+ When prayers turn silver rosaries golden

The phenomenon of the transformation of silver links of rosaries turning golden immediately after prayerful Christian gatherings is not as uncommon as it might seem. In Medjugorje and other apparition sites, it appears to be a very regular occurrence.

My mother has such a rosary. It was one of three that she purchased for herself and others, in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes. Its metal parts were silver until she met and prayed with Ruth Werkowski, one day. (For more on Ruth, click  HERE,  HERE, and  HERE.) Ruth took the rosary into her hands and prayed. The next time my mother examined it, the links had all turned golden. It was a day in which they even found that the fragrant scent that signals Our Lady's presence returned when they were in their car.

After six years, or so, my mother's Our Lady of Lourdes rosary is the only one of the three that has golden links.


Since then, my mother has often shown friends that her rosary links "turned to gold." However, whenever she would make that claim, I would correct her, saying that we don't know whether it is truly gold or just golden in color. It really should not matter. Just as it does not matter whether Escarchas (reported on HERE and HERE.) truly consists of precious stones and metals, the phenomena of "God's glitter" appearing and silver rosaries turning golden seem miraculous, nonetheless.

That brings me to my rosary. It was a gift from my mother, a rosary that not only reminds one to seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin but also that of the stigmatist Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio). My rosary's links were silver, that is, until I celebrated a miraculous Mass that was attended by Carmelo Cortez. (For more on  the miracles of Carmelo Cortez, click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.)

Recently, my wife and I decided to cash in on some jewelry that she rarely wore. I took the items to an experienced local gold dealer who impressed me with his ability to analyze and identify which were stainless steel, sterling silver, gold plated or solid gold. After evaluating magnified scrapings that he had treated with chemicals, he also specified the carat purity of each gold piece.

A few days later, I returned to him with more gold jewelry and decided to let him evaluate my rosary. I didn't tell him anything about the golden links and just handed it over for testing with the other jewelry. After he applied chemicals to the scrapings, he returned it to me saying something like, "Sorry, it's just gold plated."

Of course, that was not bad news for me. I was pleasantly surprised. But I wanted to be sure, so I asked, "It's not just tarnished links?" He assured me, "No, it's gold plated."

That allowed me an opportunity to describe the history of my rosary to the dealer and two interested people in the shop. I was pleased to share with them how common miracles have become in places like Medjugorje. They seemed pleased to hear the good news.

Perhaps that is why I have been given this "little miracle." Though my faith does not require signs and wonders, maybe the fact that I am willing to spread these stories is why I have been blessed with miraculous manifestations of God's love.