Bedes and Beads

A continuation of “Pray Without Ceasing”

Since Lent is the time to especially renew our dedication to prayer, let us consider a prayer so familiar to us that we almost take it for granted: the Lord’s Prayer.

For many centuries it was the practice of fervent Christians to perpetually recite the Lord’s prayer, often using a string of beads to remind them to keep praying. In fact, our word “bead” comes from “bede” which means to pray or petition. So popular was this practice that an entire street in London consisted of shops selling those beads–hence its name of Paternoster Row, Paternoster being Latin for “Our Father.”

Also in those centuries it was common practice for many among the aristocracy and wealthy people to be accompanied at all times by a “bede-man” who stood by them and constantly prayed the Lord’s Prayer silently, which was considered an invocation of the entire range of spiritual blessings needed by human beings. In some orders, such as the early Carmelites, a certain number of repetitions of the Lord’s Prayer were done in place of the formal hours of the Divine Office. And pious laity often followed the same practice–especially those who had no books from which to read the prayers and psalms of the Office.

“Now is the acceptable time,” as Saint Paul says. For those who wish to adopt the practice of “bede-ing,” we recommend the Paster Noster prayer cords, made for Monastery Icons by the Solitaries of DeKoven, available in olive wood beads or green beads, patterned after the prayer cords that originated in Ireland in the 8th Century.

Free Shipping This Weekend at Monastery Icons

Monastery Icons is offering Free Shipping from now through midnight on Monday, November 28th. Order today and save on your Christmas Shopping! See our email flyer here.

See our new Chrismas Glass Suncatcher, our most popular Christmas icon in a 7″ X 9″ suncatcher, with a stand for desk display and a chain for window hanging.

To get your FREE SHIPPING use coupon code 3202 when checking out on the web, or when phoning in orders at 800-729-4952. Free shipping in USA only.

Get $10 off every web order — this week only!

Get $10 off every web order — this week only! A perfect way to aquaint yourselves with our new products, such as this beautiful ceramic icon tile. Use Coupon Code 3106 at checkout to get your discount. Offer ends midnight on Friday.

New items include Queen of Angels Wall Hangings, our Holy Spirit Dove Wall Hanging, Handpainted Wooden Ball Christmas Ornaments, Christ and the Children Embossed Icon, Saint Francis Ceramic Tile, and much more. Visit our new products page to see them all.

Saint Maria Goretti, Icon of Purity

The latest addition to the Monastery Icons collection of saints’ portraits is this new icon of Saint Maria Goretti, created at the suggestion and request of a subscriber to our monthly e-letter. She carries the palm of martyrdom and lilies, the symbol of purity in sacred art.

Born in Italy in 1890, Maria grew up in a family of poor sharecroppers. The family’s search for work led them to the western coast of Italy, where shortly after her father died of malaria.

Her 19-year-old neighbor Allesandro became infatuated with the young girl and propositioned her several times, to no avail. On July 5, 1902 he could control himself no longer and made sexual advances to the young girl, who struggled as he strangled her and rebuffed him shouting “No! It is sin! God does not want it!” Allesandro’s lust transformed to violent anger and he stabbed Maria fourteen times with a long knife.

Doctors struggled in vain to save her life. She underwent surgery without anesthesia, and halfway through the surgery woke up. She insisted it stay that way. The hospital pharmacist asked Maria “Think of me in Paradise.” “Who knows which of us is going to be there first,” she said, looking at the old man. “You, Maria,” he replied. “Then I will gladly think of you,” she said. After twenty painful hours of suffering during which she forgave and prayed for her attacker, Maria passed to heavenly life fortified by the Last Sacraments, her last earthly gaze resting upon a picture of the Blessed Virgin.

One of the youngest canonized saints of the Catholic Church, Maria was pronounced a saint by Pope Pius XII fifty years later in 1950. Saint Maria’s mother and her murderer attended the canonization ceremony together. Calling her a “Saint Agnes of the 20th century,” the pope proposed her as a patroness of modern youth, and since then she has been venerated as icon of purity and the patron of young women and victims of rape. Half a million people attended the ceremony outside of Saint Peter’s Basilica, When the pope asked them, “Young people, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of the grace of God?” the resounding answer was “YES!”

After thirty years of hard labor, Allesandro was released and visited Maria’s mother, asking her pardon and accompanying her to Christmas Mass in the parish church where before the hushed congregation he acknowledged his sin and asked God’s forgiveness and the pardon of the community. He became a laybrother at a Capuchin monastery, working as its receptionist and gardener until his death in 1970.

This new Monastery Icons is available in our full range of icon sizes and formats, from 4 inches to 5 feet tall at MonasteryIcons.com.

We have mailed our new Fall 2011 Monastery Icons Catalogs, which should arrive in your mailbox soon, featuring over 80 new items: ceramic tiles, enamel icons, statues, Christmas ornaments, wall hangings, and MORE. If you haven’t yet received it, you can see it online in our “virtual catalog” version at MonasteryIcons.com.

80 New items from Monastery Icons

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Inspirational Plaque

The new catalog from Monastery Icons has been mailed containing 80 new items. Pictured is the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Inspirational Plaque, part of a new collection of sacred art from Monastery Icons featuring some of our most beloved icons, with quotes from the saint or the scriptures, set in ornamental border designs patterned after stained glass. Also included in the new catalog are icon jewelry, statues, stained glass, and much more, in addition to our many favorites carried over from previous catalogs. You can view our virtual version of our catalog, or see all of our new items at MonasteryIcons.com.

On another note, we are working on creating a Monastery Icons Facebook page, where you can connect with us, and where we hope to provide new and interesting content.