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Sister,

I am going to go on the assumption that what you state above is what you either have been led to believe by others or what you believe to be the truth, having not investigated. Let me direct you to a few sites that should help to point out that the "Byzantine Catholics" with whom your order is in communion are not themselves in communion with Rome - and, thus, neither is your Order.

Go to the following link, L.S.L.S. Sisters of Faith [ourchurch.com] , which is to one of 3 or 4 on-line sites belonging to your Order (most of which essentially mirror one another).

Then, scroll down, you will see a link on the menu at left that says Byzantine Orthodox Catholic {Autocephalus} Juristiction ([i]sic[/i]) [ourchurch.com] . If you click on it, you will be redirected to a page featuring a picture of "His Holiness".

The gentleman pictured is Mar Markus I (Miller), the "Patriarch" of a Church that is headquartered in the US (not Canada; only your Order is situated in Canada). The Church has been titled by various names over its existence. Presently, and for some time now, it has been most commonly referred to as The Byzantine Catholic Church,Inc. (Independent Jurisdiction) Eastern and Western Orthodox Rites.
[members.tripod.com] If you scroll down this page, you will read text that says, emphatically,

If you click the following BCC Patriarchate [members.tripod.com] , you will see another photo of His Holiness, vested differently, but the same man as depicted on the L.S.L.S. site above. Below his photo, you will read:

If you go to the Church's photo album [community.webshots.com] , note that, at the top of the album site main page, it states clearly:

Once there, select the link "SOME OF OUR CLERGY,RELIGIOUS FRIENDS AND OTHERS" [community.webshots.com] from the left hand menu. You can then can scroll down and find a picture of your Arch-Abbess.

Hope this clears up some of the misunderstanding.

Many years,

Neil
http://members.tripod.com/BCCPatriarchate/

Gobbley-de-gook; not of God.
Matters not an iota;
ui7ytf,jvxdrtfugh0;7t9.ghksezhj/nmbvcxdszxdhlnpoi/jk;lufmgchv;kjlmn,bumfghcvstdzxf/kjlnm

Dear Irish Anchoress,

Neil is correct. The independent Churches and communities listed in your post are not in any way connected to the Byzantine Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church or to the Orthodox Church. They are all independent organizations. Their websites clearly indicate this.

I am sure that your belief that you are in communion with us is something you honestly believe. Unfortunately, it is not correct. Since your claim is inaccurate and causing ill will on the Forum I must ask you to refrain from identifying your church as being in communion with us.

Admin

To get back to the Holy Rosary...I thought perhaps these might be uplifting.

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY THE THEOTOKOS
By Archbishop AVERKY of Blessed Memory

JUSTIFICATION FOR MARY'S TITLE, MOTHER OF GOD:

The Justification for Mary's Title as Mother of God can be found in Divine Revelation (Luke 1: 31-32) The text of the first prayer to Mary, Mother of God, is found in the ancient Greek Liturgy written by the Apostle St. James in Jerusalem, and the Liturgy composed by St. Mark, it reads as follows.

Rejoice Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with You.
Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, for You have borne the Savior of our souls.

ANGELIC SALUTATION
(4th Century)
(Eastern Byzantine Catholic)

Rejoice, Virgin Mother of God, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with You.
Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb,
For You have borne Christ, the Savior and Deliverer of our souls.

BOHORODICE DJIVO
Church Slavonic

Bojorodice Djivo radujsja, Blahodatnaja Marije,
Hospod stoboju. Blahoslovenna ty vzenach,
I blahosloven Plod creva tvojeho;
jako rodila jesi Spasa dusam nasim.

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"And he knew her not until she brought forth her first born son and he called his name JESUS" (St. Matthew 1:25).

"AND WHENCE IS THIS TO ME, that the Mother of My Lord should come to me? (St. Luke 1:43). Thus did the Righteous Elizabeth cry out with joy, when the Most Holy Virgin Mary come to her, as to her own relative, in order to share with her the joy of the Annunciation.

The Orthodox Church, following the centuries old teaching which come from the very first days of Christianity, therefore names of the Most Holy Virgin the "Mother of the Lord" or the "Birth giver of God" [Theotokos], and honors her in a sacred manner, and she herself prophesied by saying: "Behold, from hence forth all generations shall call me bless" (St. Luke 1:48), confessing her to be Ever-Virgin, that is forever preserving her vow of virginity.

Is there a foundation for the teaching of the perpetual virginity of the All-Holy Virgin Mary in the Holy Scriptures?

When Archangel Gabriel brought her the glad tidings of her giving birth to a Son who "shall be called the Son of the Highest", in astonishment she replied to him; "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (St. Luke 1:31-34).

Such an answer, full of amazement at the announcement of the angel would have been completely meaningless if she had not given a vow to God to remain a virgin forever. The angel calmed her, explaining to her that her vow would not be broken for she would bear a Son in a supernatural way, without the participation of a man, by the over-shadowing of the Spirit of God.

"The Holy Spirit shall come upon Thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow Thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God," he said to her (St. Luke 1:35).

These words of the Holy Scriptures already in and of themselves serve as a completely sufficient basis for the age-old belief and teaching of the Christian Church that the Most Holy Virgin Mary gave vow to God never to enter into wedlock, always sacredly preserving her virginity. Therefore, the Church honored her "twice wondrous Virgin": a virgin before birth giving, a virgin in giving birth, and a virgin after giving birth.

But who, then, was Joseph, who in the Gospel is sometimes called "her husband" (e.g.. St. Matthew 1:19)? Was he not then her real husband?

Nowhere does it say in the Gospel that the Most Holy Virgin Mary was given in wedlock to Joseph, but it is only said that she was "betrothed" to him (St. Luke 1:27:2:5). It is self-evident that for a young virgin to give the vow of virginity and live completely alone without a protector and defender is extremely difficult and dangerous. Therefore, formally, according to the Law, she was considered as the wife of Joseph, and this protected her from all attempt against the purity and of her virginity. Betrothal, in those times as in others, was legally considered to be equal to marriage, although it was not a complete marriage and did not grant the man who as betrothed the right to enter entirely into the rights of a husband (St. Luke 1:27).

If Joseph the Betrothed had truly been her husband and not just her "betrothed", why would she have expressed such amazement to the archangel in reply to his announcing the birth from her of a son, and why would she ask: "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man" (St. Luke 1:34). Such an objection on her part would otherwise be completely incomprehensible and meaningless!

In the Holy Scriptures there is no mention of the age of Joseph the Betrothed, but it would have been extremely strange to think that the priest or the Temple of Jerusalem, were the All Holy Virgin Mary was brought up, would have betrothed her, with the purpose of preserving her virginity, to a young man, who had not yet married, as is the tendency of though, in agreement with their own aims, of the protestants and sectarians, in opposition to the tradition which has come down from deep antiquity, that Joseph was an elderly widower and already had from his first real and not just seeing marriage grown children, who in the eyes of those around, naturally were considered the "son of Joseph" (cf. St. Luke 4:22; St. Matthew 13: 55-56).

That the Gospel of St. Matthew states concerning Joseph and the All Holy Virgin: "He knew her not until she had brought forth her first born son; and he called his name Jesus" (St. Matthew 1:25), does not mean that he afterwards "knew her" and lived with her as a wife.

Entirely correct is the commentary of St. John Chyrsostom that a righteous man such as Joseph (and that he was a righteous man is clear from St. Matthew 1:19), could not decide to know a virgin after she had in such a miraculous way - - through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit - - became the Mother of the Son of God Himself. And the same Chrysostom cities a whole series of places in the Holy Scripture where this word "until", which is the translation of the Greek "heos", has meaning entirely opposite to the meaning attributed to it by the protestants and sectarians.

"This word," he says "does not lay down limits beyond which the action did not continue, does not signify any allotted time." Thus, in the account of the book of Genesis of the universal flood, it is said "and the raven did not return to the ark until [heos] the water had receded from the earth" (Genesis 8:6), but it did not return even after this. Likewise, concerning God, the Scripture says: "even from everlasting Thou art" (Psalm 89:2), but by this no limits are laid down. Likewise we also read in the 109th Psalm; "The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit Thou at My Right hand, until [heos] I make Thine enemies the footstool of thy feet" (Isaiah 55:10), but it is obvious that when it was watered the earth, the rain will not return.

In the parable of the merciless detour it is said, "And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors till [heos] he should pay all that was due until him" (St. Matthew 18:34), i.e. in essence forever, for how and what could he pay his debt when he was in the hands of the tormentors? The word "heos" is used in the farewell of the Lord with His disciples: "Lo, I am with you always, even unto [heos] the end of the age" (St. Matthew 28:20); but this does not mean, as Blessed Theophylact rightly notes, that after the end of the age of Christ all will no longer be with us. No! It is precisely then that He will even more so be with us.

That the Evangelist Matthew states that the Most HOly Virgin Mary "brought forth her first born son" (St. Matthew 1:25) in no way gives rise to the thought that after Jesus she bore other children. "The first born son" is the name applied to Jesus here not because He was the first, and, furthermore, the only one, born of her. In the Old Testament, as we know, God commanded to dedicate to Him "every first male", with no view whatsoever as to whether there would be other children after him or not" (cf. Ex. 13:2; Num. 3:13).

So easily and simply do all these unfound claims of the protestants and sectarians fall apart, when they deny with such vicious stubbornness the ancient teach of the Christian Church concerning the Ever-Virgin Birthgiver of God! They do not even take the trouble to consider why the Lord Jesus Christ would entrust His MOther to His disciple John, during the Crucifixion, if she had several of her own sons and daughters? Would none of them really have taken her in as a mother and cared for her?

What, then, is the reason for such surprising and stubborn dislike on the part of the protestants and sectarians for the ancient teaching of the Christian Church concerning the Ever-Virgin Mother of God?

The reason is revealed quite simply; it is their general dislike for the ascetic labor of virginity!

The founder and inspirer of protestantism, Martin Luther himself, a Roman Catholic monk who had given the vow of virginity and not feeling himself capable of fulfilling vow, trampled on it by marrying a nun. And in order to justify himself he began the false teaching that for salvation no ascetic labors are necessary at all, but faith alone in Christ is by itself sufficient.

Yet this is in direct opposition to the Holy Scriptures, which the protestants claim as their only authority, although with complete freedom in its interpretation. It is sufficient to cite just one saying of the Holy Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord, who in his catholic epistle states, that faith alone cannot save a person, for "the devils also believe and tremble" (St. James 2:19), and therefore "as body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (St. James 2:26).

Concerning the vow of virginity, this vow is instituted by one one other than by the Divine Virgin and the Lord Himself, Jesus Christ, in His discourse with the disciples on marriage and virginity [St. Matthew 19:3-12].

When the Lord spoke that marriage could not be dissolved except for the sake of adultery, the Apostles were disturbed and said, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry" (St. Matthew 19:10). Correcting a light-minded statement by the disciples, the Lord confirmed that is is indeed "better not to marry", but, at the same time stated that the preservation of chastity is an ascetic labor which all cannot bear. "All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given" (St. Matthew 19:11), and thus He established virginity on the same moral height as the loftier and more perfect states of spiritual life. Further, the Lord compares the ascetic labor of virginity with voluntary eunuchs; words, which, of course, are not to be taken literally, in the coarse, physical sense, "and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake" (St. Matthew 19:12).

To make oneself a "eunuch for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake" means to cut off completely carnal desire, to slay carnal lust and to decide to lead an unmarried, virginal life, for the sake of a more complete service to God and attainment of the Kingdom of Heaven.

"He that is able to receive it, let him receive it" (St. Matthew 19:12). This means that no one is forced to the ascetic labor of virginity, but be who feels himself, with God's help, must do so.

This is clear undeniable institution by our Savior HImself of the ascetic labor of virginity, which is so great and so pleasing before God. For this reason many thousands of Christian men and women honored the lightness of this ascetic labor and chose it for themselves, and throughout the entire history of the Church they have been glorified for the sanctity of their lives. It was only in the 16th century, that the protestants, in the person of Martin Luther, joined in attach against this Christian institution and, in their dislike for it, did not stop even at blasphemy against the Ever-Virgin Mother of God, denying her virginity and sacrilegiously recognizing her simply as another average woman, like all others who bear children from their husband, and they do not wish to glorify her in opposition to her prophesy, "Behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (St. Luke 1:48).

For this reason it is not surprising, and is even the logical conclusion, that the more extreme of the protestants came to the denial of the miraculous birth from her of the Son of God, as of a pure and undefiled virgin, and strive now to demonstrate that in the great prophesy of Isaiah concerning the birth of Emmanuel of a virgin, one should not read "virgin" but "young maiden" (Isaiah 7:14). Thus step by step, they give in to the propaganda of the atheists, who do not recognize anything lofty or holy.

No one forbids protestants and sectarians from entering into legal matrimony, if they do not feel themselves capable of a virgin life, and to bear children. But why deny and blaspheme that which always over the ages has been sacred in the eyes of all true Christians. And now do they dare to lower and blaspheme the lofty virginity of the Most Pure and All immaculate Virgin -- the Mother of Christ our Hod!

The voice of the Ecumenical Church of Christ unanimously pronounced upon them and all their sympathizers a terrible sentence, already in the ninth century, a sentence which has been included in the magnificently compunction ate Service of Orthodoxy.

"To all who dare to say that the All Pure Virgin Mary was not before giving birth, in giving birth, and after giving birth a Virgin - - anathema! "

And we glorify Her with the angelic doxology, Rejoice, Thou full of grace, the Lord is with Thee!" (St. Luke 1:28).

And for each of us Christians She is the Mother of My Lord" (St. Luke 1:43).

Source: Orthodox Life., Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, New York.

Her devoted servant,
+Fr. Gregory

MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD SAVE US!

REPOST...(to help get back on the subject)

Prayers for the Rule of the Mother of God
Правило Богородицы
A Rosary

By St Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), Russian Orthodox Bishop of Dimitrov, martyred by the Soviets in 1937.

Many thanks to Dr Alex Roman of Toronto, Ontario, Canada for sending this to
A Conservative Site for Peace.

1) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this first decade in honour of the Nativity of Thy Mother, and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the Intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, Thy Divine Protection for families.

[Decade: Our Father. Rejoice, O Virgin Mother of God (Hail Mary), 10 times. Glory to the Father.]

Following decade:

Most Holy Mother of God, save and preserve your servants (our parents, relatives and friends), increase their faith and repentance, and give them rest with the saints in your eternal glory.

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2) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this second decade in honour of the Presentation of Thy Mother in the Temple and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the return of those who have fallen away from the Church.

Most Holy Mother of God, save, preserve and unite to the Holy Church your servants who have fallen away (names).

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3) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this third decade in honour of the Annunciation of Thy Mother and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the consolation for those who sorrow.

Most Holy Mother of God, soothe our sorrows and send consolation to your servants who are grieving (names).

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4) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this fourth decade in honour of the Meeting of Thy Mother with St Elizabeth and we ask Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the reunion of the separated.

Most Holy Mother of God, unite your servants who are separated.

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5) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this fifth decade in honour of Thy Nativity, and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God, the grace of new life in Thee.

Most Holy Mother of God, grant unto me (us) who have been baptized in Christ to be clothed in Christ.

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6) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this sixth decade in honour of Thy Presentation in the Temple and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the grace of a holy death in union with Thee.

Most Holy Mother of God, let me receive the Holy Mysteries with my last breath, and lead my soul yourself through the terrible torments.

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7) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this seventh decade in honour of Thy flight into Egypt and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the grace to flee from temptations and deliverance from misfortunes.

Most Holy Mother of God, lead me not into temptation in this life and deliver me from misfortunes.

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8) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this eighth decade in honour of Thy finding in the Temple and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother the grace of unceasing Prayer in Thy Name.

Most Holy Mother of God, grant to me the unceasing Jesus Prayer.

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9) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this ninth decade in honour of Thy miracle at Cana of Galilee and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the constant assistance of Thy Mother in all our needs.

Most Holy Mother of God, help me always and deliver me from every need and sorrow.

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10) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this tenth decade in honour of Thy Mother's standing at the foot of Thy Cross, and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the grace of strengthening of our souls and the banishment of despondency.

Most Holy Mother of God, strengthen my soul and banish my despair.

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11) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this eleventh decade in honour of Thy Resurrection and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the resurrection of our souls and courage for spiritual feats.

Most Holy Mother of God, resurrect my soul and give me constant readiness for spiritual feats.

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12) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this twelfth decade in honour of Thy Ascension and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the raising up of our souls from earthly things to heavenly inspirations.

Most Holy Mother of God, deliver me from worldly thoughts and give me a mind and heart striving for salvation.

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13) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this thirteenth decade in honour of Thy sending of the Holy Spirit into the world and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother the coming of the Holy Spirit into our souls.

Most Holy Mother of God, create in me a clean heart in which the Holy Spirit will be pleased to make His dwelling.

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14) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this fourteenth decade in honour of the Dormition of Thy Mother and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother the grace of the Heavenly reward.

Most Holy Mother of God, grant me a peaceful and serene end and then lead me to Thy Son in Heaven.

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15) We offer Thee, Lord Jesus, this fifteenth decade in honour of Thy Coronation of Thy Mother and we ask of Thee, through this Mystery and through the intercession of Thy Most Holy Mother, the grace of Her Honourable Mantle of Protection throughout our lives.

Most Holy Mother of God, preserve me from every evil and cover me with your Honourable Protecting Mantle.


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Rule of the Mother of God in honour of the Five Sorrows

One decade each for:

Our Lady's suffering on hearing Simeon's Prophecy and for a knowledge and sorrow for our sins;

Our Lady's suffering during her three-day search for her Son and for the forgiveness of all our sins.

Our Lady's suffering on hearing of her Son being seized and bound - for the restoration of the virtues lost through sin.

Our Lady's suffering on seeing her Son crucified and for the gift of Christ's mercy in the hour of death, to receive the Mysteries.

Our Lady's suffering on seeing her Son placed in the Tomb and for the grace to see Christ at the hour of death and to be received into Heaven.

Our Lady's glory in Heaven, as our Sovereign and constant Protection.

Three "Hail Marys" in honour of the 63 years of her life on earth.

Our Blessed Mother's poorest son,
+Fr. Gregory

Bless, Father Gregory,

You always come up with the most excellent posts!

I love the above post - absolutely wonderful!

The final part of the Five Sorrows above is taken from St Dmitri of Rostov's "Tale of the Five Prayers."

He himself also fulfilled the special Rule of saying a "Hail Mary" at the start of every hour, day and night - he was wakened by the sound of the clock throughout the night, got out of bed and recited the Hail Mary then went back to bed (!)

I'm getting my students in religion class to learn the above method of saying the Rule and they seem to be positively open to it!

They will each get an icon button of the Mother of God and a small prayer rope.

I've also found that the girls in the class find it very easy to relate to the Most Holy Mother of God (and certainly I believe that any religion teacher must focus strongly on her role to get across the true meaning of Christianity).

I put one of her icons up at the front and refer to her special, mystical role in the Incarnation frequently.

One of the great blessings in our class is that it is SHE who appears to be having the real impact and I'm just there to carry her Icons, distribute her rosary and generally just look after things to help facilitate the process . . .

I feel very blessed to fulfill a role like that!

(It is similar to the one I fulfill at home as well!)

Kissing your right hand, I again implore your blessing,

Alex

The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary On-Line: http://www.geocities.com/littleofficebvm/

May she intercede with her Divine Son for us always!

In thankgiving for all her graces,
+Fr. Gregory

Another good site for the Little Office:

http://www.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/LittleOfficeBVM.htm

Stay near us O Virgin and protect all those who pray to thee!

In devotion to her,
+Fr. Gregory

What a tremendous reward for struggling through ALL EIGHT PAGES of unrelated posts on the rosary only to find - at last - your link direction, dear Father, to the The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary . Thank you Father Gregory for your keeping everyone on track!

Sometimes it takes the gentle prodding from a priest to get people back on the right track.

In Christ,
Aaron

Archbishop Fulton Sheen was fond of saying, that the Blessed Mother is the ONLY human being that could look DOWN to Heaven because she carried Heaven within her womb! How beautiful is that?

To her to be praise and glory unto to ages of ages, Amen. "All generations shall called me blessed!"

In her holy and precious name,
+Fr. Gregory

This doesn't have anything to do with the above except that it pertains to the Rosary.

I bought a really nice little booklet the other day entitled "Mysteries of Light - Meditations on the Mysteries of the Rosary with John Paul II".

Each Mystery, all twenty are included, has a short Gospel quotation and a meditation from JPII's Apostolic Letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae" and is illustrated with a color icon by Helen Protopapadakis-Papaconstantinou. Greek maybe?

It is by Liguori Publications and is a little pricey at $10 for it's size, but it is very well done.

Here's a link to it:

www.liguori.org/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1488 [liguori.org]

I've finally thought of a good reason why the Rosary may be for many a more preferred prayer than the choki; it quite simple too if you think about it. The choki and the Jesus Prayer need to be said with COMPLETE and ABSOLUTE attention to the words of the prayer...something that is easier to do in a place of complete recollection and quiet (hence the reason why it is usually a monastic excerise of pieity...and for monks and nuns)...but the Rosary gives us a whole 'PLAN' for prayer...because there are specific meditations to focus upon: the Mysteries of Salvation and our faith---hence, it is a very focused prayer and there is the 'opportunity' to flee distractions more easily. With the prayer rope and the Jesus Prayer, you need to focus on the words of the prayer alone...and this demands a much more recollected way of life and great quiet to do it properly and with benefit. With the 'Western' Rosary...you can use the aids of pictures of the mysteries or a form like the Scriptural Rosary or any number of 'helps' that will aide you in maintaining a recollected state of mind...and hence the chance of greater profit.

That's my personal opinion and what I've been thinking about lately anyway. I could be 'all wet' in this...it wouldn't be the first time.

With love for you all!

Your brother in Christ,
+Gregory, priestmonk

P.S. Sorry for mis-spelling CHOTKI...it wasn't intentional I assure you. I have great regard for this manner of prayer also...it just doesn't seem as advantagous for people who are VERY active and involve in worldly persuits.

In Christ Who is LORD,
+Fr. G

Dear Father Gregory,

I agree with you.

What I have found works easier for me with the chotki is to say the Jesus Prayer as I am drifting off to sleep. It seems an appropriate time for such a prayer.

The rosary and the chotki are both different-- but I think that it is great to use both.

Also, sometimes, I like to say the Hail Marys and subsequent prayers (oh my Jesus--forgive us of our sins....and...the Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy...) as I would the Jesus Prayer...repetitively (without any necessary meditation) as I am driving, or doing something else. What more beautiful prayer is there?

( Is there any question as to what is my all time favorite religious hymn is? I especially love Andrea Bocelli's voice singing the Ava Maria)

In Christ,
Alice