Wearing my medals and crucifix

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I have noticed that I don’t see people wearing their medals outside their clothing (like you would jewelry.) I have a miraculous medal with small St. Michael medal with tiny cross w/sentimental value which I wear on one chain and then a rather large gold crucifix which hangs below my chest level. They are hard to miss!

I saw one lady at one of the more traditional churches eyeball my jewelry with a look like a cross between amusement and disapproval. However at another parish I attended, I noticed a lot of other people - men in particular - also displaying large crucifixes outside their shirts.

I’m just wondering if this is bad taste on my part? I feel I shouldn’t be ashamed to hide my devotion to Jesus by displaying the crucifix or to Mary with my medals. But I seem to be only one at my church. When I do see someone wearing something, it is usually a small, cross, near collar bone which is not that noticeable. Mine is rather conspicuous.

Should I care? Maybe there is no answer really. Just curious.
 
Perhaps the medals draw undue attention to other physical attributes?
 
I wore my gold crucifix outside my shirt for years then took it off for a while thinking the necklace would fall off (which it did once; somehow I caught it in time not to lose it). Now I wear my religious medals inside the shirt. I figure we’re better off showing we’re Christian by the way we act, not by something others see us wear. I also have two medals on there at the moment which might look odd.
godisgood77 said:
Perhaps the medals draw undue attention to other physical attributes?
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Heh.
 
I feel like when I hide them, I am being ashamed.

Luke 9:26-28

26 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

And a more practical reason is they get so tangled up with the scapular, that sometime when I need to take a shower, its especially frustrating if I’m late as it can take 5 or 10 minutes to untangle them to get my scapular off.
 
I wear my scapular with some medals inside of my shirt, but I don’t go anywhere without wearing my crucifix outside of my shirt.

It’s a sterling silver “Pardon Crucifix”, and it’s about 2" tall. It’s on a very short chain, so it hangs just below my neck. As a former professional athlete and coach, I’ve found that a short chain works best for me. It prevents the crucifix from swinging or bouncing up and hitting me in the face while being active.

I’ll never hide the fact that I’m a faithful Catholic, and wearing my crucifix has provided many opportunities to evangelize.
 
There is no right and wrong answer to this.

I wear mine inside mostly for practical reasons. When its outside my shirt, they tend to move about when I walk around and I would need to keep doing adjustments all the time. When I play sports I take my crucifix off completely when I play football and sports in general. It can bounce about too much and impede movement and when some opponents get too physical they can indadvertedly bump into you and yank your chain, causing a rather painful collision.
 
I wear my religious medals and other Catholic jewelry all the time.
I don’t care what anyone thinks.
I’m proud to be Catholic.
Once, our priest went to a department store to buy a sterling crucifix on a chain for his niece who was being Confirmed. The clerk asked him if he wanted a shiny cross or
“the one with the little man on it”.
You’d better believe he schooled her on what a crucifix is.
I’ve done similarly in situations as it comes up.

Do as you feel comfortable and God bless you.
 
I check my on conscience with things like that because of Our Lord’s comments in Matt.23:5. Often times He points out how we have to be careful not to get caught up into spiritual pride and arrogance like the leaders of His time.

" All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels."
 
I always wear my four way gold medal on a bit longer chain, a filigree miraculous medal a bit shorter and a small Byzantine crucifix on a short chain all on the outside of my clothes, unless Im wearing something to dressy which is maybe once a year or so, then I wear them inside. I usually get complements on my "jewelry". Beside many of my friends and church members wear theirs openly. I dont care what other people think. I am not ashamed of my religion.
 
Rae8 said:
I have noticed that I don’t see people wearing their medals outside their clothing (like you would jewelry.) I have a miraculous medal with small St. Michael medal with tiny cross w/sentimental value which I wear on one chain and then a rather large gold crucifix which hangs below my chest level. They are hard to miss!

I saw one lady at one of the more traditional churches eyeball my jewelry with a look like a cross between amusement and disapproval. However at another parish I attended, I noticed a lot of other people - men in particular - also displaying large crucifixes outside their shirts.

I’m just wondering if this is bad taste on my part? I feel I shouldn’t be ashamed to hide my devotion to Jesus by displaying the crucifix or to Mary with my medals. But I seem to be only one at my church. When I do see someone wearing something, it is usually a small, cross, near collar bone which is not that noticeable. Mine is rather conspicuous.

Should I care? Maybe there is no answer really. Just curious.
Click to expand...
I have always worn my Crucifix & Miraculous Medal outside of my blouse or dress. I’m happy displaying my faith.
 
You just keep on wearing those medals and that crucifix, and do it with no sense of shame.

One of the major problems we have is people not wearing religious medals or crosses. It is as if they are afraid to display their beliefs. I honestly wish that women in religious orders would go back to wearing habits. That they stopped doing so has not been a good thing.
 
Rae8 said:
I feel like when I hide them, I am being ashamed.
/QUOTE

I wear my small, silver miraculous medal and crucifix on the same chain. They are not expensive and I don’t worry about losing them.
At times, I have also been shy to wear them publicly. But I will tell you that a coworker knew I was ‘religious’ and asked me for advice. We are called to promote the gospel. I don’t preach to people unsolicited, but it’s a nice way to make ourselves available - a conversation starter.
Click to expand...
 
I thought that medals are usually worn under clothing. In my family we did and my 4 year-old does the same.

It’s certainly no rule though.
 
Man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks upon the heart. 1st. Samuel 16:7
If you are wearing it for the right reasons then anyone who thinks otherwise has the Lord to deal.

I was not born Catholic, I was in a very anti-Catholic “Christian” church. And one of the most refreshing things I learned about the Church was how non- demeaning and judging they are of others.

There is a reason why they are called Protestants-and most of them don’t even know it- they are taught from birth to Protest the Catholic church and all its ways. Others just like to make fun or judge because of habit- they do it because that is what they do- rather sad when you stop to think about it. And personally I think nuns should wear a more traditional habit too, its one of the things I loved about the order I worked with as a youth.

Anyway, I say that all to say this… if you love the Lord and you are wearing it to bring peace to your heart and as a devotion to Him- then go for it- if it’s a quiet way to say "look at ME, I’m being a ‘good’ Catholic, then its time to redirect the focus. 🙂 Which is easy to do as a female. Our culture teaches us to “dress” because people (men) look.
 
Hi. I’m new to the forum, and already I have a question.

A friend game me a nice Sterling crucifix and a St. Michael’s medal. They’re on the same necklace (24" continuous Stainless Steel).

My question: each is now hanging from its own ring, so they can move along the chain somewhat independently of each other. Is it more common to keep them like this, or suspend them from the same (presumably slightly larger) ring? What do you guys do?

(My grandmother gave me, a long time ago (maybe for confirmation?), a 24" gold chain with a gold St. Michael’s and a gold St. Christopher’s medal hanging from the same ring (so they love together)…but back-to-back. They’ve never been soldered together, but maybe they should be! I have worn this necklace since I received it (showers and sleeping included) because it reminds me of my grandmother, who’s been dead many years, as well as the example of St. Michael and St. Christopher.)

Thanks for any help.

Arthur
 
We are laity and not priests or consecrated/vowed religious. As such, we should avoid garb. My personal preference is to keep my scapular and medal inside my shirt. I have no objections to those who wear a tasteful cross or crucifix, but walking around with a huge pectoral cross strikes me as ridiculous. Let our actions rather than our attire indicate that we are followers of Jesus Christ.
 
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