C H R I S T I S R I S E N !
Holy Prophet Jeremiah;
Saint Panáretos, Bishop of Paphos
Saint Nicephóros of Chíos;
Saint Tamara, Queen of Georgia
Jeremiah was born about six hundred years before Christ in the village of Anathoth not far from Jerusalem. He began to prophesy at the age of fifteen during the reign of King Josiah. He preached repentance to the king and noblemen, false prophets and priests. During the reign of King Josiah, Jeremiah barely escaped death from the murdering hands of the enraged nobles.
Concerning King Jehoiakim, he prophesied that the king's burial would be like the burial of an ass, i.e., his dead body would be tossed outside Jerusalem and that his body would be dragged along the ground without benefit of burial: "He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 22:18). Because of this, Jeremiah was cast into a prison. Not being able to write in prison, Jeremiah invited Baruch [the son of Neriah], who stood near the small window of the prison and dictated to him. When this prophecy was read to the king, the enraged king grabbed the paper and threw it into a fire. Divine Providence saved Jeremiah from prison and the word of the prophet was fulfilled in Jehoiakim.
Concerning King Jeconiah [son of Jehoiakim, King of Judah], Jeremiah prophesied that Jeconiah would be taken to Babylon with his entire family and that he would die there. All of which came about shortly: ". . . after that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah" (Jeremiah 24:1). ". . . when he carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 27:20).
Under King Zedekiah, Jeremiah placed a yoke around his own neck and walked through Jerusalem prophesying the fall of Jerusalem and bondage under the yoke of the Babylonians. "Thus said the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes and put them upon thy neck" (Jeremiah 27:2). "I spoke also to Zedekiah, king of Judah, according to all these words saying, bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live" (Jeremiah 27:12).
To the Hebrew captives in Babylon, Jeremiah wrote telling them not to hope for a speedy return to Jerusalem for they would remain in Babylon for seventy years, which came to pass. "This whole land shall be a ruin and a desert. Seventy years these nations shall be enslaved to the king of Babylon" (Jeremiah 25:11).
In the valley of Topheth near Jerusalem [the Valley of Slaughter], where the Jews offered children as a sacrifice to the idols, Jeremiah took a potter's clay vessel in his hands and shattered it before the people prophesying the impending humbling of the kingdom of Judah. "Even so, I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again" (Jeremiah 19:11). The Babylonians shortly captured Jerusalem, slew King Zedekiah, plundered and destroyed the city, and beheaded a great number of Jews in the Valley of Topheth on the same spot where children were slaughtered for sacrifice to the idols and where the Prophet Jeremiah smashed the potter's vessel of clay.
Jeremiah, with the Levites, removed the Ark of the Covenant from the Temple to Mt. Nebo where Moses died and there he hid the Ark in a cave. However, he hid the fire from the Temple in a deep well. Jeremiah was forced by some Jews to accompany them to Egypt where he lived for four years and was then stoned to death by his countrymen. To the Egyptians, Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of their idols and the arrival of the Virgin and the Christ-Child to Egypt.
Acts 4:1-10 KJV
4 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,
2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.
5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,
6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.G
Saint John 3:16-21 KJV
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
The komboskini (the prayer rope) is a legacy, a blessing, handed down to us by our Holy Fathers. The fact it is a legacy makes it greatly valuable. If a grandfather hands down to someone something of very little value, he keeps it as an amulet. Much more so, for the komboskini handed down to us as a legacy by our Holy Fathers! In the old days there were no clocks, so the monks were counting the hours of prayer with their komboskini, but the knots were very simple.
Once, an ascetic was working very hard, doing prostrations etc., but the devil was unbinding the knots of his komboskini. He got weary with his prostrations, since he could not count them, as the devil was continuously unbinding the knots. Finally, an Angel of the lord appeared and taught him how to knit the knots properly, so that with each knot 9 crosses should be formed. The devil, who trembles before the Cross, could not unbind the knots. So, each knot forms nine crosses, which symbolize the nine angelic orders.
Elder, what do the 33, 100, 3000 knot komboskinia stand for?
Only the number 33 is symbolic of Christ’s 33 years on earth. The other numbers simply help us count our prostrations and our prayer. Some engines have a handle with a rope in order to start. So when you want to start the engine, you pull the rope with force, until the stiff oil becomes fluid. Similarly the komboskini is the rope we pull a few times till the spiritual oil melts making the spiritual engine start working the unceasing prayer. Thereafter, the heart starts working on its own. However, even when the heart starts working the prayer we should not stop using the komboskini so as not a prompt others to stop using it while their heart has not started working the prayer yet.
Elder, I am not familiar with using the komboskini.
You should keep the komboskini on you [at all times] so as not to forget the prayer which you should work internally in the heart. Above all, keep in mind that the enemy is always ready to lure you into sin. Therefore, you should imitate the good soldier who is always holding his automatic gun in his hands whenever he gets out of his stronghold. The komboskini is very powerful, it is the monk’s gun, its knots being the bullets mowing down the demons.
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