Do Eastern Catholics Pray the Rosary?

With the preponderance of papal approbations and the encouragement of private revelations, many Catholics have come to consider reciting the Rosary as a badge of authentic Catholicism.

As if those who don’t pray the Rosary aren’t really Catholic.

That begs the question:

Do Eastern Catholics pray the Rosary?

If you’re like most Roman Catholics, the answer may surprise you a bit.

In short: No. Eastern Catholics do not pray the Rosary… At least not traditionally. No less than the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that the Rosary is the fruit of Medieval Western piety. As such it is a uniquely Western devotion that is not expressive of Eastern piety toward the Mother of God.

The Rosary does, however, share some specific commonalities with other Eastern Catholic devotions and practices. In the rest of this article I’d like to explain why Eastern Catholics don’t traditionally pray the Rosary, and what we do instead.

What the Church Says About the Rosary

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

“Medieval piety in the West developed the prayer of the rosary as a popular substitute for the Liturgy of the Hours. In the East, the litany called the Akathistos and the Paraclesis remained closer to the choral office in the Byzantine churches, while the Armenian, Coptic, and Syriac traditions preferred popular hymns and songs to the Mother of God. But in the Ave Maria, the theotokia, the hymns of St. Ephrem or St. Gregory of Narek, the tradition of prayer is basically the same.” (CCC, 2678)

There’s three things to note here. The first is that the Rosary was developed “as a popular substitute for the Liturgy of the Hours.” The second is that in the East, devotion to the Mother of God is expressed primarily through our choral (sometimes called “paraliturgical”) offices or popular hymnography, depending on which part of the East you’re in. And third is the fact that each particular Church has its own tradition of prayer to the Mother of God

This is just another way of saying that the various Eastern Catholic Churches have developed their own legitimate and equally venerable expressions of Marian piety and devotion. Within the Church as a whole, the Rosary is simply one expression of piety among many.

The Rosary’s original purpose

Let’s start with what the Catechism itself states is the original purpose of the Rosary: to serve as a substitute for the Liturgy of the Hours.

The practice of repeating a short prayer a specific number of times as a substitute for participation in the Liturgy of the Hours goes back to the time of the Desert Fathers and the early monastic movement.

Since illiteracy was the norm among the common man at the time, many monks and hermits were unable to participate in the communal celebration of the Divine Office. 

The abbot of a monastery, or the spiritual father of a small group of hermits, would accommodate illiterate monks by assigning them a “prayer rule” in lieu of their participation in the Divine Office. These prayer rules consisted of a short, easily memorized prayer that was then repeated a specific number of times.

One of the most immediately recognizeable of these short prayers is retained in the current edition of the Roman Liturgy of the Hours: “O God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.”

It might surprise you to discover, however, that the East still retains specific prayer rules for those who are unable to participate in the public celebration of the Divine Office. For example, the Melkite Catholic Publican’s Prayer Book recommends that a person recite the Jesus Prayer 150 times in lieu of Vespers (Evening Prayer) and 300 times in lieu of Orthros (Morning Prayer).

In this way, both the Jesus Prayer and the Rosary serve the same purpose. And one could make the argument that the closest equivalent the East has to the Rosary is the Jesus Prayer – specifically the Prayer Rule of St. Pachomius.

Eastern Catholic devotion(s) to the Mother of God

Ok. So as a replacement for the Liturgy of the Hours, the East has various “prayer rules” instead of the Rosary, most notably prayer rules regarding the recitation of the Jesus Prayer.

But what about devotion to the Mother of God specifically? In addition to the Rosary, the West has a myriad of prayers, novenas, and litanies that all express popular devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Does the East have anything like this?

Yes… Sort of.

As the Catechism notes, the churches of the Byzantine tradition have the Akathist to the Mother of God and Paraclesis to the Mother of God. Although either of these hymns can be recited or sung privately, they’re more commonly celebrated publicly in connection to the liturgical cycle.

Both of these hymns are more or less lengthy reflections on the life of the Mother of God and her role in salvation history, and request her intercession in times of difficulty. In this sense they serve as an equivalent Byzantine expression of Marian piety to the Rosary.

The other Eastern traditions – like the Coptic, the Armenian, and the Syriac traditions – don’t have formal prayers to the Mother of God, so much as hymns that are frequently sung, read, and reflected on. These hymns are heavy in their references to Scripture, and they apply typological interpretations to Mary’s role in salvation history.

The Catechism specifically references two Doctors of the Church in this regard: St. Ephrem the Syrian and St. Gregory of Narek. These two theologians were highly formative for their respective traditions: Ephrem in the Syriac tradition, and Gregory in the Armentian tradition. As a Maronite, I’d also venture to add St. Jacob of Serugh, whose own influence is almost equal to that of St. Ephrem.

So, even when it comes to reflecting on the life of the Mother of God and her role in salvation history, we in the East have our own expressions of our Marian piety.

A lesser-known Eastern devotion

In all of this discussion about whether or not Eastern Catholics pray the Rosary, however, many people overlook a little-known Byzantine devotion that may actually predate the Rosary!

The Prayer Rule of the Theotokos is effectively the Byzantine Rosary…

At least in externals.

As with the Rosary, the core of the Prayer Rule of the Mother of God is the repetition of 150 “Angelic Salutations” – effectively the first half of the Hail Mary. Whether or not one adds introductory prayers or “mysteries” for meditation depends on which version of the Rule you’re following.

The addition of “mysteries” for meditation seems to be more of an expression of Russian piety than of Byzantine piety in general. The two versions of the Rule that I’ve been able to find that include “mysteries” come from St. Seraphim Zvezdinsky and the Russian Encyclopedia of Orthodoxy. 

On the other hand, another popular Russian saint, St. Seraphim of Sarov, did not include “mysteries” in his recitation of this prayer rule.

So whether you choose to stick with the basic repetition of 150 “Angelic Salutations,” or you prefer a more elaborate prayer rule that includes mysteries for meditation, the choice is yours.

Eastern Catholics and the Rosary

So, while Eastern Catholics don’t traditionally pray the Rosary, that doesn’t mean that we’re somehow lacking in our devotion to the Mother of God. Not only do we have a wealth of popular hymns, rich biblical typology, and paraliturgical services to express our Marian piety, but there’s even a Marian prayer rule from one of our larger traditions that may predate the Rosary itself!

And let’s not forget that the oldest known prayer to the Mother of God originated in the Greek East:

“Under your protection we run, O Mother of God. Despise not our prayers in our need, but deliver us from harm, only pure only blessed one.”