Chotki

A rule of prayer,
kept honestly.

Chotki is a free app for keeping an Orthodox prayer rule, and for seeing, in plain words and without reproach, how it is going.

Try the demo Get the app
Why Chotki exists

A small cord of knots, tied by hand.

Chotki is the Russian word for a prayer rope: a cord of knots that fingers learn long before the mind does. The Chotki app takes its name from that humble thing, and hopes to be as small and as useful.

It is made by one Orthodox Christian, as an independent project for two kinds of people seeking Church life: The first are unable to stand in a church, whether by distance, illness, work, or circumstance. The second are only beginning their Orthodox inquiry, and have not yet found the courage or the occasion to step into a church. For both, a set of common prayers, the day's calendar, and the day's readings can be a place to stand until the way opens.

Chotki is not a church, a priest or a spiritual father, and it is not a substitute for any of them. It cannot counsel you, hear your confession or know you. If you have a spiritual father, settle your rule with him and let this app do nothing more than remember it. If you do not yet have one, treat what is here as a beginning, and keep looking.

Chotki is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sanctioned by any church, parish, jurisdiction or monastery, and nothing in it carries anyone's blessing. It will always be free: no price, no subscription, no advertising. Its content draws on public-domain texts and other credited sources, and all sources are named throughout the app.

What it does

The day, the prayers and the record, in one place.

Take on daily routines one at a time from a library, or write your own. Read the morning and evening prayers, count the Jesus Prayer on a prayer rope, and open the day's Gospel and Epistle. See what the calendar marks, and read the life of the saint commemorated.

Try the demo

An Orthodox icon of the Transfiguration of Christ.
Get Chotki

On the devices you already use.

Chotki is in beta. These links will be switched on at release. Become a beta tester

iPhone

iOS

Link to come

Android

Android 8 or later

Link to come

Mac

macOS 13 or later

Link to come

Windows

Windows 11 or later

Link to come

Linux

Desktop

Link to come

Source code

Sources

Where the words come from.

The prayers are older public-domain liturgical English. The sayings of the Fathers come from public-domain translations. The pictures are public-domain art and photographs. The lives of the saints are the Prologue from Ochrid, shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence and left unaltered, with the source linked under each reading. The day's calendar and readings are generated from orthocal.info.

The glossary and the passages from the Fathers are introductory. Please do not treat them as authoritative.