Heavy is the Ring: Consecration symbolized by the Ring of the Five Wounds
Historically, the ring has been treasured for its intrinsic ability to evoke symbolism both visibly and tangibly. More easily visible unlike what one may wear around one’s neck or on one’s chest, it enables the Ignatian to fulfill God’s word: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
It is also more tangible because made out of a heavy metal it weighs ‒ thus the Ignatian feels the weight of the responsibility evoked.
Ignatians, in order to remain ever alert to their consecration to the Crucified Christ through Our Lady of Chivalry, wear a ring. This ring, although non-precious in metal is super-precious in meaning to the eyes of the Ignatian. For it is his consecration ring, a nuptial ring, both because it bears the “cross of the five wounds” which reminds him of his consecration to Christ Crucified.
By the visible presence of the five crosses on the ring the Ignatian can, in mystic memory, evoke the gaze of his Crucified Lord and Savior. For the symbolism of the five crosses is a thousand years old and carries within it a rich history of heroic love. Traditionally this has been the symbol of the great Crusader devotion to the Five Wounds of Christ, a devotion that the Ignatians adopt as their own.
It also symbolizes his consecration to Our Lady of Chivalry. As a ring, with its traditional nuptial significance, it evokes for the Ignatian his vow of chastity through which in an extraordinarily deep and costly way he manifests his total self-giving to Christ and His Mystical Body through the Immaculata, Our Lady of Chivalry. Cost what it may cost.
The Ignatian, who has made the heroic sacrifice of marriage and family, has consequently not a lesser but a greater, more vibrant, intense, and creative love. His love is superhuman because it is supernatural. Flowing ceaselessly and powerfully like a stream rushing from its source at Alpine heights, purity is its seal. The ring, blessed as a sacramental of the Church, and ever before the Ignatian’s eyes, refreshes his memory of Christ Crucified and renews his heart invigorating it to live out pure love for his Lord and Savior and Friend, Jesus Christ, for His Queen, Our Lady of Chivalry, and for His Mystical Body. By placing it on his fourth finger it expresses his total consecration and devotion to Christ through Our Lady ( in the spirit of the consecration of St. Louis Grignon de Montfort).
Moreover, the circle, expression in so many cultures, of unendingness, evokes the reality of eternity as known through divine revelation. For the Christian, this eternity is the destiny of man. It is his true patria, his homeland beyond the stars of earthly hopes and achievements; because it is where he will, by Divine Mercy, attain the reason for his existence in the Beatific Vision of Him who made the sun and the other stars.