Creating a Paternoster

Copyright © 2011 Alice Cantrell ~ www.gardensofgrace.net

What is a Paternoster?

For centuries man has recited repeated prayers as a form of penance or

petition. No one knows exactly when strings of beads were first used to

keep count of prayers, but the earliest historical mention of prayer

counters were the pebbles and knotted strings employed by the desert

hermits in the 4th century.

As part of their daily prayer, the 12th century religious (monks, friars)

were required to read all 150 Psalms. As they were joined by less

educated (illiterate) brothers, the substitution of 150 Our Fathers (or in

Latin, 'Pater Noster') in place of the Psalms was made. The practice

caught on, and became widely popular among the laity also. A string of

10, 50 or 150 beads was commonly used to keep count of one's prayers

and came to known as a "paternoster".

By the 13th century, guilds of paternosterers, (those who made the

beads and strung them) were a common sight in many of the major

European cities. The beads were both carried for prayer and worn

as an accessory attached to the clothing or around the wrist or neck.

Quite a number of medieval paintings include prayer beads, mostly

held in the hand or hung on a wall.

Many early rosaries and paternosters did not have a cross or crucifix

but instead had a medallion, medal or tassel. Tassels have a long

history of use in articles of prayer. For centuries, people of the

Jewish faith have used tassels hanging from the four corners of their

prayer shawls to remind them to live according to God's laws.

"The Lord spoke to Moses and said, "Speak to the sons of Israel and

tell them to put tassels on the hems of their garments, and to put a

violet cord on this tassel at the hem. You must have a tassel, then, and

the sight of it will remind you of all the commandments of the Lord."

(Numbers 15: 37-39)

Sometimes, larger beads were used to separate smaller groups of

beads. These larger beads were called "gauds" and it is not known

whether there were, originally, any particular prayers attached to

them. Some scholars theorize that as the Hail Mary prayer grew in

popularity, the smaller beads were used for the Aves while the larger

gauds were reserved for the Our Fathers.

Copyright © 2011 Alice Cantrell ~ www.gardensofgrace.net

Supplies

To make your Paternoster, you will

need just a few simple supplies.

1. Beads ~ In this tutorial I will be

using 8mm burnt horn beads. Feel

free to use smaller or larger beads if

you like.

2. Tassel Thread ~ You can use

either embroidery floss or Pearl (or

Perle) Cotton in size 8. Pearl is

inexpensive and has a lovely sheen to

it that looks nice as a tassel.

3. Cross ~ Any cross or crucifix can

be used. I am partial to a more rustic or primitive looking cross for Paternosters, but the choice is

completely up to you.

4. Cone ~ A cone is not absolutely necessary, but many Paternoster tassels had them, and I think it makes

a nice authentic touch.

5. Beading Wire ~ I like using a

medium gauge (such as .019)

beading wire.

6. Crimp Pliers ~ You can use

regular needle-nose pliers for the

crimps, but crimp pliers do a much

neater job.

7. Crimps ~ With beading wire you

will need the 2mm crimp beads of

your choice.

8. Small Spacer Beads ~ Here I am

using 2mm brass “African trade”

beads. Any small bead will work, but not so small that it slips into the hole of the bigger Pater beads. I

like using a 2mm – 3mm spacer bead with 8mm Pater beads.

Making the Tassel

Step 1 ~ You will need a small

piece of folded paper or cardstock

measuring 3”x 4”. If you have a

4”x 6” index card around, folding

this in half makes the perfect size.

Step 2 ~ Wrap your thread (floss)

of choice around the little card

(around the 3” end) you have made.

Because it is thinner, you will need

to wrap the Pearl Cotton more times

than embroidery floss. A good rule

of thumb is about 24 wraps (this

gives you a 48 strand tassel) for embroidery floss and about 44 wraps (an 88 strand tassel) for Pearl

Cotton. You can actually wrap a few more times if you like a thicker tassel, but the bigger it is, the harder

it is to squeeze into the cone.

Step 3 ~ After you are done wrapping, cut a

length of thread 12” to 18” long. Slip this

thread under all of the wraps you have

made, and tie securely (a simple square knot

works well). Slide the tassel off of the card.

Step 4 ~ While pulling the strands of the tassel downward, begin

tightly wrapping first one side of the tie thread around the tassel

top, and then the other. Wrap these threads in opposite directions,

and after 3 or 4 tight wraps, tie the ends together securely.

Step 5 ~ Using a toothpick, place a

tiny dot of white glue onto the top

of the knot, and then knot once

more for good measure. You can

now line the ends of the tie thread

with the rest of the tassel threads. (I

like to wait and give the tassel its

final trim when the Paternoster is

complete.)

Attaching the Tassel

Step 6 ~ To make threading the

beading wire through the tassel

easier, simply use a needle to “pre-

drill” a hole through the top of the

tassel. The little hole should hold its

shape long enough to thread the

beading wire through.

Step 7 ~ First, slide the cone (wide

end toward the tassel) onto the

wire, and then one crimp bead.

Next, thread the beading wire

through the hole that you have

“drilled”.

Step 8 ~ After threading the wire through the tassel, bring the

wire end back through the crimp bead and crimp it closed as

close to the tassel top as you can get it. Now slide the cone down

covering the top of the tassel and the crimp. Make sure the short

tail of wire is threaded up through the cone also. Measure out

about 26” – 28” (This is the length if using 8mm beads - longer

for larger beads.) of beading wire from the tassel, and snip it

from the spool. (You can also string the whole paternoster while

the wire is still attached to the spool, and then attach the tassel as

described above, but I thought snipping the wire might be a bit

easier method when making your first paternoster.)

Step 9 ~ Now this step is really

optional, but I think it adds a nice

touch, and it sure does lock the cone

in place. Before sliding in your first

Pater bead, you can slip on a small

(4mm) bead over both wires and

then a second crimp bead. The

crimp holds the cone in place and

the small bead keeps the crimp from

drifting into the hole of the cone.

Step 10 ~ Slide on the first Pater

bead over both wires and trim the

short tail end close to the top of this

bead. The tail of your beading wire

is now hidden inside the first Pater

bead and you can begin stringing

your paternoster alternating Pater

beads and spacer beads.

Step 11 ~ Keep stringing beads until you have 50 of the large Pater beads on your wire.

Step 12 ~ When you finish stringing the beads, slide a crimp bead on after the last Pater bead. If you used

a small bead in Step 9, you might like to add a second small (4mm) bead after the crimp, but this is

optional. Next, loop the wire through the cross or crucifix, back up through the small bead (if used),

through the crimp bead and then through the final Pater bead. Close the crimp carefully and trim the wire

tail close to the top of the last Pater bead. The end of your wire is now hidden inside this last bead.

Step 13 ~ Now all that remains is to

give your tassel a trim. I like mine

to be about 1 3/4” from the base of

the cone, but the length is really up

to you. Congratulations! You have

just completed a beautiful

Paternoster! If you are giving this

little work of art as a gift, consider

printing out page 2 of this tutorial

to include a little history for the

lucky recipient.

Copyright © 2011 Alice Cantrell ~ www.gardensofgrace.net