About Job’s Tears
About Job's Tears
Job’s Tears are ancient seeds that grow into a natural teardrop shape. We make them into rosaries and chaplets.
Home-Grown Job's Tears
An Ancient Seed
Artisans have made this ancient bead into jewelry since 3000 B.C. Job’s Tears (coix lacryma-jobi) are hard-shelled, woody seeds that grow in a natural teardrop shape. They have their name in memory of the many tears shed by Job in Old Testament times.
Our Garden
The plants look like a cross between corn and grass. It makes it difficult to weed them in the spring because the plants look so much like grass when they are young.
They grow to about six feet tall. We harvest them continually until late autumn.
All-Natural
We grow these seeds without the use of any products. As a result, we often have little friends in our garden. This sweet grasshopper posed for a photo.
Making Them Into Rosaries and Chaplets
How We Select Them
Since the seeds are natural, their appearance varies a little. We take time to match up the sizes, shapes, and colours for each rosary. We like variations in the shades of grey and beige because they add to the natural look of the rosary.
Seeds With Flaws
Damaged seeds are usually white or pale grey with a wrinkled texture. Some of our grey seeds can also have flaws like cracks or chips. We only choose seeds with durable, healthy shells to make rosaries.
What Makes Them Shiny?
A unique feature of these seeds is that the oils of the hands of the person praying with them make them shinier. For most people, rosaries made with our seeds will turn a shiny grey with time. Sometimes they will darken the more you pray with them. I have a friend whose rosary beads turned rich, chestnut brown.
A Saint's Favourite Rosary
St. Teresa of Calcutta
Job’s Tears grow wild in the ditches of tropical countries. Saint Teresa of Calcutta loved to pray with rosaries made from these seeds. She preferred them for their simplicity and humility. We can learn so much from the example of the saints.
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Not sure how to choose rosary beads? Bead type, size, and spacing change the finished look of a rosary. Click to learn more.
CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere, 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
The photo of St. Teresa of Calcutta praying is a free image from HiClipart.com.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet sources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
IN REVIEW
If the rosary has healthy seeds, they will get shiny as you pray with them. It is worth the extra effort to check over a rosary before you invest in it.
- Check the seeds carefully for cracks, chips or noticeable black spots.
- Avoid seeds with a wrinkled texture (from insect damage).
- Look for quality construction. Notice things like rounded loops.