Do Eastern Catholics pray the Rosary?
Some do. The Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Western Catholic prayer, but some Eastern Catholics choose to include it in their personal devotions. Eastern Christians also have their own rosary, sometimes called the “Byzantine Rosary”. This devotion involves the meditative recitation of the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!) one hundred times, along with some other prayers. The Jesus Prayers are counted on a prayer rope, called a komboschoinia in Greek or a chotki in Russian. It is made out of wool and has either 33, 50 or 100 special knots in it, each tied in a cross-like form. Sometimes, the prayers are said on a string of 100 beads. The Byzantine Rosary is much older than the Western Rosary, dating back to the fourth century A.D.! It is an ancient and venerable Christian practice. • I’m a Roman Catholic; can I attend an Eastern Catholic Divine Liturgy? Absolutely! We are all the same Catholic Church, so we have complete intercommunio
