PRayer Beads
Anglican
Prayer Beads
A Tool For Prayer
Anglican prayer beads are a modern devotional tool which blends the traditions of the prayer rope of the Eastern Orthodox tradition and the Rosary. There isn’t one right or wrong way to use prayer beads. Their purpose is to facilitate prayer for the believer. Cindy Hamilton (the Leader of Prayer for our diocese) explains, “Anglican prayer beads were developed as a tool to help a person maintain attention in prayer.” She explains how prayer beads offer a contemplative way to pray and to meditate on God’s Word. Cindy suggests, “holding beads will also help you approach prayer holistically: you will invite your body, mind and soul to enter into a time of being intentionally present to the presence of God in your life.”
Common methods of using Anglican Prayer beads:
1) Holding your beads: Like the tassels sewn on to garments (Numbers 15) or stones of remembrance (ex. Joshua 4) in the OT, as you hold your prayer beads in your hand, they can be a way of remembering that God is present with you and he is faithful to fulfill His promises. We are God’s people and God is with us in every moment.
2) Choosing and memorizing a pattern for prayer: This method is modeled after the Rosary and the Eastern Orthodox Prayer rope. Choose one form of prayer to use with the prayer beads that speaks to your heart and stick with that for a while – memorizing it – and repeating the same format day after day. (Example prayers are provided. You may also adapt these prayers or write your own – the Bible and The Book of Common Prayer are great resources for this)
3) Scripture memory: You may utilize the prayer beads to memorize scripture as you pray (similar to the desert fathers’ methods of tracking their reciting of the psalter). Cindy Hamilton has a helpful book, Praying through the Psalms, that offers a form of praying through scripture that leads to meditation and Bible memory.
4) Finally, you may find other more flexible ways of using the prayer beads such as moving through the beads as you pray through your prayer list (See “Full Circle Prayer” example).
This is a tool to help you in prayer and meditation – use it in the way that is most effective for you in this season.
Symbolism
Cross: It is only by the cross of Jesus that we can enter the presence of the Father. Begin your prayer where you began your life with Jesus – at the cross of Christ.
Invitatory Bead: Our prayer is a response to God’s invitation to come to him, to be in relationship with Him. He is inviting you to enter the circle of prayer and into His presence.
Resurrection Bead (optional): This bead reminds us that Christ has defeated death and promised us resurrection life in Him. As Ephesians 3:12 states, “In Him and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”
4 “Cruciform” Beads: these four beads make the shape of a cross, they also represent the traditional four seasons and four directions
4 sets of 7 smaller Beads (called “weeks”): These sets of beads remind us of the 7 days of creation, the 7 days of the week, the 7 seasons of the church year, and particularly the historic Jewish and Christian belief that the number seven symbolizes perfection or completeness.
33 Beads (+ the Resurrection bead): This reminds us of the 33 years Jesus lived on the earth. Circle: We move around the beads in a complete circle. The circle reminds us of the mystery of eternity and God’s love which, like a circle, has no beginning and no end.
3 times: Many people pray through the circle of beads 3 times to signify the Trinity – Father Son and Holy Spirit.
Suggested Steps in Prayer
1. Begin with a time of silence.
2. Hold the Cross and say the prayer assigned it. Pause to remember what Christ has done on the cross. 3. Hold the Invitatory Bead and say the prayer assigned to it. Pause to remember that God is inviting you into his presence.
4. Hold the Resurrection bead and say the prayer assigned to it. Pause to reflect on the truth that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
5. Enter the circle of the prayer with the first Cruciform bead. Moving to the right (counterclockwise), go through the first seven beads (1 week) to the next Cruciform bead, continuing around the circle, saying the prayers assigned for each bead or set of beads.
6. You may pray around the circle of cruciform beads and “weeks” three times.
7. Close your time of prayer: After going around the circle of beads as many as three times, consider how you will exit the time of prayer and enter the rest of the day. This is an example: hold the resurrection bead and say, “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again,” hold the invitatory bead and say The Lord’s Prayer, hold the cross and say, “I bless the Lord.”
8. End with a time of silence.
Helpful Tips
1. Decide in advance what prayers you wish to assign to each of the major beads or group of beads. Be open to trying something that is different to your usual format of prayer and give it time. 2. Choose a time and place – Ideally, this would be quiet and uninterrupted. Allow enough time to work through the beads in an unhurried pace. Rest, listen, and take your time.
3. Start and end with silence.
4. There is not one “right way” to pray with prayer beads
Example Prayers
*not all sample prayers include the resurrection bead
*Bless the Lord
The Cross: Blessed be the one, holy, and living God. Glory to God for ever and ever. Amen.
The Invitatory : O God make speed to save me (us), O Lord make haste to help me (us), Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
The Cruciforms: Behold now, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord. You that stand in the house of the Lord, lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the Lord.
The Weeks: I lift up my eyes to the hills; From where is my help to come? My help comes from the Lord, The maker of heaven and earth
*An Evening Prayer
The Cross: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
The Invitatory: Open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
The Cruciforms: Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping; that awake we may watch with Christ, and asleep, we may rest in peace.
The Weeks: Jesus, lamb of God, have mercy on us. Jesus, bearer of our sins, have mercy on us. Jesus, redeemer of the world, give us your peace.
The Full Circle Prayer
(Written by Kristen E. Vincent)
The Cross: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Invitatory Bead: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)
The Resurrection Bead: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)
1st Cruciform Bead: I praise you, Lord, for . . .
1st set of Week Beads: Use each bead to praise God for His wondrous acts of grace. 2nd Cruciform Bead: I ask, Lord, for forgiveness for . . .
2nd set of Week Beads: Use each bead to confess your sins before God.
3rd Cruciform Bead: I pray, Lord, for . . .
3rd set of Week Beads: Use each bead to list prayer concerns for yourself or others.
4th Cruciform Bead: I thank you, Lord, for . . .
4th set of Week Beads: Use each bead to recall something for which you are thankful.
You may choose to go around the circle two more times
Resurrection Bead: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
Invitatory Bead: Recite The Lord’s Prayer
The Cross: In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.
End with a time of silence
Helpful Resources
Cindy Hamilton’s book, Praying through the Psalms is a helpful tool for using the Psalms as a guide to pray. She also has a helpful introduction to Anglican prayer beads.
“Anglican Prayer Beads – a form of contemplative prayer” www.fullcirclebeads.com
“Should Anglicans Pray the Rosary?” www.anglicancompass.com
“A Circle of Prayer: The Anglican Rosary for All of God’s People.” Anglican Fellowship of Prayer (Canada). www.anglicanprayer.org