My Rosary chain turned gold

[Blue_Horizon]

I believe I experienced a miracle… The chains of my rosary turned from steel to gold. I dont know if this is due to over use or it really is a miracle… but it really does look gold. What does this mean? I just hope this isnt a warning of something bad coming up… Ive been using this same rosary to pray decades of the St Gertrude prayer as well… a sign of thanks from the Holy Souls perhaps?

LS prob the deeper question you could ask yourself is “why would I want this to be so?”

 

[BroomWagon]

All the same, let’s remember that metals oxidize, there’s such a thing as “tarnishing”.

http://silvertarnishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Fig23-Bart-Ag-voor-na-reiniging.jpg

The tarnish-removal method used in this experiment uses a chemical reaction to convert the silver sulfide back into silver. Many metals in addition to silver form compounds with sulfur. Some of them have a greater affinity for sulfur than silver does. Aluminum is such a metal. In this experiment, the silver sulfide reacts with aluminum. In the reaction, sulfur atoms are transferred from silver to aluminum, freeing the silver metal and forming aluminum sulfide. Chemists represent this reaction with a chemical equation.

3 Ag2S + 2 Al --/> 6 Ag + Al2S3
silver
sulfide aluminum silver aluminum
sulfide

 

[PrayRosary]

All the same, let’s remember that metals oxidize, there’s such a thing as “tarnishing”.

http://silvertarnishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Fig23-Bart-Ag-voor-na-reiniging.jpg

I wouldnt call that “Alchemy.”

 

[BroomWagon]

I wouldnt call that “Alchemy.”

I’m no expert, those might not be my choice of words too. We should remember too, I believe there are claims of whole Rosaries turning gold, I think there might be a youtube video and one time in Church this woman had her Rosary and said that happened but I wasn’t about to turn into Inspector Gadget there. Blue Horizon’s reflection is worth noting too a few posts up. I’ve heard similar before.

 

[John_of_Woking]

I had a Rosary from an unapproved apparition site turn gold. At first I thought it was a spiritual favour…then I realised…This could be demonic…

 

[BroomWagon]

I had a Rosary from an unapproved apparition site turn gold. At first I thought it was a spiritual favour…then I realised…This could be demonic…

I have Rosaries from 2 approved apparition sites, Knock and Lourdes. And I keep a plastic one held together by string, it might not look as impressive but it certainly is durable and long lasting.

 

[John_of_Woking]

I have Rosaries from 2 approved apparition sites, Knock and Lourdes. And I keep a plastic one held together by string, it might not look as impressive but it certainly is durable and long lasting.

Amen. I went to Lourdes for the first time in 2012 and bought a Rosary there. Now that is an APPROVED apparition site that I am honoured to attend.

 

[coco2]

My rosary changed from a silverish color to “gold”, I’d say it looks almost like a shiny new penny. I’m sure it has to do either with the silver rubbing off or maybe a chemical reaction from the outer coating hitting air or something. I’m not going to claim a 'miracle". I don’t remember Christ changing things colors. If there is going to be a miracle from God it would be something worthwhile. I’ve heard many times people claiming their rosaries turned gold, but haven’t ever heard of anyone getting this confirmed by a jeweler.

 

[Blue_Horizon]

I believe I experienced a miracle… The chains of my rosary turned from steel to gold. I dont know if this is due to over use or it really is a miracle… but it really does look gold. What does this mean? I just hope this isnt a warning of something bad coming up… Ive been using this same rosary to pray decades of the St Gertrude prayer as well… a sign of thanks from the Holy Souls perhaps?

Depending on the wire metal and the bead material, the chain weight can make up a significant proportion of the rosary’s weight.

Lets say its nickel or steel based. That’s 8 times heavier than water. If the beads are wooden (which floats on water) then the wire could be well over 25 times heavier than the beads for the same volume. In other words even though the wire seems small in size compared to the beads it may well make up 50% or more of the weight of the rosary.
Perhaps 15-25% if the beads are not wood.

The point is this. Gold is very very heavy. Around 2.5 times that of nickel/steel.

THEREFORE if your rosary wire turned to solid gold (surely Jesus isn’t so cheap as to just plate the wire) then one would expect the weight of your rosary to increase by around 10-50% more than previous. Most of us know exactly what the “weight feel” of our rosaries are because we hang them in our fingers/hands so often.

As the poster made no mention whatsoever of any perceived change in weight (even though a less noticeable gold patina was noticed) it seems there was none.

Therefore, unless new evidence comes to light, it seems the wire was silver coated brass.
The silver is wearing off.

 

[Teelynn]

LS prob the deeper question you could ask yourself is “why would I want this to be so?”

Excuse me for butting in, but the reason some times things like this happen is to boost ones faith. The Lord does do things like this at times to encourage and strengthen our faith. He realizes that we are so weak, and there are times that we need a little nudge, a little encouragement, and just a little confirmation. Not that this is a common occurrence, but I heard this explained by a Holy Priest. I liken miracles such as this to one of the great Eucharistic miracles where a Priest celebrating Mass that had problems believing in the real presence had the Host start to bleed in his hands at the consecration. (I believe this was in the 16th Century) It was proven scientifically that it was real human blood and if I’m not mistaken, also part of cardiac tissue? Anyway it is still on display. Jesus knows just how weak we are and just how much we sometimes struggle with our faith. Just a little glory from heaven to bolster us up.

 

[Gigglin4God]

This happens a lot to people who visit Medjugorie

I have one of these Rosaries and it was totally silver. My sister went there and brought all of our brothers and sisters, parents & grandparents. I don’t know about anyone else in. my family but not only the beads but the Crucifix turned gold. I know this is gold without taking out to a jeweler either. I’m accepting it because I feel God gives us signs when we need to feel He is near. I took my sister to the place that I used to go to for Adoration and I walked in with the overwhelming smell of roses. It kept intensifying so much I thought I was going to have to walk out. My sister said she didn’t smell a thing. So I have to believe that this is a sign. If you think I’m crazy then so be it. Don’t steal someone’s joy. Let them believe. It maybe the only thread of hope they have. God bless you all.

 

[Gerry49]

I believe I experienced a miracle… The chains of my rosary turned from steel to gold. I dont know if this is due to over use or it really is a miracle… but it really does look gold. What does this mean? I just hope this isnt a warning of something bad coming up… Ive been using this same rosary to pray decades of the St Gertrude prayer as well… a sign of thanks from the Holy Souls perhaps?

This happens a lot in Medugorje, we accept it as a little gift from Our Lady.

 

[Blue_Horizon]

Excuse me for butting in, but the reason some times things like this happen is to boost ones faith…

Not quite sure what I said to garner your ire TL?

Given that I think it is fairly obvious to many here that from the start that this is not a miracle it is natural to ask one-self the question why one would be so easily led to believe it was so in the first place.

For a wise person this is how we get insight into our own weaknesses. For example, if we criticise others only to regularly find we keep making assumptions that are incorrect … this points to something in us rather than the same old thing mysteriously in so many other people.

We all do this in one way or another and these ocassions are splendid opportunities for insight into our own unique weakness so we can work on improving them.

I am suggesting here that the OP may like to practice this ancient technique for himself.
This may be a one off mistake or it may indicate a character weakness of excessive desire e.g. fideism (excessive faith with too little thinking) or many other things. That is none of my business - that is why I suggested the OP try this on himself. I have no idea what the situation is, its not my business to judge particular cases.

Then again I may be completely wrong about the gold. If what I say doesn’t fit ignore it with confidence. .

 

[Gerry49]

I bought a rosary in Medugorje and it was just normal silver coloured chain, how long it was in the shop before being sold I don’t know. Towards the end of my week stay in Medugorje I was walking across the field praying the rosary, I do remember checking my beads to see which decade I was on and the beads were as they had been when I bought them but by the time I got to the last decade they had begun to change to a gold colour. I had heard of this kind of thing happening to other pilgrims. When I got home I did check with a jeweller and he said they were not real gold only gold in colour. I was disappointed in myself for not believing that it was a gift from Gospa. Over the years this has happened many times and I began to realise that the more I prayed with the rosary beads the darker the colour became. I’m no longer too proud to accept that Our Lady can give us little gifts in thanking us for our prayers. Why can’t she obtain little gifts for us from her Son when she has no trouble obtaining enormous gifts for us. At first this kind of thing only happened in Medugorje and possibly other shrines where people go to pray but now its happening all over the world. Just like the miracle of the spinning sun, it was first seen to my knowledge in Fatima, I seen it in Medugorje and now I see it regularly in Ireland. God is speaking to us through nature and whatever means at his disposal without interfering with our free will. His mother is His most powerful messenger. So she is changing the colour of rosary beads and other items, if it attraches our attention to her then why not.

 

[PrayRosary]

I bought a rosary in Medugorje and it was just normal silver coloured chain, how long it was in the shop before being sold I don’t know. Towards the end of my week stay in Medugorje I was walking across the field praying the rosary, I do remember checking my beads to see which decade I was on and the beads were as they had been when I bought them but by the time I got to the last decade they had begun to change to a gold colour. I had heard of this kind of thing happening to other pilgrims. When I got home I did check with a jeweller and he said they were not real gold only gold in colour. I was disappointed in myself for not believing that it was a gift from Gospa. Over the years this has happened many times and I began to realise that the more I prayed with the rosary beads the darker the colour became. I’m no longer too proud to accept that Our Lady can give us little gifts in thanking us for our prayers. Why can’t she obtain little gifts for us from her Son when she has no trouble obtaining enormous gifts for us. At first this kind of thing only happened in Medugorje and possibly other shrines where people go to pray but now its happening all over the world. Just like the miracle of the spinning sun, it was first seen to my knowledge in Fatima, I seen it in Medugorje and now I see it regularly in Ireland. God is speaking to us through nature and whatever means at his disposal without interfering with our free will. His mother is His most powerful messenger. So she is changing the colour of rosary beads and other items, if it attraches our attention to her then why not.

 

[dshix]

I believe I experienced a miracle… The chains of my rosary turned from steel to gold. I dont know if this is due to over use or it really is a miracle… but it really does look gold. What does this mean? I just hope this isnt a warning of something bad coming up… Ive been using this same rosary to pray decades of the St Gertrude prayer as well… a sign of thanks from the Holy Souls perhaps?

Take your rosary to someone experienced in working with precious metals. Speculation as to whether or not it looks like gold is pointless; you can find out if it is gold or not by just checking.

 

[SusanElisabeth]

…,mmm

 

[CSN]

I specifically searched for a thread like this on these forums.

I believe in God, the Catholic Church, and everything else - without a doubt.

However, when I heard about stories like rosaries turning into gold, I was always skeptical.

But this week, I saw something with my very own eyes.

My friends (a married couple) had 2 tiny statuettes of Mary which were silvery-white. The wife then said, one night when I visited “Hey, this looks like it turned to gold”.

And then the husband pulled his out of his tiny pouch, and - to our shock - it was also gold.

Since then, we have been asking other people whether the original color was silver or gold, and, not only the 3 of us, but also the giver of the statuettes, as well as an entire prayer group, had seen the statuettes before (they are memorable because they look kind of like little tiny Oscars), and everyone knew them to be silvery-white.

But these ones are now clearly gold.

It’s not a result of paint rubbing off or anything like that, because the entire statuette, deep into the tiniest crevices, are all gold.

Now, my friend took it to a jeweller and was told they were not gold, which is fine - gold color, fine.

But the fact is – and I saw this with my own eyes, and so did many other people – the silvery-white statuettes are now gold colored.

In addition, the giver of the statuettes, who has one remaining in his possession, confirmed that the one he has is silvery-white (I want them to actually compare the 2 colors side by side, and see that with my own eyes as well).

The only reasonable non-supernatural explanation is that my friends dipped it in paint or some oxidizer or something, but they are not frauds like that.

Anyway, a third party reading this may feel what I have felt before – that this is kind of bogus, or wishful thinking, or something entirely explainable.

But I saw this change with my own eyes, and to me, it is definitely supernatural.

Whether it is from God Himself or from Satan, I don’t know, but we will be thinking about this for a long time, and trying to interpret from whom it originates, and what it might mean…

I apologize to all. We had to check one more thing, and that was whether the store that sold these statuettes actually had gold ones in stock.

They did, which pretty much precludes any further serious contemplation of this matter.

I mean, there were several of us who firmly believed we saw them in silver when first presented, and they turned clearly into a gold color (I think that would be freaky enough, even if it were not real gold).

But because there is this alternative and entirely rational explanation, I have to bow out of this thread, with egg on my face.

Cheers, and I wish everyone a great Lenten season…!

CSN

 

[rieg14]

A priest gave me a rosary from Rome in September. I placed it on my dresser and have never used it. My husband was very ill during the late summer and early fall and I just did not pick the rosary up for prayer. I have had a strong faith but after losing my husband suddenly my focus became finding signs that we will actually be together again. I prayed about this at Christmas Day Mass yesterday. When I arrived home, that rosary (STERLING SILVER, by the way, not coated copper) had its crucifix and center medal turned to a golden color. Today segments of the chain are turning golden. It is not tarnish. This is a golden color.
I am at a loss as to what it means.

 

[GuyNextDoor]

A priest gave me a rosary from Rome in September. I placed it on my dresser and have never used it. My husband was very ill during the late summer and early fall and I just did not pick the rosary up for prayer. I have had a strong faith but after losing my husband suddenly my focus became finding signs that we will actually be together again. I prayed about this at Christmas Day Mass yesterday. When I arrived home, that rosary (STERLING SILVER, by the way, not coated copper) had its crucifix and center medal turned to a golden color. Today segments of the chain are turning golden. It is not tarnish. This is a golden color.
I am at a loss as to what it means.

Hello rieg

I started googling around abit and found this article. Hope it helps.

In its purest form, silver is too soft to be used for making rings and other jewelry. To combat this, jewelers add copper to silver to make it sturdier and improve its durability. Unfortunately, copper is reactive and known to discolor when exposed to certain compounds. In time, any sterling silver ring will darken – tarnish – as a result.

When the copper in silver reacts to the moisture in the air, your ring first develops a slight golden hue and then turns a dark color. In addition to airborne moisture, copper also reacts to acidic foods such as onions and chemicals like bleach, ammonia and chlorine. Exposure to these items cause silver to tarnish more quickly than it otherwise would. The acid in your sweat can also tarnish a sterling silver ring while it is on your finger. To clean away mild tarnish, submerse the ring in warm water that contains a mild dish washing detergent. Rub the ring gently with your fingers and then rinse it thoroughly. If the ring contains gemstones that would be harmed by submersing it in soapy water, use the solution to dampen a cotton swab and rub the ring with the swab. Store sterling silver jewelry you won’t be wearing for a while in a clean, airtight plastic bag. Heavily tarnished jewelry can be cleaned at home using a product specifically designed to clean sterling silver. Because silver is easily scratched, don’t use any abrasive cleaners on your ring.

Source: classroom.synonym.com/normal-sterling-silver-rings-change-colors-9181.html

…which actually brings to mind that some of my sterling silver turn to yellowish tones due to its contact with oxygen in a process called oxidization, and if I neglect them for a longer period of time, they turn dark to black later on.

But since I am not there to see it in person, I can only make that assumption. I would be careful not to attribute anything or everything that can be explained by nature and science as a miracle though, since I used to be guilty of that. I even had the hearts of Jesus and Mary on the back of my Miraculous Medal turn red, before they finally become black.