Say a Little Prayer With These Modern Rosary-Inspired Beads

May 4, 2018

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If prayer beads, rosaries, mala, mantra, and more were once reserved for religious worship (and early, rebellious Madonna—who can forget the rosary beads riddling her neck in the video for “Like a Virgin”?), recent odes on the runways from the likes of Gucci, Dolce Gabbana, and Alexander McQueen have fast-tracked versions of the sacramental ornaments into chic accessories. And while a conservative Catholic will still likely consider wearing rosary beads outside a religious environment to be sacrilege, in anticipation of the Met’s “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” we’re reconsidering (and reimagining) the blessed beads. “I aggressively collected crosses and rosaries from my travels when I was younger,” says Vogue Accessories Director Selby Drummond. “I didn’t quite understand that rosaries were not exactly meant to be worn as jewelry outside of prayer, but I loved the historical and emotional purpose behind them. And that, I believe, is always what jewelry should be about.” Amen to that.

So go ahead and sling New Age strands—from the more literal, like Diane Kordas’s agate rosary cross, to the more contemporary, like Carolina Bucci’s one-of-a-kind Recharmed necklace—that nod to the real deal ’round your neck. After all, in times like these, too many symbols of protection, meditation, and contemplation are not enough. Whether you’re religious, spiritual, or just living your life, shop these 13 necklaces that serve as pretty little reminders of an essential truth in life: You gotta have faith.