St. Francis' Episcopal Church
Serving Eureka, Wildwood, and Surrounding Communities
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The Reverend Melanie Repko Barbarito
Raised in Upstate New York in the Rochester area.
Attended the State University of New York at Oswego (snow country)
Also lived in Ft. Huachuca, Arizona; Camp Zama, Japan; Edgewood, Maryland
In addition to raising two children, worked in Development (fundraising) at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and Rochester Institute of Technology
Earned Master of Divinity degree in 1996 from Bexley Hall Seminary, a part of Colgate Rochester Divinity School.
Ordained Deacon: June 15, 1996 Ordained Priest: January 6, 1997
Spent first five years of ordained ministry at Church of the Redeemer, Cincinnati, Ohio
Called as Vicar of St. Francis’, Wildwood in 2001. Started in September of that year.
Reading: The murder mysteries by Diane Mott Davidson and Janet
EvanovichLast CD purchased: “Graceland” (Paul Simon)
Last film seen at theatre: “Good Night and Good Luck"
Last film rented: “Hotel Rowanda”
What do you call her?
“I welcome people to call me ‘Melanie’ but suggest that, if they are in a situation where they would call a male clergy person ‘Father’ or ‘Pastor,’ they call me ‘Mother,’ Often parents would like their children to use a respectful title, so ‘Mother Melanie’ works just fine for that. Just don’t call me ‘Mel.’”
One of Melanie's past times is the making of prayer beads for serviceman overseas. Here is a bit of history on prayer beads as researched by Mrs. Ann Hogan.
A Length of Cord—and a BIC
The Rev. Melanie Barbarito caught my attention by flicking a cigarette lighter during a meeting of the Commission on Ministry. My inquiry about her activity brought a somewhat puzzling answer. She was knotting a piece of cord to make “Anglican Prayer Beads,” using the lighter to fuse the ends of the nylon cord. Anglican Prayer Beads? We have prayer beads? Who knew?! Research was needed.
While the specific pattern of prayer beads Melanie was making is of recent origin, the concept is as old as human history, with pre-literate peoples using pebbles, beads, notched sticks, or knots in a cord to keep track of quantities—much as we use tally marks today. Early on, Christians used various devices to maintain the discipline of repeated prayer. The Orthodox Jesus Prayer Rope dates back to the 4th century, and the Roman Catholic Rosary developed to nearly its present form by the 13th century.
In the 1980’s, the Rev. Lynn Bauman developed the pattern of beads now referred to as Anglican Prayer Beads through his work with a contemplative prayer group. The loop of beads consist of 4 sets 7 beads called Weeks, reminding us of the days of Creation, the calendar week, the seasons of the Church year, and the Seven Sacraments. These are divided by 4 Cruciform beads pointing to the Cross, the 4 seasons of the temporal year, and the 4 points of the compass. Attached to the loop are a Cross and a single Invitatory bead similar to the opening psalm of the Daily Office. There are 33 beads in all, representing the years of Jesus’s life.
The individual using the prayer beads has a variety of formal options for prayers and repetitions. The set Melanie sent me was accompanied by two settings, one based on Psalm 23 and one based on the prayers of Julian of Norwich. More suggestions are found at the website for King of Peace Church in Kingsland, GA (www.kingofpeace.org) including one based on “Patrick’s Breastplate”—one could sing one’s prayers! Or, of course, one could develop one’s own pattern or plan.
With an attention span ill-suited to lengthy contemplation, I began with one “week” (repeating a short prayer 7 times) and thought I had ascended to some particular level of devotion when I could complete the entire circuit—until I actually read more directions and realized that I was supposed to complete the circuit 3 times. I was learning this practice during the time I was reading and doing interviews associated with various kinds of needlework, and with the cord running through my fingers, I experienced a sense of community with the women whose stories of faith and service had touched me so deeply.
Melanie learned to make the knotted prayer beads from a nun who was working on them at the 2003 General Convention. She has been making them to send to a chaplain friend who served in Iraq and then among the wounded hospitalized here in the U.S. He could not keep them on the shelf, so eager were members of our fighting forces to obtain them. She gave me a source for purchasing the nylon cord she uses (fnt-victory.net). A chill ran through me as I read there the requirements for military rosaries—knotted cords, not beads that could rattle, and dark colors which would not attract the attention of high-tech surveillance devices. Military personnel refer to the rosaries as “Stealth”—and surely a place of such grave danger needs the prayers of all.
