Precious Cargo

From Europe:

To the United States:

Elwing sent me the top picture about two weeks ago after a day of wandering through a streetmarket. Then today, I got a package filled with all sorts of cool things. I'm not going to get any awards for excellence in lighting, but this is what I get when I open her boxes. The rosaries are get their first cleaning before they are packed but they are usually in minor disrepair. We repair them, I give them their second cleaning and polish them, and we share in the task of identifying everything. (It's amazing how small the silver purity stamps are on some of this stuff, if they bothered to stamp it at all.) It's fun, like a research project, and I'm excited to get started on all those medals!

So that's how it all begins. And I love the cool little wooden boxes that each rosary was packed in. It felt like Christmas.

A little bit of dirt is important

Relics are very important to Catholics. They are venerated "mementos" of holy people or places. They are not magical charms, but more like a piece of memorabilia one has that shows devotion and respect for something they love. Though a relic itself cannot instill grace, they are often used to bless people or even other objects.

Reliquaries are used to contain relics and there are many types. This rosary is a reliquary and can be opened. Inside is dirt from the Catacombs of Saint Callistus, the official cemetery for the Christians of Rome with a tiny paper that says, "terra catacumbe" or "caracomb earth" in French.

March: 12 of 12

Last month Greg and Jennifer from Rosary Army talked on their podcast about a thing they did on the 12th of Febuary called "12 of 12" where they took 12 pictures of how they lived on the 12th day of the month. They got the idea from their friend Chad Darnell who came up with it and has many links to people's 12 of 12's on his site.

When I saw Greg and Jennifer's pictures I thought it looked like a really cool thing to do. I couldn't wait until the 12th of March so I could take my camera out and chronicle my day.

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7:10am ~ The wake up committee: Kurt and Logan. Kurt is actually sitting on my chest and Logan has his feet dangling off the side of the loft. The cats can be really annoying about coming up into the loft and waking me up at odd hours so they are only given access on weekends.

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8:30am ~ The Liturgy of the Hours. I try to start everyday with Morning Prayer from the Divine Office. If I don't have time to pray it from the book I listen to it on my drive to work via Jeff Vista's Praystation Portable podcast. I prefer to read it myself though.

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10:13am ~ St. John's Catholic Chapel. The 9am Mass is just leaving. I am entering to be an altar server at the 10:30am Mass.

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10:29am ~ Ever wondered what goes on in the sacristy before Mass? Sacristan Matt heats up the charcoal burners in the thurible with a propane torch so they will be hot enough for the incense at the beginning of Mass.

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11:35am ~ Incontrovertible proof that we are going to heaven... Actually this is just a picture of the 4 alter servers from my Mass just after Mass ended. I haven't served a Mass with Aaron (the cross bearer) since he graduated last year so it was fun having him visit.

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12:05pm ~ From the depths of his squeaky clean new Miata, Aaron takes a picture of me taking a picture of him taking a picture from within the depths of his sqeaky clean new Miata.

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1:30pm ~ We always go out to lunch after Mass. Here is this Sunday's lunch crowd enjoying the atmosphere at one of Urbana-Champaign's many find restaurants.

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1:40pm ~ After lunch we took turns getting in and out of Aaron's new car...

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3:00pm ~ It occurred to me that before Aaron and Nick left to return home, it would be cool to all pray a rosary together. Since it was so nice out we decided to walk around the campus while praying. It was great. Aaron and I have both led St. Johns' rosary group at one time or another and so we split the role of leader. I didn't have my camera while we were walking around campus, but Nick snapped this picture at the end. Note that Aaron is holding a knotted twine rosary from Rosary Army.

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5:45pm ~ Since Sunday lifts my Lenten internet fast I said Hi to my friends on Nightscrawlers and did some admin stuff there. Then I prayed evening prayer and afterwards realized I didn't have enough food to make lunches for work this week.

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7:00pm ~ So grocery shopping it was! I took a quick trip to Schnuck's and got some basic lunch stuff. I also found out that it is "Kosher Awareness Week" at Schnuck's so I picked up a box of Matzoh and some macaroons for Passover.

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9:30pm ~ Now that the kitchen is stocked with freshly bought food I can make lunch. I'm sure Logan thinks he's "helping" in some way, but look at him, he's not even looking at the lunch I'm making. This is why cats should never be placed in supervisory positions.

A little bit of Glory

I love Gloria rosaries. This one is particularly cool because it is small and I didn't know they even made small rosaries. (For me the first sign that I am going to see a Gloria hallmark on the back is that the rosary is huge and heavy.) This one is really unique though in that it is petite and delicate. I couldn't believe it when I saw the back of the crucifix. I was like "Gloria? No way!" And there it was on the center medal too.


Actually, the assembly is worth mentioning here because it's unusual all beyond the fact that it's small. Gloria seems to have made a select few crucifixes and the variation is in how they are configured with center medals, beads, and sterling links. In this case, it's a crucifix I've never seen before and it's really ornate and Celtic looking. (Which is also surprising since Gloria typically goes in for filigree.) The center medal is a tiny version of my favorite open work centermedal with Mary on one side and Jesus on the other. And then, just like its larger Gloria counterparts, there are the wonderful sterling links to join the whole thing together and make it really special. It's an awesome rosary - no doubt.


And finally, to top it all off, are the medals. They're all sterling too and one of them is hallmarked as well. The sterling Sacred Heart of Jesus Medal (with Our Lady of Perpetual Hope) on the back that you can see in the pictures above and below is hallmarked with, of all things, "Creed". Creed , is probably the most well known maker of sterling silver rosaries in the US (and possibly the most expensive). I actually like Gloria rosaries a lot better, but to my surprise I found myself in possession of a Creed sterling silver medal. It's a small medal and it looked great on this delicate little rosary so I figured I'd mix and match a bit.