The Original Source of Heirloom Eastern Christian Prayer Beads made from the finest gemstones and precious metals

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A Chotki, or Komvoschinion, is a set of prayer beads much like a rosary, used by Orthodox and Eastern Catholics. Instead of "Hail Mary" and "Our Father", the Jesus Prayer is prayed. Chotkis come in a variety of sizes: 33, 50, 100, 101, 103, 150, and 300 beads. The Greek Komvoschinion is usually made of knotted wool or "rattail", while the Byzantine Ruthenians of the Carpatho-Rusyn Mountains use strung wooden beads. The chotki ends in either a cross or a tassel, said to be used to wipe away one's tears. All of our Chotkis and Komvoschinia are beaded, not knotted, and usually end in a cross. They are available in the following configurations: 25 beads, with one decorative spacer bead above the cross. 33 beads, plus 3 spacer beads and 1 extra bead above the cross 50 beads, plus a spacer bead after the first 25, and another spacer above the cross 100 beads, including bead above cross, plus 4 spacer beads 101 beads, including bead above cross, plus 3 spacer beads 103 beads in Vervitsa configuration 103 beads with a divider every 10 beads, and a final three above the cross

"Face of Christ" 33-Bead Chotki

We also carry wrist chotki. They come in wood bead styles on a stretchy material than can fit over the hand, and in gemstone styles strung on memory wire that can be opened to fit over the wrist. All our chotki are strung on the highest quality flexwire, except our wrist chotki. "Standard" chotki are available in the same selection of wooden and black glass beads as all our other "standard" prayer beads, and one-of-a-kind artisan chotki are made of gemstones. Or, if you like, you can request a custom order of whatever material fits your fancy. Please see our History of Prayer Beads page for information on how to pray the Chotki.

Baltic Amber Wrist Chotki

The Coptic Catholics use a Mequteria to count the number of times they pray the Kyrie Eleison at the end of their Agpeya, or Book of Hours. Depending on the situation and the liturgical season, they pray a different number. 41 beads, for the 39 lashes Jesus received when flogged, plus 1 for His crown of thorns and 1 for the wound in His side. 64 beads, for the number of years Mary lived upon the earth, according to Coptic tradition 100 beads, "combination style", configured for a variety of prayer counts "Standard" mequteria strung on flexwire are available in all the same wooden and glass beads as our other prayer beads. One-of-a-kind artisan mequteria made with gemstone beads are usually strung on flexwire as well, but we occasionally make one using chain or wire-wrapping technique.

41-Bead Mequteria

Traditional Catholic 59-bead Dominican rosaries are available as standard strung rosaries in olivewood, olive pit, and black glass. Our artisan rosaries are one-of-a-kind pieces made with gemstone beads, usually strung. Our strung rosaries and chaplets use the finest Delica seed beads to create space for your fingers between the prayer beads. I generally try to avoid making wire-wrapped pieces, due to a pinched nerve that makes extended wirework painful, but I will occasionally make that "special" piece if the time-frame is not critical so that I can do just a few beads a day. Of course, you are welcome to custom order a strung, chained, or wirewrapped rosary with beads made of any material. We will try to accomodate you. Please understand that there will be an additional charge for chaining or wirewrapping, and it will also take additional time.

Our Lady of the Snows

Like our rosaries, our artisan chaplets are one-of-a-kind pieces made with gemstone beads. Because chaplets generally have fewer beads than rosaries, I have been able to use various construction techniques, including wirewrapping and chaining. Of course, you are welcome to request a custom order of any configuration of chaplet, in any material. We do require, however, that any chaplet you are requesting is one that has been approved by the Catholic Church for use by the faithful. If you are not sure, contact us about it and we will be happy to check into it for you.

Chaplet to St. Therese of Liseaux also known as the Little Flower Rosary

Paternosters "Pater Noster" is Latin for "Our Father" and refers to the Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer recurs repeatedly in the Divine Office, as well as being recited at both the beginning and the end. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,		50-Bead Paternoster
	"In many monastic rules, it was enjoined that the lay brothers, who knew no Latin, instead of the Divine office should say the Lord's Prayer a certain number of times (often amounting to more than a hundred) per diem. To count these repetitions they made use of pebbles or beads strung upon a cord, and this apparatus was commonly known as a "pater-noster", a name which it retained even when such a string of beads was used to count, not Our Fathers, but Hail Marys in reciting Our Lady's Psalter, or in other words in saying the rosary."
In other words, the Pater Noster is the 'original' Christian prayer rope! As the Paternoster evolved, it began to look more and more like modern rosaries and chaplets, with varying numbers of beads, often divided into decades or sets of five or seven smaller beads with larger beads between. The term "paternoster" was still used for all these prayer beads until the word "rosary" came into use. Our Paternoster returns to the straight rope of beads, NOT brought into a loop like a rosary or chotki. It has a cross at one end and a tassel at the other. We give you the choice of 50, 100 or 150 beads on our standard wood Pater Nosters. All our Paternosters are strung on the highest quality 49-strand flexwire. We also can make a custom Pater Noster with any number of beads, in any material.

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