Recently Father Kevin spent the afternoon with Sally Boeckmann; a parishioner from Saints Peter & Paul, to harvest “Job’s Tear” seeds.

Job’s Tears are ancient seeds that grow into a natural teardrop shape that can be made into rosaries and chaplets.

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.

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. They can be harvested until late autumn.

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 seeds will turn a shiny grey with time. Sometimes they will darken the more you pray with them.