After last week's Wednesday Word, several people wanted to know more about praying with prayer beads. As I pointed out on Wednesday, the Anglican rosary doesn't have set prayers, per se, but leaves it up to the individual to create their own system.
While this may be frustrating at first (we want to make sure we are doing it “right,” and even the disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray”), that openness leaves room for adjustments. Not every prayer works for us every time. Sometimes we can only pray simple prayers; other times we are more open to longer prayers. It all depends on where we are physically, spiritually, and emotionally. For instance, I made a hospital visit yesterday to a parishioner in ICU – that was not the time to offer up one of those long, beautiful prayers from the BCP. I instead offered a short prayer of healing and comfort.
There are times when long, beautiful prayers are appropriate. There are also times when short, blunt prayers are appropriate. The beauty of the rosary is that, no matter which end of the spectrum you find yourself, it helps keeps you focused as you move through the beads.
Here is a short guide, so to speak, of how you might pray the rosary:
At the cross, say an opening prayer
At the invitatory bead, say a prayer inviting God into your presence
At each large cruciform bead (4 around the rosary), recite a piece of scripture
At each small week bead (7 between larger beads), use an easily repetitive prayer
At the completion of one or three circuits, return to the invitatory bead with a closing prayer
End at the cross with a concluding prayer
As I said, there are as many different forms as there are people praying the rosary. Here is my system:
Cross: O God, make speed to save us; O Lord, make haste to help us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
Invitatory: Be present, be present, O Jesus our great high priest, as you were present with your disciples.
Cruciform: 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.
Each Week bead: Holy God, holy and mighty, holy immortal one, have mercy upon us.
Invitatory: Personal prayers
Cross: the Lord's Prayer
If you are looking for more resources, here are a few websites that may be helpful:
https://www.unspokenelements.com/pages/how-to-use-anglican-prayer-beads
http://www.kingofpeace.org/prayerbeads.htm
https://sgnsource.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/2/6/24265184/prayer_beads_handout.pdf
https://ahearttoknow.com/anglican-prayer-beads/
Praying the rosary isn't necessary for a good prayer life; what's necessary for a good prayer life is to make time to pray. May you find the time to pray in whatever form that looks like for you.
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