Every Blessed Bead: In the beginning...
Every Blessed Bead is a collaboration of many people, most of them parishioners of Zion Episcopal Church in Dobbs Ferry, NY., where I currently serve as Priest-in-Charge. My partner in this venture is Laura Crowley, whose creative sense of design and style comes from a background in Art History and Museum Arts. We are also fortunate to have the design talents of Rita De Rosa, an artist who also works in fashion, interiors, and ceramics. She brings an Italian sensibility to her designs and favors the use of Venetian Art Glass for her rosaries. It was Laura who first suggested selling Anglican Rosaries and prayer beads on Etsy and the rest, as they say, is history.
Much like book collecting, bead collecting is irresistible. I started with one 8 x 10 box of beads and now I have 25 boxes! One of the things I enjoy most about beading in general and creating Anglican rosaries in particular, is that beauty and faith are present in equal measure; I find beading to be a meditative spiritual practice which creates something beautiful. I’ve donated the beads from my collection to this project in honor of my mother, Betty Branch Grambsch, an artist and teacher, who taught me about seeking both faith and beauty in my life.
All the proceeds from the sale of Anglican Rosaries and prayer beads at Every Blessed Bead are donated to the Outreach and Mission Fund at Zion Episcopal Church, Dobbs Ferry, NY. When you make a purchase from Every Blessed Bead you may be providing chickens and goats for a village in South America, or clean well water to families in East Africa, or schooling for a child in Tanzania, or books for an afterschool program in The Bronx.
About Anglican Rosaries:
Anglican prayer beads, also known as the Anglican rosary or Christian prayer beads, are a circle of strung beads which Anglicans (Episcopalians), as well as Christians of other denominations, use to order their prayer. This particular way of using prayer beads was developed in the mid-1980s by Episcopalians in Texas participating in a study group dealing with methods of prayer. The beads have since been adopted or adapted by Lutherans, Methodists, and other Protestant groups, thus giving rise to the term "Christian prayer beads". The prayer beads feature 33 beads signifying the number of years Jesus Christ lived on Earth. The circle is separated into four sections of seven beads each called Week Beads, this represents the seven days of creation. The four large beads inside the circle are called Cruciform Beads, because they trace an invisible cross between the north to south, and east to west points in the circle. The largest bead near the cross is called the Invitatory Bead; it is often used to introduce the prayer intention (healing, peace, etc.) and is an invitation into the circle of prayer.
All of the rosaries at Every Blessed Bead come packaged in a drawstring bag with prayers and suggestions for use, but one of the joys of this particular aid to prayer is its flexibility and the way you can make it uniquely your own. Many people find just holding an Anglican rosary in one’s palm or wrapped around one’s wrist is sufficiently prayerful and calming. After the creation of each rosary a prayer of blessing is offered for the hands that made the rosary and the hands that will use it.
If you have any questions about how our Anglican rosaries are made, or would like a rosary to be custom made with specific stones and elements, please feel free to contact us at Every Blessed Bead. We also can accommodate multiple rosaries of the same materials for presenting to Inquirers groups or Confirmation classes.
Please feel free to send your inquiries, comments, and suggestions via an Etsy convo, and we will respond as soon as possible.
Thank you for stopping by Every Blessed Bead.