~ prayer old slavonic books, bronze icons, neck crosses, crucifixes, frankincence aromas, pure wax candles, prayer carpets, belts, prayer shirts, special prayer dress
and many other rare and interesting religious items
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Item description: this hand-made Russian Old Believers Rosary ( local name Lestovka ) + X-Mass bonus ( huge neck Bronze Cross )
Item description: Lestovka is a special type of prayer rope or prayer beads made of different materials, once in general use in old Russia, and is still used by Russian Christian Orthodox Fundamentalist or Old Believers today. Old Believers always use lestovka. A lestovka was already used in the first centuries of Christianity, but only Old Believers have preserved it. All items made by Old Believers, are rare and unique as it basically are hand-made and it is never sold in shops because distributed only inside the community.
Originated: from tradition of Russian Christian Orthodox Fundamentalists Old Believers (concervative group of Russian religious dissentents). All Old Believers items like icons, crosses, books never have any mark of factory or print house, a stroke of codes, dates of the edition or producing and other numbers. Such marks, numbers or digits are considered by Old Believers belonging to the world of the AntiChrist. All items made by Old Believers, are hand made, rare and unique and it is never sold in shops and distributed only inside Old Believers community due to this religious restrictions.
Usage and symbolism of Lestovka: detaled description you can find here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lestovka
Material: natural leather, velvet, ceramic beads,
Measurements:
400 mmCondition:
very good, new, never usedLacks, defects, damage:
noItem story: I have received this lestovka at annual fair in Moscow where christians belonged to Old Believers communities from distant villages of Russia sell they products and artifacts.
Payments: All payments must be paid through Moneybookers www.moneybookers.com 0,7$ comission (eBay appruved payment sistem), cause PayPal is not available for receipt money for Russia. It is easy way to pay! Please do not bid if you don’t agree to this payment method. I can accept unfortunately only this payment method. Payments must be made within 3 days of auction close. After wining auction please ask for detailed istructions.
Shipping: All Items won in auction will be shipped within 3 days of auctions close and after Moneybookers payment. Worldwide shipping from Russia usialy takes 14 - 18 days. For shipping we use Russian Post Service - now it works ok perfect (not like in Gorbachev time!). You can check shipping with tracking number here http://www.russianpost.ru/rp/servise/en/home/postuslug/trackingpo
Combined shipping: yes, we do this. Shipping will be much cheaper. Choose few my items here http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZboring-merchant and ask for combined shipping price.
Questions: I shall be happy to answer any of your questions before bidding. Feel free to ask...
Item description in Russian: Староверческие чётки для счета молитв - лестовка. Кожаные чётки, сплетенные особым образом, получили в Древней Руси очень точное и глубокое название – «лестовка», то есть маленькая лестница. В дораскольные времена лестовка имела широкое употребление среди всего православного населения Руси. В настоящее время древний обычай, берущий свое начало еще в Византии, употреблять лестовку для счета молитв сохранился лишь у староверов все согласий и толков. Держат лестовку обычно в левой руке, между средним и безымянным пальцами, а считают молитвы и поклоны, двигая ее по кругу большим пальцем. Кроме кожаных, сегодня можно встретить лестовки из тканой ленты и бисера с традиционным орнаментом. Староверы и по сей день используют лестовки в повседневной молитве, а сама лестовка стала одним из символов сторонников дораскольного православия. Умельцы, способные плести вервицы-лестовки, встречаются и сегодня. Изготовление лестовок – традиционный древнерусский промысел. Например, среди уральских староверов лестовка считается лучшим подарком на именины или на праздник, а при погребении у старообрядцев и сегодня принято вкладывать лестовку в руку умершего. Говорят, нередко лестовку использовали и в быту – например, на рынках и ярмарках, где с ее помощью купцы считали монеты или отсчитывали проданные мешки с крупами или зерном. Когда впервые знакомишься с предметами старины, лестовка кажется самым диковинным предметом, назначение которого не всякому под силу понять... Подробнее о символизме и применении лестовки для счета можно прочитать здесь (на русском языке) http://naon.narod.ru/les.htm
About Old Believers: Russian Christian Orthodox Fundamentalists or Old Believers, or more correctly, Old Ritualists are Orthodox Christians who adhere to the service books and ritual of the Russian Orthodox Church prior to the reforms made to those books and services by the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Nikon beginning in the year 1653. Opponents of the ecclesiastical reforms of Nikon emerged among all strata of the people and in relatively large numbers. The Old Believers fiercely rejected all innovations, and the most radical amongst them maintained that the official Russian Church had fallen into the hands of the Antichrist. The State church anathematized both the old rites and books and those who wished to stay loyal to them. From that moment, the Old Believers officially lacked all civil rights. The State church had the most active Old Believers arrested, and executed many of them some years later in 1682. After 1685 a period of persecutions began, including both torture and executions. Many Old Believers fled Russia altogether. However, Old Believers became the dominant denomination in many Russian regions, including North and Siberia. Before the Russian Revolution in 1917 there were probably more than 20 million Old Believers located throughout the Russian Empire and in Diaspora, but now after nearly a century of Communist persecution and simple secularization of Russian people, that number probably does not exceed 2 million. Old Ritualists are known for their strict adherence to the practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as it existed prior to Patriarch Nikon. Additionally, Old Ritualists have preserved ancient customs, traditional way of life, ancient clothes of Old Russia, natural rural economy, ancient form of church prayer singing, known as Znamenny Chant, that continues to draw the attention of other Orthodox Christians, as well as scholars and historians.
Group of Russian Christian Orthodox Old Believers. Village near Volga river. Circa 1916
Russian Christian Orthodox Old Believers confidently speak about themselves: "Orthodoxy means right teaching, correct doctrine. Orthodox Christianity is the true doctrine of Christ. When Orthodoxy came to the Slavic lands, the term was rendered as pravoslavie – right glorification, which fits the importance attached to worshipping God in beauty as well as in truth. Christianity is concerned with man's salvation from evil. The belief of the mind and the praise of the lips would be hollow if not joined to virtue. And so, true belief and true worship must bear fruit in right conduct, good morals and righteous actions. In Orthodox Christianity, man's mind, soul and body are elevated and ennobled to rise above the merely mundane and to lead what one writer has given as the very definition of Orthodoxy: new life in the Holy Spirit." Now it is still possible to meet this people in remote parts of Russia, mostly in Siberia. More information about Old Believers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Believers
Group of Russian Christian Orthodox Old Believers. Here you can see rosary - lestovka in hands of this religious woman.
Village near Volga river. Circa 1916.
Group of modern Russian Christian Orthodox Old Believers. Here you can see same rosary - lestovka in hands.
Village Tonkino. Nova days, 2008
Moral and ethical sense of your purchase in our eBay auction: In the name preservation of a russian cultural heritage from commercial robbery and full disappearance we do not sell antiques older than XIX century. All religious items in our auction are hand-made by Old Believers. Buying the things made by Old Believers, you give material and moral support to their independent community and to ancient religious culture of Old Holy Russia, which has strongly suffered from persecutions in ancient times from Patriarch Nikon reform at 1666-1917, from communistic terror at 1917-1987 and from general secularization of modern society. Thank you for support of unique traditional culture and religion of our people.
About me: as the representative of this Russian Christian Orthodox Fundamentalists Old Believers community I have an extensive knowledge in religious subjects of ancient Russia. I know well an ancient church art. I have the big collection of religious items and icons. I get subjects for my collection in auctions, antiques shops, church shops, flea markets, at private persons by purchase and by exchange on mutually interesting subjects. Also I visit the remote and wild parts of my huge native land where rare subjects were still kept on the present. Frequently these rare things are in oblivion and still wait for the person, who can understand their beauty and meaning.
Charity: 10% of my eBay income goes for support of small Old Believers community located in North Russia.
Sorry: for bad English, which is not my native language. I am a new seller here in eBay, and as fair and responsible person I will try my best to give you a good service.
Have a look my other items concerning to Old Believers: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZboring-merchant
~ prayer old slavonic books, bronze icons, neck crosses, crucifixes, frankincence aromas, pure wax candles, prayer carpets, belts, prayer shirts, special prayer dress
and many other rare and interesting religious items
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZboring-merchant
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