A prayer rope is a loop made up of complex woven knots formed in a cross pattern, usually out of wool or silk. The typical prayer rope has thirty-three knots, representing the thirty-three years of Christ's life. It is employed by monastics, and sometimes by others, to count the number of times one has prayed the Jesus Prayer.
Simple black Eastern Christian prayer rope without tassel
Eastern Christian prayer rope with 50 knots and 5 wooden beads
Greek komboskini of 100 knots
Tikhon of Moscow dressed in his monastic habit as the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia with a white prayer rope in his left hand
The Jesus Prayer, also known as The Prayer, is a short formulaic prayer, esteemed and advocated especially in Eastern Christianity and Catholicism:Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Christogram with the Jesus Prayer in Romanian: Doamne Iisuse Hristoase, Fiul lui Dumnezeu, miluieşte-mă pe mine păcătosul ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner")
Icon of the Transfiguration of Jesus by Theophanes the Greek (15th century, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). Talking with Christ: Elijah (left) and Moses (right). Kneeling: Peter, James, and John
Eastern Christian prayer rope
Christ the Redeemer by Andrei Rublev (c. 1410, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)
