Mount Athos elastic prayer rope (komboskini) with wooden beads and cross.

Genuine handiwork by Athonite Monks and Fathers.

According to Saint Paisios the Hagiorite, komboskini is a heritage and a blessing left to us by the Holy Fathers. The thirty-three knots on prayer ropes symbolize the thirty-three years that Jesus Christ lived on earth. Each knot has nine crosses representing the nine Orders of Angels. Prayer beads have great power. It is a monk's weapon, and the knots are bullets that knock down demons (Spiritual Counsels VI: On Prayer - Elder Paisios). The rosary is an aid to prayer. At each knot we invoke the name of Christ, saying: "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."