Genuine 100% leather, hand made
Total length: 53 cm
Band width: 1.5 cm
(The book shown in the photos is not included)
The Lestovka or ‘Ladder’ is a type of
prayer rope that was widely used in Old Russia, and has been lovingly preserved
by the Old Believers or Old Ritualists. This kind of prayer rope was used by
the ancient saints of Russia and by such modern Orthodox saints as Serafim of
Sarov. Like other Prayer Ropes in the Orthodox Christian tradition, the
Lestovka is most commonly used for the recitation of the Jesus Prayer (‘Lord
Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner’), although other
repetitive prayers can also be used.
The Lestovka has a developed symbolism:
The Lestovka has four Lapostki (leaves
or flaps), symbolising the four Evangelists. The stitching around the leaves
symbolises the teaching of the Gospel, the Good News of Christ. Between the
leaves are seven moveable pieces, taken to represent what some identify as
the seven Great Mysteries or ‘sacraments’ of the Church. These can also be used
to keep count of how may prayer ropes one has said over the day.
Where
the Lestovka is joined together there are three steps at
each end, and on the Lestovka itself, dividing it into sections of
different lengths, there are three more steps, making a total of nine,
representing the nine orders of angels, and the nine months during which the
most pure Mother of God carried The Infant Christ in her womb.
The empty space after
the first three steps or rungs (bábochki) represents the earth, after
which there are twelve steps signifying the twelve Apostles. Then there
are thirty-nine counters symbolising the thirty-nine weeks and two
days in which the Mother of God bore Christ in her womb. The
next thirty-three counters represent the thirty-three years of the
Lord’s earthly life, and the final seventeen counters represent the
seventeen prophets who prophesied the Christ.