The Rosary (Teachings of the Orthodox Church)

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Don't be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don't sow, they don't reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds! Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? If then you aren't able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? Don't seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek God's Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.

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	The Rosary (Teachings of the Orthodox Church)

QUESTION:

Do the Orthodox pray the rosary and use rosary beads?

ANSWER:

The Roman Catholic devotion of praying the Rosary is not a part of the Orthodox Christian Tradition, as this devotion in its present form dates from about the 15th century -- hundreds of years after Roman Catholicism separated herself from the Orthodox Church.

In Orthodoxy there is, however, the practice of praying the Jesus Prayer -- "O Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner" -- on a set of prayer beads, generally 100 in number. This tradition is especially upheld by Orthodox monks and nuns, although a growing number of laypersons also make use of such beads. This usage, however, is completely unrelated in origin, form, and content to Roman Catholicism's Rosary.

I might add that the original version of the prayer which forms the basis of the Rosary -- the "Hail Mary" -- finds a prominent place in Orthodox Christian liturgical worship and private prayer. The prayer reads as follows:

quot; Rejoice, O Virgin Mother of God, Mary, full of grace! The Lord is withyou! Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, foryou have borne the Savior of our souls."

Published in January 2011.

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