Ecclesiastical ring,18th century

An Ecclesiastical ring is a finger ring worn by a clergyman, such as a Bishop's ring. A finger ring is a metal band worn as an ornament around a finger; it is the most common current meaning of the word ring. ...

Historical antecedents

Although the surviving ancient rings, proved by their devices, provenance etc. to be of Christian origin, are fairly numerous (See Fortnum in "Arch. Journ.", XXVI, 141, and XXVIII, 275), we cannot in most cases identify them with any liturgical use. Christians no doubt, just like others, wore rings in accordance with their station in life, for rings are mentioned without reprobation in the New Testament (Luke 15:22, and James 2:2). The Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament, which tell the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. ... The Epistle of James is a book in the Christian New Testament canon. ...

St. Clement of Alexandria (Paed., III, c. xi) says that a man might lawfully wear a ring on his little finger, and that it should bear some religious emblem --a dove for the Holy Spirit, a fish (ichthys) for Christ or an anchor. On the other hand, Tertullian, St. Cyprian and the Apostolic Constitutions (I, iii) protest against the ostentation of Christians in decking themselves with rings and gems. In any case the Acts of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas (c. xxi), about the beginning of the third century, mention the martyr Saturus took a ring from the finger of Pudens, a soldier who was looking on, and gave it back to him as a keepsake, covered with his own blood. Clement of Alexandria (Titus Flavius Clemens), was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and one of its most distinguished teachers. ... Subfamilies see article text Feral Rock Pigeon beside Weiming Lake, Peking University Pigeons and doves are some 300 species of near passerine birds in the order Columbiformes. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... A stocked ships anchor. ... Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicized as Tertullian, (ca. ... Saint Cyprian (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus) (died September 14, 258) bishop of Carthage and an important early Christian writer, was born probably at the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent pagan education; having converted to Christianity, he became a bishop (249... GEM is an acronym for: Gas Electron Multiplier Gender Empowerment Measure Generalized Empirical Method — from Bernard Lonergan, also known as critical realism Genetically Engineered Microorganism Global Electric Motorcars Globally Executable MHP Goddard Earth Model — a model of the Earths gravity field Graphical Environment Manager — a windowing system created by...

Episcopal rings

Knowing that in the pagan days of Rome every flamen Dialis (a pagan priest specially consecrated to the worship of Jupiter) had, like the senators, the privilege of wearing a gold ring, it would not be surprising to find evidence in the fourth century that rings were worn by Christian bishops. But the various passages that have been appealed to as proof are either not authentic or inconclusive. St. Augustine of Hippo indeed speaks of his sealing a letter with a ring (Ep. ccxvii, in P.L., XXXIII, 227), but on the other hand his contemporary Possidius expressly states that Augustine himself wore no ring (P.L., XXXII, 53), whence we are led to conclude that the possession of a signet does not prove the use of a ring as part of the episcopal insignia. However, in a Decree of Pope Boniface IV (A.D. 610) we hear of monks raised to the episcopal dignity as anulo pontificali subarrhatis, while at the Fourth Council of Toledo, in 633, we are told that if a bishop has been deposed from his office and afterwards reinstated, he is to receive back stole, ring and crosier (orarium, anulum et baculum). St. Isidore of Seville at about the same period couples the ring with the crosier and declares that the former is conferred as "an emblem of the pontifical dignity or of the sealing of secrets" (P.L., LXXXIII, 783). From this time forth it may be assumed that the ring was strictly speaking an episcopal ornament conferred in the rite of consecration, and that it was commonly regarded as emblematic of the betrothal of the bishop to his church. In the eighth and ninth centuries in Manuscripts of the Gregorian Sacramentary and in a few early Pontificals (e.g., that attributed to Archbishop Egbert of York) we meet with various formulae for the delivery of the ring. The Gregorian form, which survives in substance to the present, runs in these terms: "Receive the ring, that is to say the seal of faith, whereby thou, being thyself adorned with spotless faith, mayst keep unsullied the troth which thou hast pledged to the spouse of God, His holy Church." The Flamen Dialis was an important position in Roman religion. ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ... St. ... Saint Possidius (5th century) was Bishop of Calama in the Roman province of Numidia, author of a short life of Saint Augustine of Hippo and of an indiculus or list of St. ... Boniface IV was pope from 608 to 615. ... The stole (a liturgical vestment of various Christian denominations) is an embroidered band of cloth, formerly usually of silk, about two and one-half to three metres long and seven to ten centimetres wide, whose ends are usually broadened out. ... Saint Isidore of Seville (Spanish: or ) (c. ... Crosiere of arcbishop Heinrich of Finstingen, 1260-1286 A crosier (crozier, pastoral staff) is the stylized staff of office carried by high-ranking Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and some Lutheran prelates. ... Pontifical, from the Latin pontificalis, is an adjective used to describe anything connected with the office of a prelate, usually a bishop or an abbot. ...

The ideas of the seal (signet ring), indicative of discretion, and of 'conjugal' fidelity dominate the symbolism attaching to the ring in nearly all its liturgical uses. The latter idea was pressed so far in the case of bishops that we find ecclesiastical decrees enacting that "a bishop deserting the Church to which he was consecrated and transferring himself to another is to be held guilty of adultery and is to be visited with the same penalties as a man who, forsaking his own wife, goes to live with another woman" (Du Saussay, "Panoplia episcopalis", 250). Perhaps this idea of espousals helped to establish the rule, of which we hear already in the ninth century, that the episcopal ring was to be placed on the fourth finger (i.e., that next the little finger) of the right hand. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

As the pontifical ring had to be worn on occasion over the glove, it is a common thing to find medieval specimens large in size and proportionately heavy in execution. The inconvenience of the looseness thus resulting was often met by placing another smaller ring just above it as a keeper (see Lacy, "Exeter Pontifical", 3). As the pictures of the medieval and Renaissance periods show, it was formerly quite usual for bishops to wear other rings along with the episcopal ring; indeed the existing "Caeremoniale episcoporum" (Book II, viii, nn. 10-11) assumes that this is still likely to be the case. Custom prescribes that a layman or a cleric of inferior grade on being presented to a bishop should kiss his hand, that is to say his episcopal ring, but it is a popular misapprehension to suppose that any indulgence is attached to the act. Episcopal rings, both at an earlier and later period, were sometimes used as receptacles for relics. St. Hugh of Lincoln had such a ring which must have been of considerable capacity. (On investiture by ring and staff see Conflict of Investitures.) German Chancellor Angela Merkel is greeted with a hand kiss by French President Jacques Chirac Hand-kissing is a ritual of greeting and respect. ... In Latin Catholic theology, an indulgence is the remission granted by the Church of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven by God. ... A relic is an object, especially a piece of the body or a personal item of someone of religious significance, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial, Relics are an important aspect of Buddhism, some denominations of Christianity, Hinduism, shamanism, and many other personal belief systems. ...

Other clerical rings

Besides bishops, many other ecclesiastics are privileged to wear rings. The pope of course is the first of bishops, but he does not habitually wear the signet ring distinctive of the papacy and known as "the Ring of the Fisherman", but usually a simple cameo, while his more magnificent pontifical rings are reserved for solemn ecclesiastical functions. The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. ... The Ring of the Fisherman or Pescatorio is an official part of the regalia worn by the pope, described by the Roman Catholic Church (of which he is the head) as the successor of Saint Peter, a fisherman by trade. ... 2002 Lincoln cent, obverse, proof with cameo Cameo is a method of carving, or an item of jewelry made in this manner. ...

Cardinals also wear rings independently of their grade in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The ring belonging to the cardinalitial dignity is conferred by the pope himself in the consistory in which the new cardinal is named to a particular "title". It is of small value and is set with a sapphire, while it bears on the inner side of the bezel the arms of the pope conferring it. In practice the cardinal is not required to wear habitually the ring thus presented, and he commonly prefers to use one of his own. The privilege of wearing a ring has belonged to cardinal-priests since the time of Innocent III or earlier (see Sägmüller, "Thatigkeit und Stellung der Cardinale", 163). A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the College of Cardinals which as a body elects a new pope. ... // Antiquity Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply sitting together, just as the Greek syn(h)edrion (from which the Biblical sanhedrin was a corruption). ... For other uses, see Sapphire (disambiguation). ... Cardinal Priests are the most numerous of the three orders of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church. ... Innocent III, né Lotario de Conti ( 1161–June 16, 1216), was Pope from January 8, 1198 until his death. ...

Abbots in the earlier Middle Ages were permitted to wear rings only by special privilege. A letter of Peter of Blois in the twelfth century (P.L., CCVII, 283) shows that at that date the wearing of a ring by an abbot was apt to be looked upon as a piece of ostentation, out in the later Pontificals the blessing and delivery of a ring formed part of the ordinary ritual for the consecration of an abbot, and this is still the case at the present day. On the other hand: there is no such ceremony indicated in the blessing of an abbess, though certain abbesses have received, or assumed, the privilege of wearing a ring of office. Abbots coat of arms The word abbot, meaning father, has been used as a Christian clerical title in various, mainly monastic, meanings. ... Peter of Blois (1135 (?) - 1203 (?)) was a French poet and diplomat who wrote in Latin. ...

The ring is also regularly worn by certain other minor prelates, for example prothonotaries apostolic, but the privilege cannot be said to belong to canons as such (B. de Montault, "Le costume, etc.", I, 170) without special indult (papal favor). In any case such rings cannot ordinarily be worn by these minor prelates during the celebration of Mass. The prothonotary is the chief court clerk in certain courts of law in certain Anglo-American jurisdictions, including the American states of Pennsylvania and Delaware, the Federal Court of Canada, and the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. ... A canon (from the Latin canonicus and Greek κανωνικωσ relating to a rule) is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to a rule (canon). ... A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ... Unsolved problems in physics: What causes anything to have mass? Mass is a property of a physical object that quantifies the amount of matter and energy it is equivalent to. ...

Other Christian rings

The same restriction applies to the ring which is conferred as part of the insignia of the doctorate either of theology or of canon law.

The plain rings worn by certain orders of nuns and conferred upon them in the course of their solemn profession, according to the ritual provided in the Roman Pontifical appear to find some justification in ancient tradition. St. Ambrose (P.L., XVII, 701, 735) speaks as though it were a received custom for virgins consecrated to God to wear a ring in memory of their betrothal to their heavenly Spouse. This delivery of a ring to professed nuns is also mentioned by several medieval Pontificals, from the twelfth century onwards.

Wedding rings, or more strictly, rings given in the betrothal ceremony, seem to have been tolerated among Christians under the Roman Empire from a quite early period. The use of such rings was of course of older date than Christianity, and there is not much to suggest that the giving of the ring was at first incorporated in any ritual or invested with any precise religious significance. But it is highly probable that, if the acceptance and the wearing of a betrothal ring was tolerated among Christians, such rings would have been adorned with Christian emblems. Certain extant specimens, more particularly a gold ring found near Arles, belonging apparently to the fourth or fifth century, and bearing the inscription, Tecla vivat Deo cum marito seo [suo], may almost certainly be assumed to be Christian espousal rings. A wedding ring or wedding band consists of a precious metal ring, usually worn on the base of the left ring finger – the fourth finger (counting from the thumb) of the left hand. ... Betrothal is a formal state of engagement to be married. ...

In the coronation ceremony to, it has long been the custom to deliver both to the Sovereign and to the queen consort a ring previously blessed. Perhaps the earliest example of the use of such a ring is in the case of Judith, the step-mother of king Alfred the Great , but is unclear whether that ring was bestowed upon the queen in virtue of her dignity as queen consort or of her nuptials to Ethelwulf. The coronation of Empress Farah, of Iran in 1967. ... Look up Sovereign in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The adjective sovereign is used to refer to a state of sovereignty. ... King George V of the United Kingdom and his consort, Queen Mary A queen consort is the wife and consort of a reigning king. ... Alfred (also Ælfred from the Old English: Ælfrēd) (c. ... Ethelwulf was the elder son of King Egbert of Wessex. ...

Rings have also occasionally been used for other religious purposes.

• At an early date the small keys which contained filings from the chains of St. Peter seem to have been welded to a band of metal and worn upon the finger as reliquaries.
• In more modern times rings have been constructed with ten small knobs or protuberances, and used for saying the rosary.

For the band Reliquary, click here. ... Our Lady of Lourdes - Mary appearing at Lourdes with Rosary beads. ...

Source

• This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. Rings