Jewelry has long been an expression of one’s self. Today gold and silver is used as a status symbol but there is one aspect of jewelry that is not a discussion of one’s self but more one’s faith. Religious Jewelry makes a statement of one’s faith and is an outward display or a reminder.
The most common Religious jewelry revolves around the cross and in the case of Catholics, the crucifix. The difference between the two is the crucifix bears the body of Jesus, knows as the corpus. Catholics often wear or carry a crucifix as opposed to a cross without the body of Christ affixed to it.
Medals are extremely popular Religious Jewelry. Patron Saints also can be very personal jewelry gift items. Each medal has the image of a Catholic Saint struck into the medal. What makes it most personal is as people gravitate toward a Saint they are often someone they have something in common with the saint. St. Michael is the patron saint of police officers and commonly a medal is given to cadets at graduation. St. Cecilia is the patron Saint of musicians and is often given to Choirs as gifts.
The Miraculous Medal is a popular medal as well. It was handed down from the Blessed Mother as well as a Scapular Medal which is based on the cloth scapular. The Scapular and Miraculous Medals are often worn by the faithful to receive graces as promised by the Blessed Mother to the wears of the Medals and Scapular. These two medals are at times combined together to form a four way medal. A four way medal takes four different depictions of medals or saints and displays them on one cruciform, an item that when all of the parts are put together. Four way medals are very popular gift items because they often represent several different medals that are important to the catholic faith.
The Rosary is often a popular theme for jewelry. There are rosary bracelets which commonly have one decade of the rosary making the circle to go around the wrist. From there the rosary center and the rosary cross are usually mounted similar to a charm so they dangle from the wrist. It is a unique way to have a rosary. Often rosary bracelets use birthstone beads, either made of glass or semi precious stones, to make up the bead and the decade of the rosary.
The rosary also has thematic necklaces and rings that comprise one decade of the rosary. Just like the rosary bracelets, they have the cross as a charm. In the case of a rosary ring, often the cross factors to be present in lieu of the stone.
Earrings are often another item that can be commuted into crosses making it an attractive and often inexpensive outward expression of our faith. Kids and parents of young children often have cross earrings making it a leading children’s jewelry item
Religious Jewelry is a wonderful gift idea for any season or sacramental event. Its is a lasting gift that will often reminder of the important event. |
