Prayer Beads
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This page: links and bibliography
NOTE: I do not sell beads myself. This site is purely informational. Please click here for information about how to string beads yourself. I have never ordered beads online so I can't recommend any vendors. The ads you see on this page are placed there by the web server.
Prayer beads are found in many religions all over the world. I was raised Methodist and Unitarian, neither of which has a prayer bead tradition. I first heard about prayer beads in Methodist Sunday school, in connection with the verse Matthew 6:7, "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." I asked my teacher what that meant, and she explained about prayer beads. (It's notable that Judaism is one of the few religions that does not use prayer beads.) I confess that instead of feeling superior to those "pagans", I felt a fascination. In my teen years I heard about Islamic prayer beads having 33 beads, and made a strand for myself, but didn't know what to do with it. The fascination kept percolating, though.
As an adult, I began to read about prayer beads in various world religions. I didn't feel right about actually doing other people's rituals, but I wanted to know what other people were doing, so I could fashion my own meditations. Here are some links to some of the sites I found.
Disclaimer: I found these articles by doing google searches on prayer beads. I am not an expert by any means. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the articles in these links. I apologize to anyone who is offended by any of them. If anyone has more information or suggestions for better links, please e-mail me.
You can see examples of these beads from my collection in the photos below.
From left to right above: Eastern Orthodox prayer rope, Anglican rosary,
Catholic rosary, worry beads from Turkey, prayer beads from Turkey
From left to right above: Two sets of prayer beads or worry beads
from Turkey, Two sets of wrist malas from Tibet, Mala from Tibet
From left to right above: Karen's Universal Rosary, Eric Walker Wikstrom's
Unitarian Universalist prayer beads, Erynn Rowan Laurie's Circle of Stones,
Karen's Moon beads, Karen's Seasons of the year beads
Bibliography
- Alexander, Scott Everyday Spiritual Practice; Simple Pathways for Enriching Your Life Skinner House Books, Boston MA, 1999
- Bauman, Lynn The Anglican Rosary Praxis, Telephone, TX, 1998
- Lovasik The Holy Rosary Catholic Book Publishing, NY 1980
- Camille, Alice The Rosary; Mysteries of Joy, light, Sorrow and Glory ACTA Publications, Chicago, IL 2003
- Elliott, Kristin and Seibt, Betty Holding your Prayers in Your Hands; Praying the Anglican Rosary Open Hands, Denton TX, 1999
- Elliott, Kristin and Seibt, Betty Praying the Way of the Cross with the Anglican Rosary Open Hands, Denton TX, 1999
- Evangelinos, Aris The Komboloi and its History Komboloi Museum Publications, Greece
- Gribble, Richard The History and Devotion of the Rosary Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Huntington, Indiana, 1992
- Groeschel, Benedict The Rosary, Chain of Hope Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, 2003
- Henry, Gray and Marriott, Susannah Beads of Faith Carroll and Brown Publishers, London, UK 2002
- Hopcke, Robert Living the Mysteries; The Spiritual Power of the Rosary in the Lives of Contemporary People The Crossroad Publishing Company, NY 2003
- John Paul II Apostolic Letter On the Most Holy Rosary
- Laurie, Erynn A Circle of Stones; Journeys and Meditations for Modern Celts Eschaton Productions, Inc., Chicago, IL, 1995
- Lovasik The Holy Rosary Catholic Book Publishing, NY 1980
- Montfort, St. Louis The Secret of the Rosary Montfort Publications, Bay Shore, NY 1999
- Mumford, John A Chakra & Kundalini Workbook Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN 2003
- Pennington, Basil Praying by Hand; Rediscovering the Rosary as a Way of Prayer Harper, San Francisco, 1995
- Peyton, Patrick Father Peyton's Rosary Prayer Book The Family Rosary Inc. Albany, NY 1996
- Thornton, Francis This is the Rosary Hawthorn Books, Inc. NY, 1961
- Vail, Anne and Houselander, Caryll Joy of the Rosary, A Way into Meditative Prayer Liguori Publications, Missouri
- Vincent, Kristen A Bead and a Prayer: A Beginner's Guide to Protestant Prayer Beads Upper Room, 2013
- Vincent, Kristen and Max Another Bead, Another Prayer: Devotion to Use with Protestant Prayer Beads Upper Room, 2015
- Weber, Christin Circle of Mysteries; The Women's Rosary Book Yes International Publishers, Saint Paul, MN, 1997
- Wiley, Eleanor and Shannon, Maggie A String and a Prayer; How to Make and Use Prayer Beads Red Wheel, Boston, 2002
- Wikstrom, Erik Walker Simply Pray: A Modern Spiritual Practice to Deepen your Life Skinner House Books, Boston, 2005
copyright 2002 by Karen Deal Robinson
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