I also take this occasion to invite you to explore the archives of this blog for other lengthy papers particularly one entitled "A Charism Illumined", also previously published by REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. Anyone curious about our foundress Maria Celeste Crostarosa (1696-1755) and St. Alphonsus de Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists, will also find in "The Hand of Grace" an informative study of their friendship and her influence with regard to the founding of his Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
A thoughtful woman in the world writing about spirituality, family, relationships, memories, art and craft, books and more...all from the Boomer Generation perspective and experience.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
An Invitation
I also take this occasion to invite you to explore the archives of this blog for other lengthy papers particularly one entitled "A Charism Illumined", also previously published by REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS. Anyone curious about our foundress Maria Celeste Crostarosa (1696-1755) and St. Alphonsus de Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists, will also find in "The Hand of Grace" an informative study of their friendship and her influence with regard to the founding of his Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
A Bit of History
The Origin, History and Meaning
Sr. Hildegard Magdalen Pleva, OSsR
“Receive this ring, for you are betrothed to the Eternal King; keep faith with your bridegroom so that you may come to the wedding feast of eternal joy.” (Foley, 183)
In the Rite of Solemn Religious Profession every Redemptoristine nun receives with these words a visible and lasting sign of her resolve “to live for God alone, in solitude and silence; in persevering prayer and willing penance, in humble work and holiness of life.” (OSsR Profession Formula) The nun responds in song, “My Lord Jesus Christ has betrothed me with this ring; and adorned me as his spouse.”
The presentation of profession rings to be worn as noticeable signs of commitment to vows of poverty, chastity and obedience is not at all unusual among orders and congregations of women religious. The profession ring of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer, however, bears a design that is unusual and strikingly meaningful in its symbolism. The top of the ring, what jewelers refer to as the bezel, is molded in the shape of clasped hands. The origin and history of this design was all but lost to most Redemptoristines by the 2006, two hundred and seventy-five years since the beginning of the Order. Those years saw the gradual spread of the Order to six continents and the adaptation of its small monasteries to a variety of times and cultures. Today’s monasteries are a far remove from the Neapolitan beginnings in the hillside town of Scala, Italy in 1731. The nuns in my own monastery could tell me nothing about their ring except that, to the best of their knowledge, it had been used from the earliest days of their founding. The design of the ring was not mentioned in the Rule approved for use in 1935 nor in the Constitutions and Statutes guiding the order since 1985.
A few years ago we were quite amazed to see a ring very similar to our own on the hand of a visitor to the monastery. Upon inquiry, we learned that the ring was a silver museum reproduction of a Roman betrothal ring. This was quite a revelation to us and provided initial direction for research begun months later at the approach of my own solemn profession. While anticipating reception of this powerful symbol of vows, I was motivated to begin a quest to determine the origin of our profession ring by surfing the Internet looking for documentation of the museum reproduction worn by our friend. Google, the powerful Internet search engine, led to most of the information contained here.
Jewelers and historians of artifacts refer to rings which bear the design of clasped hands as ‘fede rings’. The word fede comes from the Italian words mani in fede, meaning hands in trust. An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry offers a very complete description of the fede ring and its origin:
A type of finger ring, often worn as a betrothal or
form the bezel. They were usually made of silver
these were sometimes separated so that each of an
around the hoops. The term ‘fede’ is said to have
(Newman, 122)
In the late Middle Ages and particularly during the Renaissance there was an explosion of interest in everything associated with ancient Greece and Rome. The attraction to antiquity was not limited to the fields of philosophy, mathematics and literature but also extended to architecture and the decorative arts including jewelry and costume. The Roman clasped hands ring was reappropriated and achieved great popularity during the Renaissance as a betrothal ring. Its use continued into the 18th century. From the middle of sixteenth to the close of the seventeenth century, it was customary to inscribe inside the ring a motto or ‘posy’, frequently a very simple sentiment in commonplace rhyme such as ‘Our contract was heaven’s act’, or ‘God above increase our love’. These rings are still described as ‘posy rings’.
The findings of modern archaeology and the presence of rings bearing this design in museum collections confirm that their use was widespread geographically and popular for hundreds of years. Fede rings dating to the 12th and 13th centuries have been found in Britain. One example bears the inscription “I H S NAZARENVS” which is read as “Jesus of Nazareth”. The description of this ring in a publication of the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford, the oldest museum in England, includes the comment that “the name of Jesus was often invoked as a magical charm against certain ailments, such as muscular spasms.” (Ashmolean, 84) Given the focus here, it is tempting to consider an alternative possibility that the ring may have been worn by a nun. The Danish National Museum of Copenhagen has in its collection a fede ring dug from the ground in Alborg, Jutland which has been dated to the 16th century. The most charming find of the Internet search was record of the fede ring held by the British Maritime Museum in London. It is one of a pair exchanged by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) and Emma, Lady Hamilton (circa 1765-1815). It was worn by Nelson at the time of his death. Lady Hamilton’s ring is in the collection of the Royal Navel Museum, Portsmouth.
Perhaps the most curious reference to fede rings is found in the Canadian Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology. Carol Mason’s article describes rings found at archaeological sites of Jesuit missionary activity in North American in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Apparently the Jesuits used rings as part of their strategy to spread Christianity by using them in trade and in giving them as ritual symbols of conversion. A letter written by a missionary to his superior in Paris contains a list of necessary supplies. The list includes “six gross of finger rings.” (Mason, 4) Rings found at known Jesuit sites vary widely in design, including rings bearing royal portraits, crowns, fleur-de-lys or “the clasped hands”. (Mason, 1)
To bring this history well into our present time one must note the connection of the fede design to the traditional Claddagh ring so popular in Ireland and North America today. While a great deal of folklore and interpretation of symbols surround the origin of this design, many Irish historians and scholars of the decorative arts believe that the mani in fede design may be the direct ancestor of the Claddagh ring. The bezel of this ring bears a central heart shape supported by a hand on each side and is surmounted by a crown. It is said to have originated with Robert Joyce who learned the trade of goldsmith in Algiers and upon returning to his native town of Claddagh, Ireland in the late 17th century presented the first ring of this design to his childhood sweetheart.
Having traced the historical use of the fede design and cited evidence of its popularity through the centuries, it is necessary to consider the use of rings in religious profession rites and specifics of their use in the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer. Formalized rituals for the dedication of virgins originated in the early centuries of the Church. “The first of these which survives is a description of the dedication of Marcellina, the sister of Ambrose (d.397)…” (Foley, 14) This rite included the presentation of a ring and since the fourteenth century, most professed nuns and sisters are given rings as a sign of their complete dedication to Christ. (Murphy, 506)
In response to my query, Sr. Anna Maria Ceneri of the Redemptoristine community in Scala, Italy, first monastery of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer, provided informative documentation concerning the presentation of a ring at profession and the first use of the fede ring design by the Order.
The first clothing in the Order took place on the
Maria Celeste from Scala in 1733], the sisters
and fifty grana ”. The sisters paid 20 ducats and a
Kingdom of Two Sicilies.]
The ring has constantly been used since the time
the Foggia Codex I. [Note: These are the earliest
Mother Maria Celeste did wear a ring, because
Regarding the significance of the engraving,
This information anchors the traditional use of a mani in fede ring for presentation at profession in the very earliest days of the Order. The wide use of the fede ring in secular society as a symbol of the bonds of love and trust in marriage seems to have made this design a natural choice. Certainly the Dialogues of Maria Celeste Crostarosa, foundress of the Redemptoristines, are replete with spousal love imagery, imagery echoed in the Profession Rite itself. The traditional inscription in Redemptoristine rings, “Ego te sponsabo” (I will espouse you.), also follows a popular custom of the period, that of the posy ring. Betrothal and promise rings were frequently inscribed with a simple poetic line declaring love, fidelity, or friendship.
When asked about the use of this ring design in the Order, one Italian sister replied, “I always understood that it was the marriage ring of the time of Maria Celeste.” In Italy, even now, the simple word ‘fede’ is commonly used to refer to a wedding ring. This matrimonial symbol, this emblem of mutual trust, promise, commitment and donation of self would have been a most natural choice for Maria Celeste. However, it is clear in her Dialogues, the record of her mystical conversations with Jesus, that the spousal relationship meant in the symbol refers not only to that between the nun and Jesus, her beloved spouse. By the union of Jesus Christ with all of humanity in the Incarnation, the human enfleshment of the third person of the Trinity, anyone committed to and united with him is therefore to also be united to all of humanity. One cannot exist without the other. The consequence of true espousal to Jesus Christ, according to Celeste’s mystical insight, is to become another Christ. Excerpts from the first of her Dialogues written in 1724, seven years before the founding of the Order, clearly explain that to be espoused to the Son of God is to be espoused to all whom he loves.
If anyone should ask you who I am, answer that I am
to all souls…And since I am your spouse, you have been
espoused to all those souls who are mine.
(Crostarosa, 2, #3)
Since I have been long awaiting you in my heart…
deep in my heart for you…I extend my right hand
in my heart all of my creatures. And with a
them over to your care, my beloved, for they
(Crostarosa, 9, #14)
By union with Jesus Christ Redemptoristine nuns are to participate so fully in his nature that they become ‘living memories’; become transformed into his likeness in the way long-married couples begin to resemble each other and are able to complete their partner’s sentences in speaking.
For a Redemptoristine, the mani in fede ring she receives at solemn profession, is a sign of God’s promise uttered in Hosea 2:21-22:
I will espouse you to me forever:
I will espouse you in right and in justice;
I will espouse you in fidelity,
The clasped hands signify the mutuality of the promise. But the connection of two beings suggested by the design speaks also of the power of that primary relationship to affect all other relationships; that espousal to this ONE naturally means espousal to ALL in “mutual charity and union of hearts.” (Constitution, 7)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ashmolean Museum, Department of Antiquities. Treasure Annual Report 2002.
Oxford, England, 2002.
Ceneri, Sister Anna Maria. Response About the Ring. E-mail letter. Scala, Italy: Redemptoristine Monastery of Scala, 3/18/06.
Crostarosa, Maria Celeste. Dialogues. Trans. Rev. Joseph Oppitz. Esopus, NY: Redemptoristine Nuns, 1982.
Foley, Edward. Rites of Religious Profess: Pastoral Introduction and Complete Text.
Chicago, Illinois: Liturgy Training Publications, Inc., 1989.
McNamara, Jo Ann Kay. Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns Through Two Millenia.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1996.
Mason, Carol. “Jesuit Rings, Jesuits, and Chronology” Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology. Fall, 2003.
Murphy, F.X. “Rings” New Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. XII, p. 504. New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1967.
Newman, Harold. An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry. London: Thames and Hudson,
1981.
Order of the Most Holy Redeemer (OssR). Constitution and Statutes. Rome, Italy, 1985.
Shermak, R.M. “Religious Habit” New Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. XII, p. 286. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1967.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Celebrating "Little Christmas" - Renewing Vows
In the monthly round we come once again to the feast customary in our Order on the 25th of each month, "Little Christmas." It is the occasion on which we celebrate the great comfort and the unbelievable love of God who came into our midst and became one of us; who was like us in all things except sin. We will renew our solemn vows today at Mass where we will be joined by a large Filipino family commemorating the death of a loved one and also a group of Marist Brothers from their house of prayer and retreat center nearby. We hope that by our renewal of vows we will be witnessing to the focus of our lives and by that gesture affirm those sharing the Eucharist Feast with us in their own promises and commitments.
The words of Pope John Paul II resonate with me in the midst of the daily with its challenges and failures. His invitation to remember the immediacy of the call and the initial fervor of the response encourages me to "pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again."
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Ash Wednesday
Here at Mother of Perpetual Help Monastery we had a Mardi Gras supper last night to which we invited the Redemptorist priests from Mt. St. Alphonsus Retreat Center. It was a feast of pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit salad and King's cake (a New Orleans tradition). After the meal we watched through the dining room windows as last year's palms were burned into ashes in a small fires outdoors in preparation for today's rite. On this note and with the lights already dimmed our revelry came to an end in prayful singing of Ave Regina Caelorum.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Where Does Chastity Fit In?
Rite of Solemn Religious Profession
All Redemptoristine Nuns receive a ring at Solemn (final) profession. The Rite of Solemn Profession is replete with spousal imagery. Thus the ring and its unusual design. I will save its complete history for another time. In keeping with the pledge of life-long fidelity, the ring symbolizes the committed relationship. Originally a Roman betrothal ring, the design was re-appropriated during the Renaissance and remained popular for that purpose through the 18th century. The design is called "mani in fedi", hands in faith; for us, the clasped hands of the Spouse and the Beloved.