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Religious medals are worn not as enhancements to beauty
but to make a statement representing one's faith and personal
belief. They symbolize practices of a certain religion and they
are worn to honor and revere the likeness of the blessed on them,
such as patron saints. The wearing of religious medals derives
from the pagan practice of wearing talismans symbolizing their
gods for protection from evil spirits, bad luck, to heal wounds
or cure of or protection against illness.
Some religions prohibit the wearing of medals or other images
of the saints because of the opinion that such practices permit
idolatry and draw faith away from God. The truth, in fact, is
just the opposite.
To devout Catholics the medal of a patron saint or a miraculous
medal is likened to the picture of someone dearly beloved, a family
member. Such replicas bring comfort in times of sorrow, fear or
anxiety. They are worn to show that person's faith in God and
the responsibility He entrusted the saint to intervene for that
person-or in the case of angels to protect that person. Some feel
wearing medals of patron saints or crucifixes or rosaries, or
carrying these items somewhere on their person, protects them
from illness or even bad luck. Some medals, rosaries and other
religious items actually carry the relics of the saint they represent.
In that case, being that miracles have been performed in order
for that saint to have been canonized, perhaps the comfort of
carrying a part of that saint, be it a hair or a sliver of bone
or piece of clothe, bears merit.
Most medals carry not only the image of the saint but also some
reminder or symbol that represents important instances in that
saint's life. Pictures of St. Rita most always portray her holding
a crucifix. Sometimes, in some St. Rita Pictures she carries a
crown of thorns because it is said she was kneeling in prayer
before a Crucifix when a thorn from that replica of the Suffering
Christ struck her in the forehead, rendering to her the Stigma
that bled for the remainder of her life. St. Rita pictures often
have roses and/or bees because miracles in her life directly involved
bees and roses.
Medals are not always worn as necklaces. They can be placed on
key chains, bracelets or carried individually. They vary in size
and can be made of nickel, silver, gold, pewter, plastic or wood.
Some are adorned with various crystals or other gemstones. Some
are plain. Some are elaborately carved. All of them can be blessed
and serve as a source of prayer invoking the saint they represent-or
in the case of a miraculous medal, the Blessed Mother Mary-to
intervene to God whether that be in praise, thanksgiving or a
request. Crosses are bare while a Crucifix displays an image of
the Suffering Christ. Both are symbols of Christ's triumph over
death and Our Father in Heaven's promise of gaining Heaven to
all humankind.
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