THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

On the 12th day of Christmas, my owner gave to me...

On the 11th day of Christmas, my godparents gave to me...

On the 10th day of Christmas, my brother gave to me...

On the 9th day of Christmas, my best friend gave to me...

On the 8th day of Christmas, my student gave to me...

On the 7th day of Christmas, our children gave to us...

On the 6th day of Christmas, my godchildren gave to me...

On the 5th day of Christmas, my sweetheart gave to me...

On the 4th day of Christmas, my mother gave to me...

On the 3rd day of Christmas,  my grandchildren gave to me...

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my sister gave to me...

On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

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ARTISAN HANDMADE RELIGIOUS TREASURES

Each rare little treasure is handmade in our workshop from beads and medals that are unique and come from all over the world.  The crucifixes, centers and medals are hand cast in solid bronze from rare antique vintage pieces.  These little treasures are heirlooms that can be passed down through the generation.  We hope that you will be inspired and share our passion and devotion for sacramentals by using them to inspire others.

ESPRIT DE NOEL

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

O God, we thank you for this earth, our home;
For the wide sky and the blessed sun,
For the salt sea and the running water,
For the everlasting hills
And the never-resting winds,
For trees and the common grass underfoot.
We thank you for our senses
By which we hear the songs of birds,
And see the splendor of the summer fields,
And taste of the autumn fruits,
And rejoice in the feel of the snow,
And smell the breath of the spring.
Grant us a heart wide open to all this beauty;
And save our souls from being so blind
That we pass unseeing
When even the common thornbush
Is aflame with your glory,
O God our creator,
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Walter Rauschenbusch

ALL SOULS DAY

Today is the day we commemorate and pray for all the faithful departed.

REQUIEM ETERNAM
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.  May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

PRAYER OF ST. GERTRUDE THE GREAT

Our Lord dictated the following prayer to St. Gertrude the Great to release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said.

"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, thosse in my own home and within my family. Amen."

ROSARY FOR THE DEAD

This rare and unique Rosary for the Dead is strung with beautiful glass pearl beads. There are four decades in this rosary and the 40 beads symbolize the 40 hours that Christ spent between the crucifixion and the resurrection. The pater beads are vintage bronze roses which represent a crown of roses, a spiritual bouquet given to our Blessed Mother. The crucifix called Via Dolorosa (the road Jesus walked with the cross to Golgotha) is handcast in solid bronze from a rare vintage antique piece. It shows Jesus carrying the cross framed by angels, flowers and a heart on the bottom. The rosary center is a beaded vintage Mary. The rosary is 19" long and the crucifix is 2".  Rosary can be found on rosarium.etsy.com

SACRAMENTALS

Wearing sacramentals increases our devotion and reminds us of daily prayer. A simple saint necklace that can be worn all the time or with more than one necklace.

ALL SAINTS DAY

Nothing can bring us into close contact with the beauty of Christ himself other than the world of beauty created by faith and light that shines out from the faces of the saints, through 
whom his own light becomes visible.


- Pope BenedictXVI

 

ALL SOULS NOVENA

Say once a day for nine days, starting on 24 October until the eve of All Souls Day.

O God, the Creater and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants and handmaids departed, the remission of all their sins; that through pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

PRAYER FOR ALL ANIMALS

Blessed are you, Lord God,
maker of all living creatures.
On the fifth and sixth days of creation,
you called forth fish in the sea,
birds in the air and animals on the land.
You inspired St. Francis to call all animals
his brothers and sisters.
We ask you to bless this animal.
By the power of your love,
enable it to live according to your plan.
May we always praise you
for all your beauty in creation.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all our creatures! Amen.






a beautiful bronze pet tag for your pet...

or a religious treasure of St. Francis of Assisi for yourself or someone special...

HAPPY ST. FRANCIS FEAST DAY

JOURNEY OF THE IVORY

In the 1970's our cousin, Skip was a Jesuit brother working in Africa.  His mission was a village in Zambia.  This village was very poor and the needs of the people great.

Once when Skip was home for a visit we asked what we could do to help.  He shared his dream with us and we were thrilled to join in the that dream.  The "Mud Hut Project" started at that time.  The people of this village lived in mud huts, very unsafe, unsanitary, and very fragile (the huts had to be rebuilt after every substantial rain).  It would have been easy for us to give and collect money for this, but Skip wanted the people to feel a part of the project and contribute to making it happen.  He suggested a clothing drive.  They could sell the clothes and use the money to buy bricks and build new homes.

So we collected clothing.  I am not talking cleaning our closets and asking friends and neighbors to do the same - no... this collecting was on a grand scale.  We collected, crated, and shipped tons of clothing.  Skip and the people of this village worked very hard, sold the clothes, got the bricks and built the houses.

To thank us, the next time Skip came home, he brought us gifts from his African friends... lots of ivory beads, ivory carvings, and batiks.  Skip said the ivory was very old - had been in that village for generation.  These gifts were shared with many of our friends who worked so hard to make Skip's dream for these people a reality.

Skip had to leave Africa due to malaria - episodes were coming more frequently adn harshly adn his health was in danger.

He went to work in a homeless men's shelter in downtown Los Angeles.  He once told me he saw more sadness, hopelessness, cruelty and sickness there that he ever saw in Africa.

Judy

Judy asked me to create something with the ivory...

.... I made her a beautiful chaplet with a handcast vintage crucifix.