RELIGIOUS USES OF PRECIOUS STONES 273
band seems to have been perfectly willing to await the Day of Judgment for the return of his lost spouses :70
Under this stone two precious gems do ly
Equall in weight, worth, lustre, sanctity :
Yet perhaps one of them do excell;
Which was't who knows? ask him y' knew yem well
By long enjoyment. If he thus be prest,
He'el pause, then answere : truly both were best :
Were't in my choice that either of ye twain
Might be returned to me to enjoy agayne,
Which should I chuse? Well, since I know not whether;
He mourne for the losse of both, but wish for neither,
Yet here's my comfort, herein lyes my hope,
The tyme a comeinge cabinets shall ope
Which are lockt fast : then shall I see
My Jewells to my joy, my Jewells mee.
The
Christian symbolism of colors has in many cases determined the use of
certain colored gems for religious ornaments, and therefore the
following summary of their principal significance is of interest here :71
White is
regarded as the first of the canonical colors, and as emblematic of
purity, innocence, virginity, faith, life, and light. For this reason
it is used in the ceremonies of Easter and Christmas, as in those of
the Circumcision and Epiphany of Our Lord. As the color of virginity it
is especially appropriate for the festival of the Virgin Mary, and as
that of faith not sealed with blood, for the festivals of the saints
who were not martyred. The heavenly host of angels and saints wear
white robes, and in pictures of the Assumption of the Virgin she is
frequently clad in white.
Red is
used at the feasts of the Exaltation and Invention of the Cross, at
Pentecost, and at the Feast of Martyrs. It suggests and symbolizes
suffering and martyrdom for the faith, and the supreme
,0
Ravenshaw, " Antiente Epitaphs," London, 1878, p. 113. ™ See Audsley, "
Handbook of Christian Symbolism," London, 1865, pp. 135-137.
