The rosary is not only for the monks, but also for the laity and for every praying soul in general. It is not something like “amulets” with magical or exorcism abilities as some naive and misguided people think.
According to tradition, in 320 AD, Hosios Pachomios, with the help of Saint Anthony, founded the first monastery in Thebaid of Egypt. He began to look for a way to help the monks to concentrate on prayer and number their blessings. He thought of making knots in a rope and using it in his daily rule of prayer. But the devil pulled the knots from the rope and thus frustrated the monk’s efforts. An angel then appeared and taught the monk a special knot, consisting of nine crosses symbolizing the nine orders of angels. The devil could not untie these knots and so the rosary was established, from then , as weapons their prayer .
The rosary that all Orthodox monks have and many Orthodox laymen use, is usually woolen and knitted in various sizes. From very small, worn on the finger, to very large: 33 (with 33 knots), 50 (with 50 knots), 100, 500, etc.
In praying with the rosary , which is very helpful in concentrating the mind, a specific technical method is followed. At each knot passed between the fingers, the pray-er says in the wish:
Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, Most Holy Mother of God save us, Saints of God intercede for us. It is possible to say the Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me alone. The rosary is designed for prayer, not to play the role of a bracelet on the wrist or as a Komboloi.
The rosary , each part has a symbolic meaning. It is woven mainly of wool to remind the members of the Church that they are the rational sheep of Jesus Christ (John 10:11). It is black in color to symbolize the mourning of sins since “We all have sins.” (cf. 3 Kings 8:46; Job 4:17; Rom. 3:9-12, etc.). On it the rosary bears the cross to bring to remembrance “that for our sins Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Usually the rosary ends with a tassel whose purpose is to wipe away tears (“in tears he has wiped my feet” Luke 7:44).
The 33 knots represent the years of Jesus Christ, the 99 knots are 33 multiplied by the number of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, and each knot is made up of 9 knotted Crosses, representing the nine Orders of Angels. However, while the number of Crosses that make up each knot always remains constant, the number of knots that make up the rosary depends on the number of prayers for which it will be used.
The rosary is one of the objects given to an Orthodox monk during the ceremony of his ordination. It is given to him as his spiritual sword with which, as a soldier of Christ, he must fight against our imaginary enemy, the devil. He uses this sword by invoking the name of our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, begging for His mercy by praying in His name.
Also, with the help of the rosary, other prayers can be made which will refer to the Most Holy Virgin, to our guardian angel, to individual Saints or to All Saints. The usual form of such a prayer is. Holy Angel, the Holy One (the name of the Saint) interceded for me. We can change the words of these short prayers to “have mercy on us” or “intercede for us” or by including the name or names of people we want to pray for. The same applies to the prayer for the deceased
