What Are Prayer Beads

Prayer beads are widely-used by people in a variety of faith based practices for example Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Anglicanism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Bahá'í Faith to count the repetitions of prayers, chants or devotions, for example the rosary of Virgin Mary in Christianity and dhikr (remembrance of God) in Islam. They could also be used for meditation, defense against negative energy, or even for relaxation.

Uses of prayer beads

Prayer beads could possibly have physical, metaphysical and psychological benefits for their users. Because the beads are fingered in an automatic manner, they permit the person to monitor the number of prayers have already been said with minimal conscious effort, which experts claim enables better awareness to be paid to the prayers themselves.

You will find 3 commonly recognized ways to use Prayer beads:

Replication of the identical devotion a set (usually large) number of times. This could be the earliest form of prayer beads (the Japa Mala) and the earliest Christian form (the prayer rope). This is also the type in use by the Bahá'í Faith

Repetition of a number of different prayers using some pattern, possibly interspersed with or combined with meditations.

Meditation on a series of spiritual themes, as in e.g. Islam or Catholicism.

 StructureThe number of beads also vary with respect to the different religions. Islamic prayer beads, called "Tesbih", "Tasbih" or "Misbaha", usually have either 99 or 33 beads. Buddhists and Hindus use the Japa Mala which usually has 108 beads, or 27 which are counted four times. Baha'i prayer beads consist of either 95 beads or 19 beads strung the actual addition of five beads below.

The Sikh Mala also has 108 beads. The secular Greek "komboloi" has an odd number of beads—usually one more than a multiple of four, e.g. (4x4)+1, (5x4)+1. Roman Catholics use the "Rosary" (Latin "rosarium", meaning "rose garden") with 54 with an additional five beads whereas Eastern Orthodox Christians use a knotted "Rosary" with 100 knots, although "prayer ropes" with 50 or 33 knots can also be used.

Although Anglicans haven't during the past used rosaries, in the 1980s Rev. Lynn Bauman from the Episcopal church in the United States introduced a Rosary for Anglicans with 33 beads.

Prayer beads, or Japa Malas, are also used in many forms of Mahayana Buddhism, often with a lesser number of beads (usually a divisor of 108). In Pure Land Buddhism, for instance, 27 bead malas are common. In China such malas are named "Shu-Zhu" ( in Japan, "Juzu". These shorter malas are sometimes called 'prostration rosaries', because they are easier to hold when enumerating repeated prostrations. In Tibetan Buddhism malas are also 108 beads: one mala counts as 100 mantras, and the 8 extra are meant to be dedicated to all sentient beings (the practice as a whole is dedicated at its end as well). In Tibetan Buddhism, often larger malas are used of for example 111 beads: when counting, they calculate one mala as 100 mantras, and the 11 additional beads are taken as extra to compensate for errors.

Various type of materials are used to make mala beads such as seeds of the rudraksha tree, beads made from the wood of the tulasi plant, animal bone, wood or seeds from the Bodhi tree or seeds of the lotus plant. Semi-precious stones like carnelian and amethyst is also used. Another commonly used material is sandalwood.

 Christianity and prayer beads

Greek Orthodox komboskini of 100 knots.The Desert Fathers of the 3rd to 5th century, used 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 Abba Anthony or his associate Saint Pachomius in the 4th century.

Catholics and some Anglicans use the Holy Rosary with 54 + additional 5 beads as prayer beads. The Rosary's name comes from the Latin "rosarium", meaning "rose garden" and is an important and traditional devotion of the Roman Catholic Church, combining prayer and meditation in sequences (called "decades") of an Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, and a Glory Be to the Father, as well as a number of other prayers (such as the Apostle's Creed and the Hail Holy Queen) 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.

Catholics also use prayer beads to pray chaplets. Their rosary beads are composed of crucifix and center which can be made of sterling silver and/or gold; beads are usually made of glass, amethyst, rose quartz stone, crystal, black onyx, lavender glass or pearl.

 
An Old Believer Russian Orthodox lestovka, made out of leather.Eastern Orthodox Christian use prayer ropes with 33, 50, or 100 knots. The loops of knotted wool (or occasionally of beads), called chotki or komboskini to pray the Jesus Prayer. Although among the Orthodox, their use is mainly restricted to monks and bishops, being less common among laity or secular clergy. 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 the monastic life, and is called his 'spiritual sword'."

 
Hand-carved Roman Catholic rosary beads.In the mid-1980s an Anglican Rosary or "Christian prayer beads" was developed in the Episcopal Church (United States) by Rev. Lynn C. Bauman. However, his authority in church matters is unclear, particularly as he has since been 'de-frocked'. The set consists of 33 beads (representing the 33 years of the life of Christ) arranged in four groupings of symbolic significance. These 'Anglican Rosaries' continue to be promoted via internet websites but it is not known whether they have been adopted by any Protestant group in any formal sense. Many Anglo-Catholics use the Catholic rosary, and may also be using these Anglican