"Arise, shine, for your light has come..."
   -- Isaiah 60:1

These shining, wonderful, beautifully imperfect beads are faceted glass.  The glass is clear;  the inside of the beads is gilded, and they have a slight aurora borealis finish.  These are vintage beads -- we're very happy to have found a few handfuls.

The crucifix of this prayer rope is elegantly simple.  On each end of the cross is a pattern suggesting the windows of cathedrals, and fleurs de lis.  On the reverse, the crucifix carries an inscription, dated Christmas Day -- 25 Dec. 1939.

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going."
  -- from The Merton Prayer

50 prayer beads of Bodhi seeds, interspersed with matte black glass and ridged brass... 

Heavy bronze cross with a stippled surface and great dimensionality.  It's hand-cast from a 19th century Coptic original...

The 50 prayer beads are separated into sets of ten, which allows this prayer rope to be easily used for praying the rosary.

"Let my prayer rise before you like incense..."
    -- Psalm 141:2


Wooden beads with the faint, familiar scent of incense... oiled with Frankincense, Sweet Myrrh, and Balsam of Peru...

Lovely Ethiopian openwork cross of solid bronze...

"May God hold you in the palm of His hand."

  -- Irish Blessing


These 33 prayer beads are carved of natural horn.  They're semi-translucent, and streaked with browns, beige, and taupe...  The prayer beads are interspersed with flakes of brass and beads of matte glass, in blue-grays and browns...

The Celtic cross is large, with a nice weight to it.  It's solid bronze, hand-cast from a 19th century antique...

 "...And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."

    -- T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

The cross of this prayer rope is cast from an ancient, centuries-old original.  The circles represent Christ's wounds... and could also represent our homecoming.

The 100 prayer beads are Olivewood, pruned from the ancient trees in Bethlehem. 

Among these are beads of matte glass in purples, blues, buff, rose, olives... the colors are scarcely noticeable -- until you do notice them.

A garden full of zinnias -- what a cheerful blast of colors!

These 33 prayer beads are Greek ceramic, matte-glazed the colors of zinnias.  They're wonderfully unusual, rustic, hand-formed, high-fired, and durable.  We've only been able to obtain one small handful of them.

They're the perfect complement to the crucifix, with its central blaze of radiance!  The crucifix is hand-cast from a 4th century Balkan original, in solid bronze.

Sublimely flexible, lightweight, and portable...

"Praised be You my Lord, through Our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us..."
  -- St. Francis of Assisi

"This is a first criterion to learn:  That being itself, our earth, speaks to us;  and we must listen to the voice of the earth... and learn to decipher the message of the earth."
  -- Pope Benedict XVI,  July 2007


Crucifix of solid bronze, cast from a 19th century original...

33 large stone prayer beads of Ryolite, in a marvelous mingling of earth-tones...

"Christ with me, Christ before me,
 Christ behind me, Christ within me,
 Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
 Christ at my right, Christ at my left..."
    -- from St. Patrick's Prayer

"Beauty before me, I walk with.
 Beauty behind me, I walk with.
 Beauty above me, I walk with.
 Beauty below me, I walk with.
 Beauty all around me, I walk with."
   -- from the Navajo Night Chant

Coptic cross cast of solid bronze...
Burnt Horn beads in beautiful browns, mingled with deep night-blue...

"And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind...
 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..."
   -- Acts 2: 1-4


33 prayer beads of vintage hand-carved bone -- with quirks and peculiarities...  Among these are antique beads of red Venetian glass...

Large, beautifully simple Jerusalem cross, cast of solid bronze from an old original...

"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen --  not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

  -- C. S. Lewis, Weight of Glory

The bright, reflective surface of this cross, and its circle motif, suggest the sun.  The cross is solid bronze, handcast from a 19th century Coptic original.

The deep amber color and translucency of the prayer beads suggest the sun's warmth.  The beads are Czech glass, with an interesting shape...

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..."
  -- John 3:16

A gorgeous large stone disk of Picture Jasper represents the world that God so loves...

The Circles Cross is cast from an ancient 15th century original, in solid bronze.  The circle motif represents Christ's wounds, and the suggestion of radiance around the center circle may symbolize the sun, a Messianic symbol of Our Lord.

The 50 stone prayer beads are Wood Jasper, with very subtle and very beautiful variations in color.  As these are arranged in sets of 10, this prayer rope is well suited for rosary prayer.

"The peace of God... surpasses all understanding..."
    -- from Philippians 4:7

The olive branch is an ancient symbol of hope and peace. 

The 100 beautiful olivewood beads of this prayer rope were carved in Israel, of wood pruned from the ancient olive trees in Bethlehem -- birthplace of the Prince of Peace.

Fish pendant cast by hand of solid bronze...

Suitable for prayer, and beautiful as a necklace.

"One thing alone I know -- that according to our need, so will be our strength."
   -- John Henry Cardinal Newman


Black bone prayer beads, irregular in shape, heavier and cooler to the touch than wood...  These old, unusual beads are handmade.

Heavy cross of solid bronze, with broad arms and an etched design, handcast from an old Coptic original...

 "The fruit of the Spirit is love..."

  -- Galatians 5: 22-23


The 33 stone beads of this prayer rope are disks of jade -- semi-translucent, speckled, and striped.  Their colors remind us of melons and other wonderful fruits...

The Celtic cross is solid hand-cast bronze, and marvelously detailed in the manner of the 8th century Durrow High Cross...

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
    -- Luke 2:11


The cross of this prayer rope is centered within the star of David, reminding us of the ancient promise, and the fulfillment of the promise...

33 beads of Rosewood, interspersed with stone beads of multicolored Jasper...

"Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum."
"Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen."

The 33 beads of this Prayer Rope are a reminder of the years of Christ's life on earth.  They're arranged in groups of 3, symbolic of the Blessed Trinity.

Evocative bronze crucifix, nearly worn smooth... hand cast from a Spanish antiquity.

Jasper rondelle prayer beads -- very unusual and difficult to find, interspersed with Poppy Jasper, Black Horn and glass..

"...I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever -- the Spirit of Truth."
   -- John 14:16-17

Solid bronze Latin American crucifix, embellished on both sides, hand-cast from a 19th century antique...

Dangles representing flames -- symbolic of the Holy Spirit, our Counselor -- between each set of 10 beads... 

50 exceptionally beautiful hand-carved wooden prayer beads, refinished and oiled to bring out the warm browns of the wood...

Arranged as it is, this prayer rope may easily be used to pray the rosary.

"... the Spirit gives birth to spirit."   -- John 3:6

Beautifully, the word for the Spirit is breath -- ruah -- the Breath of God.

Bronze crucifix, deeply sculpted on both sides, hand-cast from a 17th century Russian antique...

50 large bodhi seed beads, with burls and a wonderful texture...  separated by multicolored stone rondelles of jasper...

We've arranged the beads in 5 sets of 10, so the prayer rope may be used for praying the Rosary.

"...God called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day."
  -- Genesis 1:5 

"Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness..."
  -- Henry Nouwen

The very unusual stone beads of this prayer rope are Sardonyx, gloriously striped in black, white, and deep browns -- light and darkness. 

The large, beautifully simple Jerusalem cross is hand-cast of solid sterling silver from a vintage original.

Inspired by Lydia, and her place in the early Christian community at Philippi.  Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth;  we've used purple beads here in her honor. 


30 beads of faceted Czech glass, in a beautiful royal purple, arranged in 3 sets of 10...

3 larger beads of handcarved wood, with a motif of leaves, caps of deep purple, and decorative beads of hand-cast bronze.

Solid bronze cross, cast by hand from a 15th century original.

"Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it unto me according to thy word."

  -- Mary's answer to Gabriel, Luke 1:38


An asymetrical design, meant as a symbol of Mary's openness to God.

Solid bronze cross hand-cast from an antiquity...

Vivid blue rondelles of chalk Turquoise, arranged in three groups of ten...  Blue is Mary's color, of course -- and the color of the open sky. 

Wings or petals of Ebony are clustered in groups of three.  Each cluster may serve as a prayer bead...

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
  - John 1:1

Logos... the Word thought-of, and the Word uttered...

Pleasantly large, handmade beads of white bone...

Wonderful, large Coptic cross, cast from a 19th century Ethiopian original...

The number of the prayer beads - 33 - is a celebration of the incarnation.

"And the Lord went before them by day
in a pillar of cloud
to lead them along the way."
-- Exodus 13:21
 

33 stone prayer beads of Pyrite -- very weighty, and lustrous, but not too shiny -- absolutely beautiful.

Marvelous cross, cast by hand of solid bronze, from an antiquity.

"The Lord is my shepherd;  I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 
He leadeth me beside the still waters."
    -- Psalm 23: 1-2


The Coptic cross of this chaplet is hand-cast from a 19th century Ethiopian original, in solid bronze. 

The 33 prayer beads are pleasantly variegated greens... they're Chinese turquoise.  Among the prayer beads are African rings handmade of brass, beads of matte glass, and burnt horn.

"We have to come to the end of a long journey and see that the stranger we meet there is no other than ourselves -- which is the same as saying that we find Christ in him."  

   -- Fr. Thomas Merton, Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani

This prayer rope was inspired by the dialogues between Thomas Merton and Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama -- and by their shared dedication to deepening compassion.

The beautiful bronze openwork Coptic cross symbolizes open-heartedness, and the most profound depths of compassion...

One hundred very large Bodhi seeds, traditional Buddhist prayer beads, are here intermingled with golden horn... 

Lord, vivifying Spirit and power of life, have mercy on us.
Lord, Breath of the Father and the Son, in Whom are all things, have mercy on us.

Kyrie, spiritus vivifice, vitæ vis, eleyson.
Kyrie, utriqusque vapor in quo cuncta, eleyson.

  -- from the Kyrie  (Sarum Missal)

This handsome prayer rope feels pleasant in the hand, and is easy to pray. 

The cross has a stippled surface and a nice dimensionality.  It's solid bronze, cast by hand from an old 19th century Coptic original.

The 33 prayer beads are Mali Wood, separated by beads of hand-carved Black Horn.