Christian Prayer Beads

Christians have been using prayer beads for centuries as a tangible aid to their prayers, and a tool to help them enter contemplative space.

beadsbooklet.pdf

In the process of encountering different Christian traditions, I became intrigued by the use of prayer beads, where they came from, and how they enhance spiritual life and practice. Part of the fruit of this research was a thirty page booklet, designed for use with Anglican prayer beads. It incorporates material from a variety of Christian prayer traditions, as well as the long-established traditional prayers of the Rosary (Catholic) and the Jesus Prayer (Orthodox).

My approach to the prayer beads draws on a wide body of sources, but differs from all of them in approach and audience. I do not assume that my reader has any attachment to prayer bead traditions of any kind, and I work from the ground up, rooting the practice in Scripture and Christian tradition.

The project, in its present incarnation, was written for the fairly specific purpose of producing a handful of sets of prayer beads as gifts at the end of last year. Nevertheless, I hope to revisit it in the future. Certainly this pamphlet can be revised, expanded, and adapted in a variety of ways. But I want to preserve the overall tone: it is simple, entry-level, and practical.

You can download the pamphlet by clicking the image of the prayer bead booklet on the right.

If you do take the time to read it, please leave a comment or send me an email. I would be interested in your perspectives on its continued development.

Making Christian Prayer Beads

You may also be interested in this short guide I have written on how to make Christian prayer beads.


Add a New Comment
or Sign in as Wikidot user
(will not be published)
- +

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License