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Ecumenical / Anglican
Prayer Beads
Anglican prayer
beads, like the Catholic rosary, brings us into contemplative
prayer of body, mind, and spirit. The progression of
the fingers on the beads helps maintain focus and the
rhythm of movement brings us into peaceful meditation
on the life of Christ, enables the mind to rest and
the heart to become still. Anglican prayer beads are
traditionally 33 beads, the number of years of Christ's
life.
Four groups
of seven beads make up the Weeks and remind us of Creation,
the earthly week, as well as the seasons of the Church
Year. The number seven signifies completion or wholeness.
There are four Cruciform beads symbolizing the four
points of the cross, a universal symbol of our Christian
faith. Four represents the number of our seasons, the
four directions of the compass, and brings us into mind
of God's creation. There is a leading Invitatory Bead
just above the cross, inviting us to praise and worship
God as well as being the entry point into the circle
of prayer, just as the Daily Office of the Church begins
with the Invitatory.
Experiment
with various prayers to suit your personal prayer needs,
style, and desires. It is suggested to unhurriedly pray
the circle of beads three times to allow the repetition
to lull you into the love and peace of praise and enable
the heart and mind to rest and become still.
To begin, hold
the cross and say your assigned prayer. Move to the
Invitatory Bead, enter the Cruciform and Weeks beads,
saying the prayer for each bead. Exit by the Invitatory
and Cruciform beads.
Unless specifically
mentioned, prayer beads are one of a kind and
only one is available without special order.
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Multi colored freshwater pearls
in shades of creamy white, silver, champagne,
and dark gray. The Cruciform beads are slightly
larger creamy white pearls, about 8mm. The Weeks
are 6mm uniformly round. The wirewrapped construction and chain are sterling
silver and the cross is silver tone.
ITEM NUMBER: BMGSAPB
PRICE: $30.00
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A 15 Promises
Heritage Item
Organic gemstones such as coral
and pearls were most certainly known and used
in design by the ancients. The pearl is the
traditional birthstone of June. Silver and bronze
were used in the fabrication of sacred items
in the heritage of faith.
A pearl is a
hard, generally spherical object produced within the soft tissue of a living
shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium
carbonate in crystalline form which has been deposited in layers. The ideal
pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes of pearls occur. The
finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones for many
centuries, and because of this, the word pearl has come to signify something
very rare, fine, admirable, and valuable. Valuable pearls occur in the wild, but
they are very rare. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters make up the
majority of those that are currently sold. Pearls from the sea are valued more
highly than freshwater pearls.
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6mm olive wood Weeks and Cruciform
beads. The construction
is non-tarnish Argentium sterling silver and sterling chain. The cross is silver
tone.
ITEM NUMBER: BMOWAPB
PRICE: $30.00
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A 15 Promises Heritage Item
Over the years, the olive branch has been the symbol of peace.
The olive tree and olives are mentioned over 30 times in the
Bible
in both the
New
and
Old Testaments. It is one of the first and most
significant plants mentioned in the Bible. For example, it was an olive leaf
that Noah’s dove brought back to
him
to demonstrate that the flood was over. The
Mount of Olives is mentioned
several times. The Garden at Gethsemane where Jesus suffered and prayed before
his arrest is on the Mount of Olives. Gethsemane means, “olive press.” The very
tree under which Jesus prayed that night is said to still stand there.
Olive trees are very hardy, drought, disease, and fire-resistant,
and can live a very long time. Olive trees grow very slowly and the trunk can
attain a considerable diameter. Where the olive trees are carefully cultivated,
the trees are regularly pruned. Raw olivewood material is obtained from the
pruning of the trees. The process of pruning trees is essential to the growth of
the trees and no trees are ever damaged or destroyed. Olivewood by nature is
heavy, dense and durable and with distinctive grains. Its root system is very
robust and capable of regenerating the tree even if the upper tree is destroyed.
The older an olive tree, the broader and more gnarled is its trunk. Many olive
trees in the groves around the Mediterranean are said to be several centuries
old, and in some cases this has been verified scientifically.
Christian carving and crafts in Bethlehem began in the 4th
century following the construction of the Nativity Church built on the
traditional birth place of Jesus. Monks taught the local residents how to carve
olive wood. In the 16th century major development took place due to
the Franciscan fathers who brought Italian artisans to teach the residents of
Bethlehem how to carve olive wood. |
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