A "Rushnyk" or "Rushnik" "is a ritual cloth embroidered with symbols and cryptograms of the ancient world. They have been used in sacred Eastern Slavic rituals, religious services and ceremonial events such as weddings and funerals. Each region has its own designs and patterns with hidden meaning, passed down from generation to generation and studied by ethnographers... A "rushnyk" is given to a baby at birth, it follows the person throughout life, and is used in the funeral service after death. A "Rushnyk" has many uses. The very basic "rushnik" is colloquially called the "utyralnyk" or wiper and serves as a towel. The "utyralnyk" either has no designs on it or it has very narrow strip on the edges. In contrast, a "nabozhnyk" is a highly decorated "Rushnyk" composing of embroidery and of lace. "Nabozhnyks," also called "nabraznyks" or "nakutnyks" are used to decorate icons and icon corners in homes" ("Rushnyk" in Wikipedia accessed on 1/18/2019 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rushnyk).

The "Nabozhnyk" is a wonderful tradition, having pagan origins, but Christianized in its utilization by Orthodox Christians of Slavic extraction. The "Nabozhnyk" approaches the sanctity of the Jewish "Tallith," the "prayer shawl" which once was the "mantle," a common feature of Hebrew clothing seen in both the Old and New Testaments and visible in the Holy Icons of Christ and of His Holy Mother. The mantle (אַדֶּרֶת) of the Prophet Elijah, made out of sheepskin, was considered to hold spiritual power by his successor, the Prophet Elisha. The same word אַדֶּרֶת means "illustriousness" or "illustrious," or even "prodigious," indicating that its bearer had attained a certain respectable status or maturity in the community. The mantle came to be a symbol of prayer because when the people would engage in their daily rule of prayer, they would pull the mantle over their head, creating an "inner chamber" or "closet" (ταμεῖον) as mentioned in Matthew 6:6. The mantle developed into the ritual cloth used among Jews today, known at the "Tallith." The corners of the Jewish people's mantles were fringed and knotted in such a way symbolic of the Holy Tetragrammaton, the Four-Hebrew-Lettered name of God, translated into Greek as KYRIOS and in English as LORD.

The woman with the issue of blood said to herself, in faith, "If I can simply touch the fringe of [Christ's] mantle, I will be made whole!" When she did so, we are told that "power went forth from" Christ and healed her in response to her act of faith. The Hebrew word for the fringed, knotted "corners" (כנפים) of the mantle also means "wings," as in Malachi 4:2, the Greek of which may be rendered, "Upon you who revere My Name shall rise the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings..." But the Hebrew may be literally rendered, "To you who revere My Name shall rise the Sun of Charitableness with healing in the corners of Her mantle." These inspired texts are not contradictory, but rather complementary because, by union with Christ, the Church herself shines with the brilliance of the Sun (Matthew 13:43) because She, with Her many members, is transfigured by the operation of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Mysteries to be the Body of Christ, the Sun of Righteousness (1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Furthermore, the Church has healing in Her wings--that is, "in the corners of Her mantle" of prayer because it is through Her intercessions that the Church offers healing to the world, especially to those who revere the Name of Jesus Christ and approach Mystical Signs of His Incarnation in faith.

The Rushnik, "ritual towel," or "prayer mantle," is a tangible symbol, replete with meaning and spiritual power, especially when woven or embroidered with the Holy Cross and other Orthodox Christian symbols, with Divine Names, with portions of Holy Scripture, and with other signs of the Healing, Salvific Power of Christ. Like the quilting bees of post-colonial, American tradition, people of the parish could gather for the knitting, crocheting, sewing, embroidering, and/or needle-point of "prayer mantles" to be given as gifts to hospice patients, to loved ones. A special pattern or color could be developed for each state or province, then a special symbol or color for the city or town, another symbol for the parish, another symbol for each family in the parish, and to these could be added additional holy symbols or Scripture portions chosen by the person working on the prayer mantle. Prayer mantles could then be given as gifts to family members, fellow parishioners, and to people in the community, such as the sick and the denying, as a comforting gesture of prayer and goodwill.

Perhaps, in our American Orthodox Christianity, the Rushnik, or "prayer mantle," will become another tangible sign in popular Orthodox Christian practice of the Intercession of the Saints, of the Garment of the Holy Spirit, of the incarnation of God the Son, and of the presence of Orthodox Christian spirituality in our communities. ( )