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The Rosary Tool 

 The purpose of such devotional item is to focus on prayer. ​It provide form and function to focus our prayer life on God rather than ourselves. physical implements to help the Christian with their private prayers serve as both memory aids to prayer and an opportunity to engage in contemplative meditation on the mysteries of God—the Rosary, when used rightly, is particularly good for this last exercise.

 uses it as a guide they could find enrichment in their prayer life.

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As there is no set ‘formulae’ for the Anglican Rosary people can develop prayers for use with the Rosary that reflect their own spiritual journey. The Rosary then becomes simply a tool to aid in prayer life. It becomes a way to deepen one’s prayer life by encouraging not only the mind but the body to participate in prayer. The prayers keep the mind focused and the passing of beads through the fingers keeps the body engaged in prayer also.

The use of the rosary or prayer beads helps to bring us into contemplative of meditative prayer—really thinking about and being mindful of praying, of being in the presence of God—by use of mind, body, and spirit. The touching of the fingers on each successive bead is an aid in keeping our mind from wandering, and the rhythm of the prayers leads us more readily into stillness.

The simple act of using Anglican Prayer Beads can deepen and transform our devotion into a richer spiritual expirience. Praying with beads provides a tactile way to slow down our busy lives. becoming more focused in ther moment while meditating upon prayers. A rosary helps us take time to notice what we are doing, feeling and thinking at the time we are actually doing. feeling mand thinking it by slowing down these processes bead by bead, or one prayer at a time. God is part of our everyday lives, paying attention to God and focusing on Gods kingdo is a fundamental practice of Christian mindfulness.

Prayer beads are imbued with symbolism

  • Anglican prayer beads have 33 beads divided into four weeks of seven, four cruciform beads representing the cross, and an invitatory bead.

  • There are four seasons in the solar year: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Many religious holy days, like Christmas and Easter fall around the equinox or change points of these seasons.

  • There are four sets of seven "weeks" recalling the Jewish and Christian belief in the perfection of the number seven; there are also the seven days of Creation, the seven days of the week, the seven seasons of the church year, and the seven sacraments of the church. Four The seven beads, the weeks, are also associated with completion or spiritual perfection.

  • Jesus’ life on Earth was 33 years.

  • Praying through the beads three times, to signify the trinity, involves 99 beads, a number significant in Middle Eastern religion as the 99 names of God. Ending with the cross brings the number to 100, the number of beads in an Orthodox rosary, which represents the fullness of creation.

  • The prayer beads form a circle. Praying through the beads symbolizes ones journey on the wheel of time.

  • Four slightly larger or different colored beads called "cruciforms" separate these four weeks; equally spaced in the circle of the rosary, they form a cross and reminds us of four seasons and four directions of the compass.

  • Attached to the last cruciform is an "invitatory," from which hangs a cross.

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History

Anglican Prayer Beads are a relatively new form of prayer, blending the Orthodox Jesus Prayer Rope and the Roman Catholic Rosary. The thirty-three bead design was created by the Rev. Lynn Bauman in the mid-1980s, through the prayerful exploration and discovery of a contemplative prayer group.

A group of Episcopal Parishioners were conteplateing the use of an ancient practice of praying with beads and they developed the Anglican prayer beads. Smaller in size than the Dominican Catholic rosary, the Anglican rosary is not associated with Marian devotion, rather it is adaptable to the seasons of the Church calendar or for your own spiritual journey.

The Anglican Rosary
The how to do the rosary
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