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Gold ring engraved inside with Prayer of Saint Zacharias, approx. 20K, size 7-1/2, ex-1715 Fleet.

Currency:USD Category:Artifacts / Shipwreck Artifacts Start Price:2,800.00 USD Estimated At:3,500.00 - 7,000.00 USD
Gold ring engraved inside with Prayer of Saint Zacharias, approx. 20K, size 7-1/2, ex-1715 Fleet.
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This item SOLD at 2022 May 05 @ 21:33UTC-4 : AST/EDT
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Gold ring engraved inside with Prayer of Saint Zacharias, approx. 20K, size 7-1/2, ex-1715 Fleet. 2.84 grams. Among the many jewels recovered from the 1715 Fleet (both by salvors and on the beach) were three gold rings plus one gold bracelet that all bore mysterious engraved crosses and letters, which we have deciphered to be what is known as the Prayer of Saint Zacharias, a divine intercession against the Black Death, from a collection of prayers against plague recorded by Saint Zacharias (d. 116 AD), preserved by Spanish monks, and approved by the Council of Trent in 1546. In our own time (even used to ward off COVID-19!) more typically we see the abbreviated prayer on double-armed crosses. The inscription inside this ring reads +Z+DIA+BIZ+SAB+Z+HG+F+BFS (see below for full text of this prayer). This ring, like the others found, is fairly large for the period and bears a little crease where the thin band was fused after engraving, but in fact it is pristine and as bright in gold as the day it was lost, all the various letters and crosses very sharp and clear. The outside bears no engraving nor ornamentation. XRF: 85% gold, 7% silver. From the 1715 Fleet.

+ O Cross of Christ, save me.

Z. May zeal for your house free me.

+ The Cross conquers; the Cross reigns; the Cross rules; by the sign of the Cross free me, O Lord, from this plague.

D. God, my God, drive this plague away from me, and from this place, and free me.

I. Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, my heart, and my body.

A. Before heaven and earth, God was; and God is able to liberate me from this plague.

+ The Cross of Christ is able to expel the plague from this place and from my body.

B. It is good to wait for the help of God in silence, that he may drive away this plague from me.

I. I will incline my heart to performing your just deeds, and I will not be confounded, for I have called upon you.

Z. I had zeal on occasion of the wicked; seeing the peace of sinners, I have hoped in you.

+ The Cross of Christ puts demons and corrupt air† to flight and drives away the plague.

S. I am your salvation, says the Lord; cry out to me, and I will hear you, and I will liberate you from this plague.

A. Abyss calls to abyss, and you have expelled demons by your voice; liberate me from this plague.

B. Blessed the man who hopes in the Lord, and does not look upon vanities, and false extravagances.

+ May the Cross of Christ, which was once the cause of scandal and indignity, and is now in glory and nobility, be for my salvation, and expel from this place the demon, and corrupt air†, and plague from my body.

Z. May zeal for the honor of God convert me before I die, and in your name, save me from this plague.

+ May the sign of the Cross free the people of God, and those who trust in him, from the plague.

H. Will this foolish people return to the Lord? Make good on your vows, offering a sacrifice of praise and faith to him, because he is able to liberate this place and me, from this plague; for whoever trusts in him will not be confounded.

G. If I will not praise you, let my tongue stick to my throat and to my jaws; free those who hope in you; in you I trust; liberate me and this place, O God, from this plague, for your name has been invoked in prayer.

F. At your death, O Lord, darkness fell over the whole earth; my God, render the power of the devil tenuous and dim, for it is for this that you have come, O Son of the living God: so that you might destroy the works of the devil. With your power, drive out from this place and from me, your servant, this plague; and may the corrupt air† depart from me into the outer darkness.

+ Defend us, O Cross of Christ, and expel from this place the plague, and free your servant from this plague, you who are kind, and merciful, and of many mercies, and true.

B. Blessed is he who does not look upon vanities, and false extravagances; on the day of evil the Lord will free him; Lord, I have trusted in you; free me from this plague.

F. God has become my refuge; because I have trusted in you, free me from this plague.

R. Look upon me, O Lord my God, Adonai, from the holy seat of your Majesty, and have mercy on me, and because of your mercy, free me from this plague.

S. You are my Salvation: heal me, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved.

Amen.