Rosary vs. Jesus prayer

     There is a really good series on how the Byzantine Catholic church is different from the Roman Catholic church on YouTube. It's given by Archimandrite Damon (Geiger) and in my opinion is the best one on the internet. During the talk the rosary was brought up and the archimandrite in passing mentioned that  it's not wrong to use prayer forms from other catholic traditions. However, he briefly mentioned that from a Byzantine perspective there is difficulty in integrating the rosary into our spiritual tradition. This fact I believe often leaves people bewildered because the rosary in some sense is very similar to our tradition of the Jesus prayer.
     Prayer in general is the means in which we reach out to God. Even though the goal is God the results or spirituality is not always the same. For example, someone who offers God a sacrifice of self by fasting and someone who offers God a sacrifice of praise through song will both encounter God in different ways. Both forms of prayer lead one to God but both equate to different ways of approaching God. In this case, these two forms can be integrated but there are whole spiritual systems that have developed in the Church

that find difficulty in integration, as the archimandrite mentioned.

     Its essential that we first realize that Byzantine Catholic spiritually and Roman Catholic spirituality are not the same. For starters as Vladimir Lossky once pointed out our two traditions represent two different ways of sanctification. In the Latin tradition we find a spirituality that is geared toward the experience of Christ's stigmata. A spirituality that has its roots in the imitation of Christ that leads one on a journey of entering the holy darkness of the cross. In the Byzantine tradition we find a spirituality that takes a different path, which is geared toward the experience of Christ's Transfiguration. For the Byzantine Christian there is no moral imitation of Christ per se or an emphasis on Christ's suffering. The spirituality of the Byzantine tradition is one of living a resurrected life, of ongoing purification in order to participate in the divine nature, the divine light of Christ-to be transfigured .
     Some of these differences that we have are clearly seen in our traditions. For example, in our liturgies. In the Roman Catholic Mass we find people kneeling, doing penitential acts, most of the Mass focuses on participation in Christ's sacrifice. In fact, all the Roman Catholic sacrificial spirituality undertaken up until the Mass is considered as adding to the sacrifice. In contrast, in the Divine Liturgy we have no kneeling rather standing joyfully before the presence of our God, since the liturgy for us focuses on participation in the resurrection. Here, we see the ongoing purification and participation in the divine light finding its climax in the Liturgy. In addition, even in general the reception of Holy communion itself has a different emphasis for both traditions. In the Latin tradition reception takes the form of being made right with God where as in the Byzantine tradition we find reception focusing on becoming what God is. These are just a few differences that we have but different spiritualities are clearly seen.
     This now brings me to my point of how our unique prayer traditions, which are the Jesus prayer and Rosary, find some difficulty in spiritual compatibility. Both prayer traditions are in essence the spiritual extensions of our liturgical worship. In both we find a reflection of our different spiritual systems and their goals. For example, the rosary is often said sacrificially to intercede for others needs and the Jesus prayer is said as a means of purification to ready one for the grace(light) of God. Historically and even today we see these differences demonstrated in the absence of liturgical participation. For example, Roman Catholics used to pray the rosary during the mass when it was in Latin, which some still do today. Likewise in the Byzantine tradition, for those who can't make it to liturgical functions the Jesus prayer is used a number times based upon the type of service that was missed. Hence, both tradtions seek the same effects of the liturgy in their prayers.All ready, we find the fundamental use of the prayer traditions very different in nature.

      As the archimandrite pointed out in his talk we also find problems in praying the rosary while practicing byzantine spirituality. The Rosary is normally (in most cases) said in conjunction with exercising the religious imagination . The exercise of the religious imagination is something we seek to overcome in the Byzantine tradition, which we do by using the Jesus prayer. Some of the Fathers of the byzantine traditions have made it clear that fantasy is an aspect of the fall. The religious imagination cannot comprehend God or is God. Even in our veneration of Icons we are taught to not to use the imagination but to venerate the reality of the person. This is not to say that Roman Catholics are doing a bad thing in what they do, but it does show different spiritual goals. The use of imagination in their spiritually stirs up pious feelings for them to carry out their mission of carrying Christ's cross. For us Byzantines by purifying the mind of fantasy, in all its forms, we make a place for the reality of God.
     In these things I believe it beneficial for Byzantine Catholics, who often feel the spiritual pressure of Roman Catholicism, to recognize the treasures we have. Each of our traditions have beautiful gifts that we have received from the same Spirit, gifts we are called to be good stewards of. Like the Archimandrite said, it's not wrong for Roman Catholics to say the Jesus prayer or for us to pray a Rosary. The tensions between traditions you could say falls mostly in the byzantine camp. For us the struggle to preserve our traditions in the wake of a few hundred years of Latinization is overwhelming. Despite obstacles we need to be ever the more courageous in finding spiritual sustenance in our own roots. We were bold to take down the stations of the cross in our parishes for this reason will we find the same strength to let the rosary go and return to our own traditional prayer?

Click here to watch the Archimadrites talk (click)