“Through black clouds the black sheep runs accursed,
and through black clouds the Shepherd follows him.

— G. K. Chesterton, The Black Virgin

Alright, this is an odd one. Common sense says not to even include it here. But it's been insisting, and we finally gave up resisting. It does seem perfect for praying the Jesus Prayer, or the centurion's prayer from Matthew 8:8.

The cross is large and simple, hand-cast from a Coptic antique in solid white bronze.

The ten Aves are black lavastone, with pits and pocks that formed as the molten rock cooled. Among these are beads of matte glass.

The Pater is an irregular bead of silver-dipped pewter, somewhat oxidized.

And, finally, yes, that is a lock of wool from a black sheep — wild, uncombed, curly, unruly — eventually it will become even more matted, we're sure — just like in real life. Anyone who's spent time around sheep knows that's how they are. That the Shepherd bothers to follow is amazing. The lock is gathered into an irregular cap of silver-dipped pewter, and wire-wrapped in bronze. The wool is dark brown verging to light brown at the ends.

The connecting rings are solid bronze. The chaplet is strung on premium quality Soft Flex jewelers' cable, composed of 49 strands of steel encased in nylon, with a test strength of 26 pounds; each end is double-crimped for security.

Cross: 2"
Aves: about 8mm
Pater: about 10mm
Length not including the wool: about 10”