"Through black clouds the black sheep runs accursed,
And through black clouds the Shepherd follows him."

— G. K. Chesterton, The Black Virgin

Alright, this is an odd one. Common sense says not to even include it here. But it's been insisting, and we finally gave up resisting. It does seem perfect for praying the Jesus Prayer, or the centurion's prayer from Matthew 8:8.

The cross is solid white bronze, large, and beautifully simple. It's hand-cast from a Coptic antique.

The prayer beads are black lavastone, with pits and pocks that formed as the molten rock cooled. Among these are dark beads of matte glass in deep olives and black.

And, finally, yes, that is a lock of wool from a black sheep — it's wild, uncombed, curly, unruly — and eventually it will become matted, we're sure — just like in real life. Anyone who's spent time around sheep knows that's how they are. That the Shepherd bothers to follow is amazing. The lock is gathered into an interestingly irregular bead of silver-dipped pewter, and wire-wrapped in bronze. The wool's dark gray verging to light brown at the ends. The lock of wool is placed half-way along the strand of 50 beads.

The connecting rings are heavy gauge solid bronze and copper. The prayer rope is strung on premium quality Soft Flex jewelers' cable, composed of 49 strands of steel encased in nylon, with a test strength of 26 pounds; each end is double-crimped for security. The round beads at the ends of the rope are solid brass.

Cross: 2"
Prayer Beads: about 8mm
Length: 15.75" not counting the wool tassel