Orthodox view on the Rosary?

[Atwood45]

I know it is a roman prayer, and most Orthodox people don't practice it, but as a Eastern Catholic I see it from time to time(I personally do not pray the rosary, I might start, but I would need to get a Rosary first ) so Basically my question is what is the Orthodox view on the Rosary? do any of you Orthodox Christians practice the Rosary?

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

It is a perfectly acceptable prayer in Orthodoxy. My priest made that clear from day one. I haven't spoken with any Orthodox at my parish who say otherwise. They all respect it. I know some Catholic converts to Orthodoxy who still keep and pray their rosaries.

Not a big deal.

I know it is a roman prayer, and most Orthodox people don't practice it, but as a Eastern Catholic I see it from time to time(I personally do not pray the rosary, I might start, but I would need to get a Rosary first ) so Basically my question is what is the Orthodox view on the Rosary? do any of you Orthodox Christians practice the Rosary?

 

[timur123456789]

What does it mean to "pray the rosary" ?

:o

 

[Lady Bug]

what about novenas?

 

[Atwood45]

What does it mean to "pray the rosary" ?

:o

The Rosary is basically a chain of beads with a crucifix on it. at each bead you say a prayer, its a device that helps guide you in your prayer basically, Ill send you a link to the prayers of it(need some more post before I can post a link so..)

 

[timur123456789]

Hmm.. I guess some people really need a guide to pray...

 

[Eastern Drifter]

I prayed the rosary in my early days of being a catechumen. It brought me peace in times of emotional turbulence, wherein I had trouble with anger, sadness, confusion. You can probably find a thread I made months ago about how "Hail Mary" pulled me from the depths of depression. That was only a single instance of many.

I kinda drifted away from it (Eastern Drifter indeed, 'eh?), but my rosary still hangs on the doorknob of my closet. My method of prayer is different these days.

 

[Eastern Drifter]

Hmm.. I guess some people really need a guide to pray...

It helps. I find it more productive than the swing-by-the-hip "What exactly am I supposed to be praying right now" ways of Protestantism.

 

[timur123456789]

It helps. I find it more productive than the swing-by-the-hip "What exactly am I supposed to be praying right now" methods of Protestantism.

If you not sure what to pray.
You could always open the Pslams and "Pray the Psalms."

 

[Eastern Drifter]

If you not sure what to pray.
You could always open the Pslams and "Pray the Psalms."

Indeed. The Psalter plays an important role in our church.

 

[Atwood45]

If you not sure what to pray.
You could always open the Pslams and "Pray the Psalms."

I "freestyle" Pray all the time, in all my prayers I do, but the Rosary is also a good way to start off or end off your prayers. Its also easy to do in a time of crisis (I know of this guy who was a protestant considering Catholicism, so he carried a rosary around; and the prayer guide to it, and he had a panic attack and couldn't think so he took out his rosary and it helped through the attack.)

 

[Ortho_Cat]

nothing wrong with the Jesus prayer either.

 

[Joseph Hazen]

I might turn to the rosary in times of trouble. When you can't think, when you're freaking out, it's great for keeping your mind and hands busy on something productive. There's an Eastern version called the Prayer Rule of the Theotokos but I know the rosary, so I'd just do that.

It's also not unheard of in Western Orthodoxy.

 

[zoebliss]

i'd rather do this:

it's a lestovka & you do the Jesus prayer on it. the focus is Jesus & not the Theotokos.

 

[zoebliss]

It is a perfectly acceptable prayer in Orthodoxy. My priest made that clear from day one. I haven't spoken with any Orthodox at my parish who say otherwise. They all respect it. I know some Catholic converts to Orthodoxy who still keep and pray their rosaries.

Not a big deal.

cradle orthodox that are senior age and even younger ones think its not orthodox. also greeks arent into it. they know it's from th roman church.

i'm personally not into it because we have our own traditions.

 

[Atwood45]

cradle orthodox that are senior age and even younger ones think its not orthodox. also greeks arent into it. they know it's from th roman church.

i'm personally not into it because we have our own traditions.

Thats perfectly Understandable, Can you maybe give me more information on the Orthodox prayer kit there lol? I would love to hear about that, as something that focuses on Jesus is something I would want to do aswell.

 

[zoebliss]

Thats perfectly Understandable, Can you maybe give me more information on the Orthodox prayer kit there lol? I would love to hear about that, as something that focuses on Jesus is something I would want to do aswell.

well the lestovka is a russian version of the greek prayer rope. the prayer book is from the old believers rocor in erie, penn. its an awesome prayer book that i would recommend even over the much beloved jordanville prayer book.

as for the lestovka, its fairly simple. this will explain it better than i can.

Lestovka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i dont do the prostrations when doing the jesus prayer though. i do a lot of things that arent strictly by the book like i do the akathist sitting down even though your suppose to stand in front of an icon. but thats at home. i would NEVER sit down during an akathist at church like during lent.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

That's fine. In the end, it's Marian, it focuses on the humanity and divinity of Christ, His suffering, His triumph, His glory, His totality. It has lovely prayers like the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, etc. The endgame of the Eucharist is calm, focused prayer on the Theotokos and Her Son. I highly recommend the rosary to anyone. I don't think the "those Romans do it, so I won't!" is a good approach for me personally. Catholicism isn't a complete worthless disaster. They have had rich, beautiful devotions and lovely worship in their history. And they've had incredibly holy men and women and doctors of the faith post schism that, were we not in schism, would be saints for sure in Orthodoxy. While I disagree with some things about Catholicism that made me come to Orthodoxy, I'm not throwing them off the bus or devaluing things like the Rosary. I come from a different journey than many. I grew up in the West and still see great beauty in several things there even though I've sailed East and find it even more bountiful and shining. The Rosary is a powerful tool of prayer and a nice weapon against the Evil One. I'm fine with it. I also adore the Stations of the Cross, always will.

cradle orthodox that are senior age and even younger ones think its not orthodox. also greeks arent into it. they know it's from th roman church.

i'm personally not into it because we have our own traditions.

 

[zoebliss]

I "freestyle" Pray all the time, in all my prayers I do, but the Rosary is also a good way to start off or end off your prayers. Its also easy to do in a time of crisis (I know of this guy who was a protestant considering Catholicism, so he carried a rosary around; and the prayer guide to it, and he had a panic attack and couldn't think so he took out his rosary and it helped through the attack.)

the orthodox way would be to do the Jesus prayer as instructed in Way of the Pilgrim. sort of like an inward, repetitive prayer that sinks into your heart. it's great for panic attacks & its biblical. your protestant friend can site matthew 6:6, and 1 thessalonians 5:17.

 

[zoebliss]

That's fine. In the end, it's Marian, it focuses on the humanity and divinity of Christ, His suffering, His triumph, His glory, His totality. It has lovely prayers like the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, etc. The endgame of the Eucharist is calm, focused prayer on the Theotokos and Her Son. I highly recommend the rosary to anyone. I don't think the "those Romans do it, so I won't!" is a good approach for me personally. Catholicism isn't a complete worthless disaster. They have had rich, beautiful devotions and lovely worship in their history. And they've had incredibly holy men and women and doctors of the faith post schism that, were we not in schism, would be saints for sure in Orthodoxy. While I disagree with some things about Catholicism that made me come to Orthodoxy, I'm not throwing them off the bus or devaluing things like the Rosary. I come from a different journey than many. I grew up in the West and still see great beauty in several things there even though I've sailed East and find it even more bountiful and shining. The Rosary is a powerful tool of prayer and a nice weapon against the Evil One. I'm fine with it. I also adore the Stations of the Cross, always will.

thres nothing wrong with doing the rosary in itself. but it is a roman church practice so its not orthodox. the doxology, the hail mary, ect... its not orthodox.

we have our own versions of the catholic hail mary & doxology. it's not like we dont revere the theotokos, we actually do. we mention her often during divine liturgy as you very well know. but when it comes to repetitive prayer, the orthodox Jesus prayer is WAY older. the rosary only happened during saint dominics time like in the 12th century, i think.