On the Prayer Rule of the Theotokos

Not Just an "Orthodox Rosary"

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St. Seraphim of Sarov is arguably one of the most popular and recognizable of Orthodoxy’s modern saints. Whether it's a reference to his spiritual masterpiece On the Acquisition of the Holy Spirit, his ceaseless love for God’s creation in both the people and animals he encountered, or the countless testimonies from those who knew St. Seraphim of his holiness, St Seraphim of Sarov is a jewel on the crown of Holy Orthodoxy, and his life and witness continues to inspire many spiritual seekers, both Orthodox and heterodox alike.

Yet what people may not know is that he actually devised a prayer rule that is remarkably similar to one of Latin Christianity’s most popular devotions, that being the Rosary. While I plan to write on the Rosary in a later post, I wanted to focus on Seraphim’s Rule for today. It not only has an interesting history, but it also has tremendous power as a form of prayer, connecting today’s Orthodox Christian to the Holy Fathers and through their prayers, the Theotokos and Her Son. 

While it can be found online in different places, the version I use is titled The Prayer Rule of the Theotokos. It is published by Chi Ro Publishing and can be purchased from Amazon (paid link). It is very inexpensive ($13) and the book itself is very light which makes it easy to carry in a bag when traveling. 

What’s important with this version is that it not only contains the actual prayer rule, but also some history explaining how it got to its contemporary form. It has its rough origin in the practice done by Egyptian monks, who would pray 150 Angelic Salutations in groups of 15 to model the Psalms (pg. i). The book then provides a quote from a priest named Fr. Zosima (though attributed to one of his disciples in online versions) about the Rule. Its lengthy but very enlightening:

“…I forgot to give you a piece of advice vital for salvation. Say the O Hail, Mother of God and Virgin one hundred and fifty times, and this prayer will lead you on the way to salvation. This rule was given by the Mother of God herself in about the eighth century, and at one time all Christians fulfilled it. We Orthodox have forgotten about it, and St Seraphim has reminded me of this Rule. In my hands I have a hand-written book from the cell of St. Seraphim, containing a description of the many miracles which took place through praying to the Mother of God and especially through saying one hundred and fifty times the O Hail, Mother of God and Virgin. If, being unaccustomed to it, it is difficult to master one hundred and fifty repetitions daily, say it fifty times at first. After every ten repetitions say the Our Father once and Open unto us the doors of thy loving kindness whomever he spoke to about this miracle-working Rule remained grateful to him…”

The introduction goes on to note that the Rule was later modified by Bishop Seraphim Zvezdinsky of Dmitrov, a New Hieromartyr who added the 15 meditations that are included after the decades, and a nun who was one of his disciples composed the prayers that end each decade (pg ii). More information can be found here. 

The Rule itself goes as follows: First you pray the Trisagion prayers, followed by the Nicene Creed. Then, you go to the first mystery. Each mystery recounts an event in the life of the Theotokos. After the mystery is indicated (“Let us remember the Nativity of the Theotokos”), there follows an intention that is related to that mystery (Let us pray for mothers, fathers, and children). From there, you pray ten Angelic Salutations. While there are different variants that can be used, the version that is provided by the booklet goes as follows: “Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have born Christ, the Savior of our souls”. After ten of these follows a specific prayer asking for the Theotokos’ intercession unique to each mystery, an Our Father, and then the following prayer: “Open unto us the door of your loving kindness, O most blessed Theotokos. As we set our hope in you, let us not be confounded, but through you may we be delivered from all adversities. For you are the salvation of all Christians”. The prayer rule is then concluded by the hymn to the Theotokos (“It is truly meet…”). 

If one is to pray all fifteen decades, it would add up to three standard Latin Rosaries, though as St. Seraphim recommends to beginners, one should only do the five decades if they cannot do the whole fifteen. 

One can pray this with a standard prayer rope, Rosary beads, a lestovka, or simply by counting the prayers mentally. If one has trouble praying all 15 decades in one sitting, I have found breaking up the Rule over the course of the day to be more doable, such as doing 5 decades in the morning, five in the afternoon, and five in the evening. 

Now, it should be noted that this is not just simply an Orthodox copy-cat of the Rosary. Here is what Fr. Mark of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) has to say on it: 

“Contrary to what anyone may tell you, this is NOT simply a borrowing or imitation of Latin devotion, but one which has been cherished in the east from early times.

We would do better to understand it as an ancient devotion that united the Christians in the east and west, in local variant forms. The Anglo-Saxons called it the Golden Psalter of the Virgin Mary, given its 150 salutations.

The form of prayer that we in the Orthodox Church call the Rule of the Mother of God finds its origins in the monastic life of the Egyptian desert, where some of the fathers prayed the angelic salutation to the Mother of God one hundred and fifty times, reflecting the one hundred and fifty psalms of the Psalter. This, of course, mirrors the western rosary in its original and complete form.”

In other words, praying St. Seraphim’s Rule is not simply taking a Latin devotion and putting an Orthodox coating over it. Rather, it represents a shared patrimony with the Early Church, a tradition that has been handed down to the Orthodox believers of today as a sort of inheritance, from the monks of Egypt to those in the Russian Thebaid. 

Aside from being a way to connect one’s prayer to that of the Fathers, the Rule also presents a complete rhythm of prayer in a concise way. It includes the three prayers that, per St. Seraphim’s “Short Rule of Prayer”, are the rock upon which our faith is built: “Keeping this rule, it is possible, to reach Christian perfection, for the three prayers indicated are the foundation of Christianity. The first, as the payer given [to us] by Christ Himself, is the model for all prayers. The second was brought from Heaven by the Archangel to greet the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Our Lord. The Creed contains in brief all of the salvific dogmas of the Christian Faith.” The Creed at the beginning of the Rule, followed by the repetitions of the Our Father and the Angelic Salutation cement the Rule in the most important tenets of our Faith, succinctly presenting to the Christian the fullness of the Church in prayer.

The Rule also pays homage to what I could call the “fourth foundation” of the Faith, that being the Jesus Prayer. The eighth mystery, that being the disappearance of the Child Jesus in Jerusalem, asks for the Theotokos to grant the believer the ability to say the Jesus Prayer unceasingly (pg. 25). The Jesus Prayer is one of the spiritual hallmarks of Eastern Orthodoxy, and in line with St. Paul’s exhortation to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That the Rule encourages its use is a testimony of its value to the Christian.

The intentions to pray for also coincide well with the mysteries. Each one reminds us of the immense power that God has and how any sort of challenge can be overcome with prayer and trust in God. For instance, with the meditation on Christ turning water into wine at the behest of Mary, so do we ask for intercession to pray for our delivery from all needs (pg. 27 of the booklet). Or how just as Christ was resurrected from the dead, so too do we ask the Theotokos to “resurrect our souls and give us new courage for spiritual feats” (pg. 31). Others include to pray for those who have left the Orthodox Catholic Church, for safe passage through the Toll Houses after death, and the reunification of separated family members, among others. 

I do not feel as if I am “forgetting something” after I pray the Rule because it understands the Christian soul so well. It knows the most common struggles, sorrows and needs of the believer. I feel when I pray the Rule, it is almost as if Christ and the Theotokos are reading my mind- or heart- so to speak, already knowing the intentions I need to bring forward and allowing the Rule to serve as a way to ask Christ and His Mother for help. The life of the Theotokos as presented in the Rule shows how immensely loved and aided by God we are, no matter how bleak or hopeless things seem to be. This makes the Rule a great way to find much needed encouragement in our sojourn on earth. 

I conclude this post with a quote from the above mentioned Fr. Mark. Like him, I too hope that more Orthodox will flee to the Theotokos for protection and help with this prayer rule: “I very much hope that this can become the focus of group prayer in our communities, as it can be prayed by any number of people in an informal setting, without the need for clergy. We simply need an icon-corner, reverence and love for the Mother of God”. 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.