Anglican prayer beads
Sometimes known as Anglican "rosaries", "Christian prayer beads", or ecumenical prayer beads, Anglican Prayer Beads are a loop of strung beads which people use as a focus for prayer. They were developed in the mid-1980s by an Episcopal priest, the Rev. Lynn Bauman. The origin of Eastern Orthodox beads and Catholic rosaries during the Middle Ages is thought to have been influenced by the use of similar bead sets by Hindus or Muslims, but the Reverend Bauman's design was specifically intended to be its own prayer device, not an Anglican "version" of any earlier design.
Anglican Prayer Bead sets consist of thirty-three beads divided into four groups of seven with a single bead between each. With Anglican Prayer Beads, the number thirty-three signifies wholeness or completion in the faith, the days of creation, and the seasons of the Church year. These groupings are called "weeks", in contrast to the Catholic rosary, which uses five groups of ten beads called "decades".
The four beads between and usually larger than the weeks beads are termed "cruciform" beads. Including also a single bead called the "invitatory" bead that is next to the cross and starts the entire set, the number thirty-three is reached. When the beads are opened into a circular shape, the Cruciform beads form the points of a Cross within the circle of the rosary. Anglican Prayer Bead sets usually begin with a cross, not a crucifix (cross with "corpus"), although some users prefer theirs to have a small crucifix.
These beads are made of a variety of materials, such as precious stones, wooden beads, dried and painted seeds, coloured glass beads, antique jewelry, or jade. Knots, if any, also vary in size.
The purpose and use of the Anglican set are different from those of the Catholic rosary. While both types of rosaries are intended as aids to contemplative prayer, the most common prayers used with the Catholic rosary focus on the seminal events in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and venerate Mary. The Catholic rosary is considered a sacramental.
In contrast, Anglican Prayer Beads are considered a tactile aid to focus one's attention, but what one will attend to varies widely. There is no set format of prayers. Anglican rosary prayers are in effect disciplined personal prayers. The words "I" and "we" figure prominently (unlike the Catholic Hail Mary, for example) and God is addressed directly rather than through intercession.
There are many sources and inspirations for Anglican rosary prayers, including the traditional hours of daily prayer, the church seasons, the mystery of God's nature, and personal intentions (for healing, for members of the armed forces, for family life, for challenges of specific professions, etc.)
See also
External links
- Cathedral Rosaries - A site featuring fine Anglican Prayer Beads