Praying with Stones

I've written before about the ways that I struggle with silent prayer. My mind wanders. I lose focus. It feels too "free for all" when what I need is something more structured. I had read about an Episcopal priest, Rev. C. Lynn Bauman, from Texas who, with his contemplative prayer group, created a set of prayer beads they called the Anglican Rosary. The group wanted an experimental way to pray but didn't necessarily want to follow the Catholic traditions of praying to Mary and the saints. I was intrigued.

On Saturday, at the library I found this book:



"Bead One, Pray Too: A Guide to Making and Using Prayer Beads" by Kimberly Winston

On Sunday afternoon I created these.


The large stone at the bottom is usually a cross. I didn't have one in my bead stash so I substituted a large oval of agate. Agate was worn on the breastplate of soldiers in the Old Testament, with the Bible specifically mentioning it in Aaron's breastplate. In folklore, agate is the stone of truth, and wearing it is supposed to insure that one's words are sincere.

The next bead moving up the tail of the prayer strand is the invitatory bead. It's purpose is to ask God to hear us as we pray.

After the invitatory bead, we move around the circle. There are 32 main beads in the circle, with small spacer beads mixed in. There are four groups of seven beads each, separated by four larger beads, one between each set of seven. There is much symbolism in the design. Seven is the Biblical number of perfection and the number that represents God. There were seven days of creation. It's the number of seasons in the church calendar and the number of church sacraments. There are also seven days in the week, and hopefully, seven is the number of days that we pray! Consequently, these groups of seven beads are called "weeks."

The four larger beads are called "cruciform" beads. If you drew an imaginary line across the circle from cruciform beads at opposite sides, you would have the outline of the cross. Four is also a symbolic number – seasons, elements, directions, Gospels. All of these form the foundations of our faith and life.

Jesus is also remembered in the total number of beads – 33. This represents the number of years Jesus lived on the earth.

The thing I like best about the Anglican Rosary is that it is completely free form with respect to the way you can pray with it. Unlike the Catholic Rosary with its prescribed prayers, this set of beads can be used for everything from single word breath prayers to complex meditations. It's completely up to the user.

For now, these are the prayers I'm using. I'm sure they will change, season by season.

The Cross:
Romans 8:37-39

The Invitatory:
May the eye of God dwell upon me. May the feet of Christ guide me. May the shower of the Spirit rain upon me. Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Amen.

The Weeks: pray each phrase on a separate bead
Love the Lord your God
With all your heart
With all your soul
With all your mind
With all your strength.
This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is this:
Love your neighbor as yourself.

Cruciform 1:
Micah 6:8

Cruciform 2:
Romans 8:28

Cruciform 3:
Romans 12:2

Cruciform 4:
Matthew 16:24-26

I'm really enjoying just carrying these beads in my pocket and praying with them in the moments that make themselves available. It feels very centering, peaceful and whole.

A person very dear to me is having surgery in a few weeks. I'm working on finding beads with the perfect symbolism of healing and strength to create a set for him. I hope they will bring him moments of comfort and peace as well.