Eastern Catholic sacramentals and devotions

Catholig · #1 Aug 30, '07, 8:09 pm

I personally wear the brown scapular, miraculous medal, and a few other medals. I also own several rosaries as a Latin Rite Catholic - including a 20 decade one

But this has got me thinking about Eastern Catholicism - do they have anything similar? I know the scapular is pretty western - but do they have any objects with promises attached? If so I'd be really interested in them.

Catholig

twf · #2 Aug 30, '07, 11:41 pm

The Eastern emphasis would be more on the use of icons, as opposed to medals, scapulars, and the likes. I believe certain icons have promises attached to them if venerated.

Catholig · #3 Aug 30, '07, 11:44 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by twf

The Eastern emphasis would be more on the use of icons, as opposed to medals, scapulars, and the likes. I believe certain icons have promises attached to them if venerated.

This'll sound stupid but are there any icons that one can wear?

Catholig

Fr Ambrose · #4 Aug 31, '07, 6:34 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catholig

This'll sound stupid but are there any icons that one can wear?

Yes, many icons are cast in metal and are a small size, about 1 inch square, so that you can wear them around your neck.

mtr01 · #5 Aug 31, '07, 6:43 am

One thing I've been wondering. Do Eastern Catholics consider the tchotki/komboskini/prayer rope as "equivalent" (so to speak) to the Latin Rosary? Is it just a prayer aid, or is it a sacramental/devotional in the sense that the Rosary is?

Fr Ambrose · #6 Aug 31, '07, 6:54 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtr01

One thing I've been wondering. Do Eastern Catholics consider the tchotki/komboskini/prayer rope as "equivalent" (so to speak) to the Latin Rosary? Is it just a prayer aid, or is it a sacramental/devotional in the sense that the Rosary is?

It is, for monks and nuns and the pious faithful, something which is connected with the use of the Jesus Prayer and our deification. So they are treated as very holy, but then, so are a great many things in Eastern life.

mtr01 · #7 Aug 31, '07, 7:07 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr Ambrose

It is, for monks and nuns and the pious faithful, something which is connected with the use of the Jesus Prayer and our deification. So they are treated as very holy, but then, so are a great many things in Eastern life.

Thank you, Father. I assumed this was the case, but it's good to know for sure. I've been considering adding it as a personal devotion (as I am attracted to certain aspects of Eastern spirituality) but wanted to make sure I was approaching it with proper respect and the correct frame of mind.

**Mickey** · #8 Aug 31, '07, 7:19 am

Once, there was a monk from the Monastery of Saint Paul who had gone to the Church of Saint Gerasimos on the island of Cephallonia. During the Divine Liturgy, he stood in the Altar and was praying with his komboskini -the prayer of the heart- Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon us- while outside they were chanting. They had also brought a possessed person into the church to be cured by Saint Gerasimos. While the monk was saying the prayer in the Altar, the demon was being seared outside and was shouting:
"Stop working that string, will you, monk, it is burning me."
The priest heard it, too, and said to the monk:
"Pray with our komboskini as much as you can, my brother, so that God's creature can be freed of the demon".
The demon then shouted in great anger:
"You, rotten priest, you. What are you telling him to pull that string for ? It is burning me!"
The monk then prayed with his komboskini with even greater effort and the possessed man was delivered from the demon.

http://www.orthodoxa.org/GB/orthodoxy/spirituality/AthoniteFathers.htm

a pilgrim · #9 Aug 31, '07, 8:09 am

I have a three-bar cross on a chain given to me by my wife before we were married (about 33 years ago). In all that time it's been off of my person maybe only five times or so, and then only for medical procedures. At the time she purchased it for me she scoured the jewelry stores of our home town to find one, to no avail (it's still kinda tough to find them in your "typical" jewelry/religious goods shop). She finally had to commission a local jeweler to hand cut it from a sheet of sterling silver. It is far and away my most prized earthly possession.

I have a wooden, 33-bead chotki on my bedstand that I use regularly for my daily/nightly devotions and a wool, 33-knot version that I keep with me at all times. It is so comforting to be able to reach into my pocket throughout the day, especially during those intensely stressful times that we all endure, and just touch it. The mere touch of it automatically brings the Jesus Prayer to the forefront of my mind, thus returning my sense of priority to its correct path.

I am aware of no "promises" per se associated with my use of the chotki as an aid to my devotions, except for the implicit promise that Our Lord is listening to me - and that's promise enough for me. Although it is a completely different devotional item than the rosary (I think its circular, beaded nature automatically brings such comparisons), it should be treated with no less respect. I still lament the loss of a blessed woolen chotki that I misplaced some years ago, and pray that wherever it is, it is in an undefiled state.

Patchunky · #10 Aug 31, '07, 12:09 pm

Go to this site: www.andija.com

He has wonderful ikons, crosses and prayer rings...

hope this helps...

langohio · #11 Mar 25, '10, 11:55 am

This e-commerce site sells (inexpensive!) chotkis in the style of a catholic rosary, i.e., polished quartz beads linked on a silver chain with a crucifix. (Orthodox and Byzantine chotki are more often made of knots or wooden beads on a string with a simple cloth or wooden cross.) For those of us used to praying the rosary, these chotkis have a familiar feeling to them.

33- and 50-bead versions are available.

http://littlegemstx.ecrater.com/cate...hp?cid=1101191

The artist also sells traditional rosaries, one-decade rosaries, chaplets, etc.

BTW, the Catechism of the Catholic Church encourages use of the "Jesus Prayer"--the formula usually associated with the chotki. In Part 4 ("Christian Prayer"):

But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. The divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity The Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: "Jesus," "YHWH saves."

The name "Jesus" contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray "Jesus" is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him.

This simple invocation of faith developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in East and West. The most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai, Syria, and Mt. Athos, is the invocation, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners." It combines the Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6-11 with the cry of the publican and the blind men begging for light. By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Savior's mercy.