the Philokalia to the employment of a prayer rope (Greek komvoschoinion; Slavonic tchotki) in conjunction with the prayer. The use of prayer beads, in one form or another, is certainly both ancient and widespread, being found in non-Christian as well as Christian contexts; its adoption specifically in the Christian East, however, is an obscure matter that requires further investigation.86 Certainly, as can be seen from the icons of monastic saints, the komvoschoinion was in common use in the Orthodox