Christians and Catholics have used prayer beads for well over a thousand years to keep their daily prayers focussed.
From my understanding it started by carrying small pebbles in your pocket or tying knots in a rope. The idea is to pray a prayer and move to the next pebble or knot to help you keep on track.
Catholics have their Rosaries they pray daily. This has 59 beads and they pray different prayers on different beads. Protestant christians have their own prayer beads that contain 33 beads that they can use too.
The protestant prayers beads have a few differences to the Catholic Rosaries. Here is some information I found recently…
The Anglican [or Christian] rosary was created as a tool for prayer. It is a prayer form which is a blending of the Marian (Roman Catholic) Rosary and the Orthodox Jesus Prayer Rope and encourages a wider range of prayers. It is a simple form of prayer available to all of God’s children, and is a way of allowing God’s Word to sink deeply Into the soul and become prayer in us.
The rosary is made from 33 beads or knots, plus a cross or crucifix. The number 33 is a reminder of the number of years Jesus lived among us.
The cross is a reminder of our identity as Christians, and of Jesus’ call to take up our own crosses and follow him. It speaks of the lengths God Is willing to go to reach us. It is our entry Into the circle of prayer.
The knot or bead above the cross is the Invitatory. It is an invitation to trust God; to offer our worship, our praise, our whole life.
When the rosary is laid out in a circle, the four larger beads or knots represent the points of the cross. They are the Cruciform knots/beads. They also symbolize the four seasons – the sanctity of time – and the four –seasons – the sanctity of creation. The circle is a symbol of God’s unending love and of our unity as Christians.
The four sets of seven beads/knots are called Weeks. They symbolise our offering of our time and lives. The number 7 is traditionally associated with completion and perfection In Hebrew and Christian mysticism. This is not static perfection, but the ongoing work of God In all of us
From my understanding the Christian Rosary uses a blend of traditional prayers and Scripture. If you are interested there are some sample prayers here.
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