Crop year Summer 2009. These have not been hand sorted and strung like our darker Job's Tears so the sizes per bag vary. These Job's Tears were grown in a tropical country thus the lighter range of colors. These are nice and hard and will give many years of service!
Both Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta were photographed many times with Job's Tears rosaries. They favored them because of their humble nature. Job's Tears are actually seeds, which, surprisingly, grow 10 per stalk, just like the decade of a rosary!
The natural oils from human hands make them shiny - so the more they are handled as a rosary the shinier they become!
It is not wise to pull out the core remnants (tiny bits of woody fibre left inside the beads) because it helps stabilize the bead on the wire.
Job's Tears are in fact edible, used ground into a tea as a remedy for arthritis. They have been used for making jewelry and as a food supplement since the times of ancient Egypt.