Atlas›Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines›Guide 165
Guide XIII-165

Prayer rope (komboskini, chotki)

A 36 · L 50 · M 1415 interventions in the Trinity explorer
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[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine-Athonite and Russian) usage. The main source is the booklet Comboschini (The Prayer Rope), written by an unnamed monk of the Holy Mountain Athos and published with the blessing of Abbot Paisios of St Anthony's Monastery, Florence, Arizona. It is supplemented by the orthodoxprayer.org page "Using a Prayer Rope" and by teaching on the Jesus Prayer from Hieromonk Irenei (Pikovsky) of Sretensky Monastery, Moscow. Oriental Orthodox (Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, Syriac) usage of prayer cords is not described here [uncertain: not verified]. [source: Comboschini booklet; orthodoxprayer.org; OrthoChristian]

The prayer rope is a cord of knots, or sometimes beads. It is called komboskini (Greek; also spelled comboschini) and chotki (Russian). Orthodox Christians use it to keep their attention while repeating a short prayer, most often the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me"). Most ropes have a woven or attached cross that marks the "end", and many have markers between sections of knots. Ropes are often of black wool, which the tradition explains as a sign of repentance and sorrow. Ropes are also made of silk, beads, or the dried seeds called "Tears of the Mother of God". [source: Comboschini booklet; Using a Prayer Rope]

The tradition does not explain how change happens in psychological terms. Its own account is theological. The rope is a tool for obeying St Paul's call to "pray without ceasing". Repentant, attentive prayer to Christ is said to bring harmolipi, "joy-creating sorrow", and union with God. The rope "does not pray by itself", and it is "not an amulet" and has no magical power. [source: Comboschini booklet; Using a Prayer Rope] These are claims of the tradition, reported here and not judged.

For the psychotherapist, this guide covers how to recognise and respect the practice, support it when the client leads, adapt it in published Christian contemplative programmes, refer clients to clergy, and watch for adverse effects and scrupulosity. The psychotherapist does not teach the prayer as a religious rule. [synthesis]

2. Framework

The tradition's own framework.

  • There is no course and no fixed number of sessions. The practice is daily and lifelong, and it sits inside the Church's liturgical and sacramental life. Hieromonk Irenei recommends frequent communion and says hesychasm alone "is not enough" [source: OrthoChristian, Pastoral Conversations Part 1].
  • The tradition describes two modes of use:
    • Informal use. At any free moment, when unobserved, the person moves from knot to knot with the thumb while whispering or inwardly repeating the prayer [source: Using a Prayer Rope].
    • A rule of prayer. This is a set practice at regular times, for example before bed, on waking or in quiet moments. The Athonite booklet suggests about fifteen minutes. That figure is the booklet's own example, not a target [source: Comboschini booklet].
  • Who sets the amount. The number of circuits of the rope is not fixed. The spiritual father advises it. In the booklet's words, "the first and the last word has to be said by our spiritual father", in order to avoid delusion [source: Comboschini booklet; Using a Prayer Rope].
  • How the tradition frames progress. It speaks of growing attention. As concentration deepens, the person may drop the sign of the cross and the whispering [source: Comboschini booklet]. Hieromonk Irenei teaches that "the number of prayers" matters less "than their quality". He criticises the focus on counting repetitions in The Way of a Pilgrim [source: OrthoChristian].

The psychotherapist's framework. No published protocol sets out phases for using the prayer rope in therapy. The phases below are a suggested structure [synthesis].

  1. Assessment. Find out what the rope and the prayer mean to the client: their tradition and church, their spiritual father, their current rule of prayer, and how it is going. Move on when the client's practice and its meaning are clear and the client has said whether they want it included in therapy.
  2. Consent and role clarity. Agree on what the therapist will and will not do. The therapist will not set a prayer rule. Agree whether the client wants contact between the therapist and their priest. Move on when this is agreed and recorded.
  3. Client-led integration. Use the client's own practice as a resource. Examples are a tactile anchor at moments of distress, or a bridge to values and hope. Where it fits, use a published Christian contemplative programme. Knabb and Frederick (2017) give an eight-week programme for chronic worry with one chapter, "The Jesus Prayer". Each chapter is a weekly unit with goals, techniques and homework [source: Routledge book page]. Its detailed content is [uncertain: not verified].
  4. Review. At regular intervals, check benefits, adverse experiences and signs of scrupulosity. Go back to phase 2 if the client's goals change.

Throughout, if anxiety, perfectionism or adverse experiences appear in the prayer, move to the relevant procedures in section 4 (scrupulosity, adverse effects) before continuing with integration [synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

  • The tradition defines the practice. Practical meaning: describe the rope and the prayer in the client's terms. Do not turn it into a secular technique unless the client asks for that [synthesis].
  • The spiritual father has the first and last word on the rule. Practical meaning: never prescribe how many prayers, circuits or prostrations, or how long to pray. Refer those questions to the client's priest or spiritual father [source: Comboschini booklet].
  • Numbers are descriptions, not targets. The tradition mentions markers after every 10, 25 or 50 knots and gives a booklet example of about fifteen minutes. Practical meaning: quote these only as the tradition's description, attributed. Treat any pressure to reach a count as clinical material, not progress [source: Comboschini booklet; OrthoChristian; synthesis].
  • Quality over quantity. Practical meaning: when a client measures their faith by counts, explore this with them, using their own tradition's teaching that quality matters more [source: OrthoChristian].
  • The rope is not magic. The tradition itself rejects amulet use. Practical meaning: if a client uses the rope mainly to ward off feared outcomes, assess for OCD-type neutralising [source: Using a Prayer Rope; synthesis].
  • No body or breath technique from the therapist. Hieromonk Irenei rejects tying the prayer to a fixed posture or to exhaling. Breathing methods in the hesychast literature are a matter for spiritual guidance. Practical meaning: the therapist gives no breath-linked prayer instruction [source: OrthoChristian; synthesis].
  • Client-led and consented. Practical meaning: the client decides whether prayer enters therapy, and in what language and form [synthesis].
  • Role boundaries. The therapist is not a confessor or spiritual director. Practical meaning: avoid dual roles. Disclose your own faith only when it serves the client [synthesis]. Published competency frameworks exist (Vieten et al. 2013) [uncertain: not verified].
  • Benefit and harm both happen. Contemplative practice can bring challenging experiences, including in people with no prior mental health history. Practical meaning: monitor and normalise these, and adjust the practice [source: Farias et al. 2020; Lindahl et al. 2017].
  • Trauma sensitivity. Practical meaning: offer choice, eyes open and shorter practice, and watch arousal and dissociation [source: Treleaven 2018, publisher description; synthesis].
  • No health claims. Practical meaning: never present the prayer or the rope as treating physical disease [synthesis].

4. Intervention inventory

Part A covers the practice as the tradition openly teaches it, so the therapist can recognise and respect it. These are not prescriptions. Part B covers the psychotherapist's own work.

Part A1. Informal prayer with the rope (as the tradition teaches it)

  • Purpose and when used. To keep remembering God through the day, at any free moment [source: Using a Prayer Rope].
  • Steps, as published (paraphrased).
    1. Hold the rope in either hand, out of sight of others.
    2. Move from knot to knot with the thumb.
    3. At each knot, whisper the Jesus Prayer or repeat it inwardly. "Most Holy Theotokos save us" is given as an alternative. [source: Using a Prayer Rope]
  • Other occasions the booklet names. Falling asleep, commuting, travel and long church services. It also suggests keeping the rope in a pocket, over the bed or in the car as a reminder [source: Comboschini booklet].
  • Example language (illustrative). "You mentioned you carry your chotki on the bus. What is that time like for you?"
  • Watch for. Whether this use comforts the client and connects them to God and Church, or whether it has become hurried, anxious or compulsive.

Part A2. A rule of prayer with the rope (as the tradition teaches it)

  • Purpose and when used. A regular, set prayer at fixed times, under the spiritual father's guidance [source: Comboschini booklet; Using a Prayer Rope].
  • Steps, as published (paraphrased).
    1. Hold the rope in the left hand, between thumb and index finger.
    2. At each knot, make the sign of the cross with the right hand and say the prayer.
    3. After one circuit, continue for as many circuits as the spiritual father has advised.
    4. Stand with head bowed, kneel, or sit, as suits the person.
    5. As concentration deepens, the sign of the cross and the whispering may be dropped. [source: Using a Prayer Rope; Comboschini booklet]
  • Prayers named. The booklet lists the short Jesus Prayer and longer forms; the publican's prayer; short prayers to the Theotokos, the Guardian Angel or saints; and prayers for the living and the departed [source: Comboschini booklet].
  • Example language (illustrative). "How did you and your priest arrive at your rule? How does it fit your life at the moment?"
  • Watch for. Whether the rule has been set by the client alone, with no guidance. Note any distress about "not finishing" a rule. The amount is never the therapist's to set.

Part A3. Using the markers and cross to return from distraction (as the tradition teaches it)

  • Purpose and when used. When thoughts wander, the markers or the cross help the person notice and return to the words of the prayer [source: Comboschini booklet].
  • Steps, as published (paraphrased). When the fingers reach a marker or the cross, check whether attention is still on the prayer. If it has drifted, gently bring it back to the words and to Christ.
  • Example language (illustrative). "When you notice you've drifted, how do you speak to yourself as you come back?"
  • Watch for. Harsh self-criticism or restarting the whole rope after a lapse. These can be signs of scrupulosity (see B6). Gentle return is consistent with the tradition's teaching that the rope "does not pray by itself" [synthesis].

Part A4. Counting bows and prostrations (as the tradition describes it)

  • Purpose and when used. The booklet notes that the rope can be used to count bows or prostrations together with the prayer [source: Comboschini booklet].
  • Steps. No steps or counts are given here. The number, form and frequency of prostrations belong to the client's spiritual father, and any physical limits belong to the client's doctor [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Your knee has been bothering you. Would it help to ask Father whether your rule could be adjusted while you speak to your doctor?"
  • Watch for. Pain, injury, exhaustion, or pressure to keep up an austere rule despite illness. Route physical health questions to the doctor [synthesis].

Part A5. Restricted and advanced teaching: public outline only

  • What it is. The hesychast literature also discusses linking the prayer with breathing and with the "heart". Hieromonk Irenei teaches that the biblical "heart" means the centre of the person, not a body part. He says "it isn't the rhythm of inhale-exhale that matters" [source: OrthoChristian]. The tradition places such matters under a spiritual father's guidance "to avoid delusion" [source: Comboschini booklet].
  • Therapist's role. Give no breath, posture or physical technique. Refer the client to their priest or spiritual father [synthesis].
  • Watch for. A client learning breath methods alone from books or online, especially with dizziness, panic or dissociation. Refer them to their priest and assess clinically [synthesis].

B1. Assessment of the client's prayer practice

  • Purpose and when to use. At intake, or whenever faith comes up, to understand the role of the rope and the prayer in the client's life.
  • Steps.
    1. Ask about the client's church: Greek, Russian, Antiochian, Serbian, Romanian, Oriental Orthodox or other.
    2. Ask whether they have a spiritual father or confessor, and what their rule is like.
    3. Ask what the prayer means to them, and when it helps or troubles them.
    4. Ask about any experiences in prayer that worried them.
    5. The DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview, with its supplementary module on spirituality, religion and moral traditions, can structure this [uncertain: not verified]. [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative). "Some people I work with pray with a prayer rope. Is prayer part of your life, and would you like it to be part of our work?"
  • Watch for. Shame about "failing" at prayer, recent changes in the rule, and isolation from the parish. Check whether the client wants faith kept out of therapy, and respect that.

B2. Consent and role clarification

  • Purpose and when to use. Before including prayer in therapy at all.
  • Steps.
    1. State that the therapist will not set a prayer rule, counts or durations.
    2. Agree how the client's prayer may be used in therapy, for example between sessions or briefly in session.
    3. Agree whether the therapist may contact the client's priest, and record written consent for any contact. [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative). "Your priest is your guide in prayer. My part is to help with the anxiety. Would you like us to keep those roles separate, or to talk with him together?"
  • Watch for. The client asking the therapist to act as a spiritual guide, or the therapist drifting into that role. Your ethics code governs dual relationships [synthesis].

B3. Client-led integration: the rope as a resource between sessions

  • Purpose and when to use. When a client who already prays with the rope wants to draw on it in anxious moments, grief or craving. This is part of spiritually integrated psychotherapy (cross-refer Domain VII) [synthesis].
  • Steps.
    1. Invite the client to describe how they already use the rope when distressed.
    2. Help them name one or two situations where using it fits their own rule and their priest's guidance.
    3. Notice with them what changes: the feel of the knots, slowing down, the meaning of the words.
    4. Agree that the client will notice how it goes, not how many prayers they say. Review at the next session. [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative). "When the panic starts on the train, you said holding the knots helps you feel you're not alone. What would it be like to let that be enough, without needing to finish the rope?"
  • Watch for. Signs it is working: the client reports calm, connection or meaning, and avoidance does not grow. Signs of misuse: the rope used to suppress feelings, to avoid exposure work, or as a ritual against feared harm (see B6).

B4. Published clinical adaptation: Christian contemplative prayer programme

  • Purpose and when to use. For Christian clients with chronic worry or daily stress who want a structured, faith-based programme. Cross-refer Domain II (mindfulness-based programmes) and Domain VII (spiritually integrated psychotherapy).
  • Steps. Use Knabb and Frederick (2017), Contemplative Prayer for Christians with Chronic Worry: An Eight-Week Program. Its chapters run from uncertainty and worry, through Ignatian prayer, the Jesus Prayer, Centering Prayer and the Welcoming Prayer, to surrendering to divine providence. Each chapter has goals, techniques and homework, and guided audio is provided [source: Routledge book page]. Follow the book for the session content; its Jesus Prayer chapter is [uncertain: not verified]. The same research group also reports a two-week internet-based contemplative prayer programme tested in a randomised trial (Knabb and Vazquez 2018, Spirituality in Clinical Practice) [source: California Baptist University lab publications page].
  • For Orthodox clients. The programme comes from a broader Christian contemplative frame, not from Orthodox monastic teaching. Check with the client, and if they wish with their priest, that it fits their tradition [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "This programme uses the Jesus Prayer to practise resting in trust when worry starts. You already pray it with your chotki. Would you like to see whether it helps with the 'what ifs'?"
  • Watch for. Worry decreasing and tolerance of uncertainty increasing. Also watch for the prayer turning into a reassurance-seeking ritual.

B5. Referral to and collaboration with clergy

  • Purpose and when to use. Questions about the rule, the amount of prayer, prostrations, fasting, breath methods or unusual experiences. In the tradition, these belong to the spiritual father [source: Comboschini booklet].
  • Steps.
    1. Get written consent.
    2. Agree with the client what will be shared.
    3. Contact the priest, or invite them to a joint session.
    4. Describe the clinical issue in plain terms, for example anxiety, OCD or exhaustion.
    5. Ask the priest to give guidance on the rule; do not ask them to endorse the therapy.
    6. If the client has no spiritual father, they can ask their parish priest. [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative). "Would it help if you asked Father whether a shorter rule is fine for now, while we work on the panic?"
  • Watch for. Conflicting messages between priest and therapist; resolve these openly with the client. Clergy who are not informed about OCD may assign penances that reinforce scrupulosity. Beyond OCD suggests offering clergy education [source: Beyond OCD].

B6. Scrupulosity screening and adapted ERP

  • Purpose and when to use. When prayer has become compulsive. Signs include long hours of prayer, demanding that prayers be said flawlessly, fearing a prayer "doesn't count", repeating prayers a "magical" number of times, repeating the sign of the cross, repeated confession, or seeking reassurance from clergy [source: Beyond OCD].
  • Steps.
    1. Assess for OCD in the usual way.
    2. Map which prayer behaviours are devotion and which are neutralising. The client's priest can help draw this line [source: Beyond OCD].
    3. Build an exposure hierarchy that the client and, with consent, the priest agree is not sinful. Clergy can reassure clients that the exercises are not sinful [source: Beyond OCD]. Examples (illustrative, agreed with the priest): leaving a circuit unfinished; letting a "wrong" knot pass without restarting; praying the agreed rule without counting.
    4. Prevent responses such as restarting, re-confessing and reassurance-seeking.
    5. Reduce family accommodation of rituals [source: Beyond OCD]. Usual ERP safety and consent steps apply: graded exposure, the client's agreement to each step, and no forced exposures [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "OCD says the prayer only counts if it's perfect. Your tradition says what matters is the quality of the heart, not the number. Shall we let OCD be wrong this week?"
  • Watch for. Spikes in anxiety at first, then reduced urges to repeat. Watch for hidden mental counting replacing counting on the knots.

B7. Trauma-sensitive adaptation

  • Purpose and when to use. With trauma survivors, including those hurt in religious settings, when prayer brings up intrusions, numbing or dissociation.
  • Steps. The publisher's description of Treleaven (2018) organises trauma-sensitive practice around attention, arousal, relationship, dissociation and social context, and the book lists 36 modifications [source: Treleaven 2018 publisher description]. Applied here [synthesis]:
    • offer choice of posture, eyes open, and shorter practice;
    • shift attention to the feel of the knots or to the room when arousal rises;
    • pray aloud rather than silently if inner silence floods the client;
    • stop when the client is outside a tolerable range of arousal;
    • attend to power and safety in religious relationships.
  • Example language (illustrative). "You can keep your eyes open and feel each knot under your thumb. If it gets too much, we pause and look around the room together."
  • Watch for. Flashbacks, numbing, dissociation, or prayer linked with an abuser. If prayer is linked with abuse, let the client lead on whether to use the rope at all.

B8. Monitoring and responding to adverse effects

  • Purpose and when to use. Throughout therapy, and especially with intensive or long prayer, retreats, or monastic visits.
  • Steps.
    1. Ask routinely about difficult experiences in prayer. Research describes 59 types of challenging meditation experience across cognitive, perceptual, affective, somatic, conative, sense-of-self and social domains. Examples include insomnia, fear, hypersensitivity to light or sound, and involuntary movements. Some lasted from days to over a decade [source: Lindahl et al. 2017, Brown University report]. That study involved Buddhist meditators; its findings are applied here to prayer by analogy [synthesis].
    2. A systematic review of 83 studies found adverse events in 8.3% of participants. Anxiety, depression and cognitive anomalies were most common, and events also occurred in people with no previous mental health history [source: Farias et al. 2020].
    3. Respond by normalising, grounding (eyes open, movement, contact with others, sleep and routine) and suggesting the client ask their spiritual father about lightening the rule. Increase support as needed [synthesis].
    4. Talking with someone familiar with such experiences was reported as helpful [source: Lindahl et al. 2017, Brown University report]. Britton's support group and Cheetah House resources exist [uncertain: not verified].
    5. Before retreats or long monastic stays, screen for recent psychosis, mania, severe depression, trauma symptoms and sleep loss [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "Some people find that intense prayer stirs up fear or strange sensations. That doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. Let's look at what would help you feel steady, and whether Father would suggest lightening your rule for a while."
  • Watch for. Insomnia, depersonalisation, panic, or withdrawal from daily life.

B9. Telling spiritual experience apart from illness

  • Purpose and when to use. When a client reports visions, warmth in the heart, voices, a sense of spiritual attack, or desolation. These should not be pathologised, and illness should not be missed.
  • Steps.
    1. Explore the experience in the client's own terms. The tradition itself warns of "delusion" (prelest) and places discernment with the spiritual father [source: Comboschini booklet].
    2. In parallel, assess clinically for psychosis, mania, depression, dissociation and suicidality, using current standards.
    3. Where the problem is a religious or spiritual one without a mental disorder, DSM-5-TR provides a "religious or spiritual problem" code (Z65.8).
    4. With consent, consult the priest; refer for psychiatric assessment if illness signs are present. [synthesis]
  • Example language (illustrative). "I'd like to understand this both the way your Church would see it and the way I'd look at your health. Can we do both?"
  • Watch for. Loss of function, lack of sleep, grandiosity, command voices, or suicidal ideation. These need urgent clinical response whatever their religious framing.

B10. The therapist's own stance and self-disclosure

  • Purpose and when to use. Whenever the therapist shares, or differs from, the client's faith.
  • Steps.
    1. Reflect on your own religious views.
    2. Disclose them only if it helps the client.
    3. Do not pray with the client as their spiritual guide or adopt the role of confessor.
    4. Seek consultation when unsure. Professional ethics codes cover dual relationships; the APA code applies [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative). "I'm not your priest, and I won't try to be. I'm glad your faith is a strength, and I'd like us to respect it here."
  • Watch for. Agreement or disagreement on faith shaping clinical decisions.

5. Handling problems

The guidance in this section is synthesis unless a source is given.

  • The client asks you how many prayers to say, or for how long.
    • Do not answer with a number. The tradition gives this to the spiritual father [source: Comboschini booklet].
    • Help the client prepare the question for their priest.
    • If anxiety drives the question, explore it as possible scrupulosity (B6).
    • Illustrative wording: "That's a question your tradition gives to your spiritual father. What makes the number feel so important right now?"
  • Counting has become the point. Signs include the client tallying circuits, restarting after a slip, or feeling the day is ruined by an unfinished rule.
    • Name the pattern without judging it.
    • Bring in the tradition's own teaching that quality matters more than number [source: OrthoChristian].
    • With consent, involve the priest and start adapted ERP (B6).
  • The client is stuck: "the prayer has gone dry."
    • Do not treat dryness as a symptom by default. Explore its meaning in the client's tradition and refer that question to the priest.
    • Assess for depression, which can look like spiritual dryness: anhedonia, sleep and appetite changes, hopelessness.
  • Resistance or mistrust: "psychology will take my faith away."
    • Make your role clear (B2).
    • Offer contact with the priest.
    • Let the client decide how much faith comes into therapy.
    • Do not argue theology.
  • Overwhelm during or after prayer. Examples are panic, flooding memories, or depersonalisation.
    • Stop and ground: eyes open, describe the room, feel the feet, move.
    • Follow the trauma-sensitive adaptations (B7) and adverse-effects steps (B8) [source: Treleaven 2018 publisher description; Farias et al. 2020; Lindahl et al. 2017].
    • Suggest the client ask their spiritual father about lightening the rule for now.
  • Non-adherence and guilt. The client has stopped praying and feels they have failed God.
    • Separate guilt about prayer from the clinical task.
    • Explore self-compassion within the client's own tradition, for example the booklet's account of repentance as "joy-creating sorrow" [source: Comboschini booklet].
    • Suggest confession or a talk with the priest if the client wishes.
    • Never set prayer as homework the client has not chosen.
  • Rupture: the client feels judged for their faith, or for their doubts.
    • Acknowledge it, repair it, and ask what would help.
    • Check whether your own views have shaped your responses (B10).
  • The client learns breath or "heart" methods alone, from books or online.
    • Do not teach or correct the technique.
    • Note that the tradition places such methods under a spiritual father "to avoid delusion" [source: Comboschini booklet].
    • Refer the client to their priest, and assess for dizziness, panic, dissociation or unusual experiences (B8, B9).
  • The client has no spiritual father, or there is conflict with one.
    • Help the client ask their parish priest or another priest of their own church.
    • If the client describes coercion by a spiritual guide, assess for coercive control and safety. Signs include demands for total obedience on non-spiritual matters, isolation from family, control of money or medical care, or sexual boundary violations.
    • Support the client in using their church's own complaint routes, and follow reporting duties.
    • Do not name or judge individuals beyond what reliable sources or authorities have established.
  • Health matters. Examples are prostrations with joint or heart problems, exhaustion, or a strict rule during illness or pregnancy.
    • Route health questions to the client's doctor.
    • Route changes to the rule to the priest.
    • Never present the prayer or rope as treating disease.
  • Children and adolescents with a prayer rope.
    • Support age-appropriate, family- and parish-led practice.
    • Watch for compulsive prayer in children with OCD.
    • Involve parents and, with consent, the priest.
    • Get the young person's assent, and follow local safeguarding procedures if there is any coercion or harsh discipline.
  • The client is leaving the Church or is ambivalent about the rope.
    • Explore what the rope means now: comfort, grief, anger or memory.
    • Do not encourage either keeping or abandoning practice.
    • Address religious trauma if present.
  • The client is from a non-Orthodox Christian tradition and wants to use a rope.
    • Explore what draws them to it.
    • Suggest they talk to a priest or spiritual director of their own tradition or of the Orthodox Church.
    • A published broader Christian programme (B4) may fit better.

Sources

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