beads, or 27 which are counted four times. Baháʼí prayer beads consist of either 95 beads or 19 beads, which are strung with the addition of five beads below. The Sikh Mala also has 108 beads.

The oldest set of prayer beads in Western Christianity, the Pater Noster cord, traditionally contains 150 beads for the 150 Psalms in the Bible, though Pater Noster cords of 50 beads have been made that are prayed through thrice. Roman Catholics came to use the Rosary (Latin "rosarium", meaning "rose garden") with 59 beads. The Oriental Orthodox mequteria, chiefly used by Coptic Orthodox Christians and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, contains 41 beads for praying the Kyrie Eleison said during the 41 metanoias (prostrations) in each of the Christian seven fixed prayer times (cf. Agpeya breviary). Eastern Orthodox Christians use a knotted prayer rope called either a komboskini or chotki, with 100 knots, although prayer ropes with 50 or 33 knots can also be used. The Lutheran Wreath of Christ contains 18 beads. In the 1980s Rev. Lynn Bauman from the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America introduced Anglican prayer beads with 33 beads.Anglican Prayer Beads
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The Greek " komboloi" (which are worry beads and have no religious purpose) has an odd number of beads—usually one more than a multiple of four, e.g. (4x4)+1, (5x4)+1.

Use

Since the beads are fingered in an automatic manner, they allow the user to keep track of how many prayers have been said with a minimal amount of conscious effort, which in turn allows greater attention to the prayer itself.

Judaism

Although the use of prayer beads grew within those religions, it did not enter Judaism, perhaps because of its association with other religions, and to date Judaism does not use prayer beads. Although not used as counting device, many Jews touch the knots on the tzitzits attached to their tallit (prayer shawl) at specific points in their prayers.

Christianity

The Desert Fathers of the 3rd to 5th centuries, used pebbles or knotted ropes to count prayers, typically the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner"). The invention is attributed to Anthony the Great or his associate Pachomius the Great in the 4th century. In Vita of Saint Paul of Thebes (227 A.D. to 342 A.D.), written by Saint Jerome (347 A.D. to 420 A.D.) it states that Saint Paul of Thebes used pebbles and knotted cord to count prayers.

Around the 8th century, Paternoster cords were used to count the 150 Psalms of the Bible, but for those who could not read, they were used to count 150 recitations of the Lord's Prayer. The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' thus mentions strings of beads, presumably for prayer, found in the tombs of Saint Gertrude of Nivelles (7th century) and Saint Norbert and Saint Rosalia (12th century). A more explicit reference is that in 1125 William of Malmesbury mentioned a string of gems that Lady Godiva used to count prayers. The oldest prayer beads to be found in Britain were discovered by archaeologists on Lindisfarne in 2022: made of salmon vertebrae, they date from the 8th or 9th century.

Roman Catholics came to pray the Dominican rosary with strings of 59 beads. The term ''rosary'' comes from the Latin ''rosarium'' " rose garden" and is an important and traditional devotion of the Catholic Church, combining prayer and meditation in sequences (called "decades") of the Lord's Prayer, 10 Hail Marys, and a Gloria Patri as well as a number of other prayers (such as the Apostles' Creed and the Salve Regina) at the beginning and end. The prayers are accompanied by meditation on the Mysteries, events in the life and ministry of Jesus. This traditional Catholic form of the rosary is attributed to Saint Dominic, though some Catholic writers have doubted this claim. Catholic rosary beads are composed of crucifix and center which can be made of sterling silver and/or gold, and beads which are usually made of glass, amethyst, rose quartz stone, crystal, black onyx, lavender glass or pearl, but all parts can be made of any material. Catholics also use prayer beads to pray chaplets.

In Oriental Orthodox Christianity, especially among Ethiopian Christians and Coptic Christians, prayer beads known as the mequetaria/mequteria employ numbers such as 41, 64, and 100 as their length; the mequetaria is chiefly used for reciting the Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy) during the seven fixed prayer times of Christianity. In regards to the first two numbers, the former represent the number of wounds inflicted on Jesus from lashing, the nails, and the lance while the latter represents Mary's age upon her Assumption.

The Eastern Orthodox Church uses prayer ropes that usually come with 33, 50 or 100 knots. The loops of knotted wool (or occasionally of beads), called ''chotki'' or ''komboskini'' to pray the Jesus Prayer. Among Russian Old Believers, a prayer rope made of leather, called 'lestovka', is more common, although this type is no longer commonly used now by the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', "The rosary is conferred upon the Greek Orthodox monk as a part of his investiture with the mandyas or full monastic habit, as the second step in monastic life, and is called his 'spiritual sword'."

The Lutheran Wreath of Christ, invented by Martin Lönnebo

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