The Catholic Defender: Symbolism of Gold as a Sign of Heaven
Gold is recognized to be the most precious metal of great worth. Gold reflects the glory and majesty of God. The love of God can be reflected by Gold in that God's promises are glory and majestic. Simply stated, gold represents the love of God which is the most precious.
From the Old Testament we see gold utilized to show the high rank of kings and royalty. They were honored with gifts of gold. 1 Kings 10:18 states that Solomon's throne was made of ivory overlaid with gold. God ordered the use of gold in the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant were overlaid with gold all of which points to God's glory.
Jesus was given gold by the Wise-men which helped the Holy Family travel to safety in Egypt. Also, the gold shows the Wise-men recognized Jesus as King. Gold represents the high position of God, it symbolizes His divinity. Consider the table of the show-bread and the altar of incense being made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold? Biblical reasoning shows that this is a reflection of Christ's humanity and His Divinity.
In art, gold is used to show the glory of God through the many biblical depictions of the stories found in the Bible. Saints are seen to have halos that depicts their holiness and heavenly presence. They are fully immersed with God's presence. Where did these artist arrive creating these many depictions? I would say the artist picked up the testimonies coming from those whom God chose for his purpose.
The Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Our Spiritual Mother (Revelation 12:17) appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous and she had much to say about these visions at Lourdes France. According to St. Bernadette Soubirous, she tells of the Rosary Mary held with her right arm. This rosary had white beads with a chain of gold.
I find it interesting that praying the Rosary with St. Bernadette, Mary moved the beads in her fingers as Bernadette prayed the Hail Mary's, but Mary prayed with Bernadette when she came to the Gloria's at the end of each decade. This follows my perspective that the Virgin Mary prays the Rosary with us. At the conclusion of the Rosary prayed with St. Bernadette, Mother Mary returned back to the interior of the rock where she first appeared and then as she left, so did the golden cloud with her, the vision was gone.
Going back to the understanding that gold is the symbol of the purity of the medals, the symbol can also be the purity of our faith as well. Rosaries turning gold in a preternatural event points to that very thing. God is calling us to reach out to Him with a pure heart!
When I hear of Rosaries turning gold, it also reminds me that the Virgin Mary had been present. In my own simple way of thinking, when a famous music group plays someplace, they will have their logo. Well, a Rosary turning gold is a logo coming from the Lord!
I was stationed in Germany when a visiting Catholic priest offering Mass spoke with us afterwards and he shared with us of Rosaries he had witnessed turn gold in his hands. That certainly intrigued me and soon later I was among a group of about 30 other people from our parish that made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.
That pilgrimage had a great impact on me as well as everyone that went. I witnessed 12 Rosaries that had turn from silver color to gold during the four days we were there. Since that time I had witnessed another 13 more Rosaries that had made such a change.
Acts 2:17-19 states, "It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says,‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh.Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,your young men shall see visions,your old men shall dream dreams. Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days,and they shall prophesy. And I will work wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below..."
The Lord gives us signs of his continued presence among us. As Catholics we see many such miracles from the Eucharistic Miracles, the Marian Apparitions, the Incorruptibles, Rosaries turning gold, and much, much more.
The Catholic Church was given the Chrism of the Holy Spirit when it concerns the validity of such things, but because of our many descriptions of faith and how God works a million different ways, so many things the Church watches like us all when it comes to Private Revelations.
Millions have experienced what I have when it comes to Rosaries turned to gold. I've seen witness of such in Houston with great faithful Catholics and other places as well. I was invited to speak to a large gathering in Clarksville Tennessee and after speaking about Our Lady, I began to lead the Rosary when during the first decade, a scream came from a far corner of the room. A lady praying with her Rosary was turning right there as we were praying. After the excitement, I went back up to the front and began the second decade when another lady screamed from another part of the room.
This second lady I knew well as I had been leading a bible study and prayer devotion on Sunday nights and I knew her Rosary as well. At one of those events, a number of people were participating and after a few minutes, the most beautiful scent of roses came upon me. This was So strong that I came upon everyone who was present and gave them a hug wanting to locate the source of the scent. It was not present and it was then that everyone there realized what had just happened. As beautiful as Our Lady is, so is that heavenly fragrance.
The ladies Rosary turned gold during that second decade. Again, there was much celebration and excitement for another several minutes. Earlier that evening, during my presentation, a couple of teenage girls who had been walking the street came by the church and came in to see what was going on. They were there to see the happening taking place and were greatly touched. They were not Catholic and came in out of curiosity. I do not believe in accidents and the Lord used this opportunity perhaps for their benefit. Perhaps that might of saved them from something later down the road?
Now that I am on the subject of the Rosary, I've seen many times when in Iraq 2007, I worked at our Battalion Aid Station so very few casualties came in that I didn't know about. Many times when Soldiers came in to be checkout for concussions, when you looked at the vehicles, they were often times demolished. How in the world did anyone survive this? Then you see where a Rosary had been in the cab and it just told the story. Many a Soldier was thankful to the Lord for their safety.
I witnessed something like this with my oldest Son Nathan who had been out with a couple of our band members traveling when they were stopped at a red light. While there a drunk driver came driving towards the intersection at 80 mph hitting Nathan in the back of the vehicle (our vehicle was a Ford Aerostar). I was called about 22:00 hours and made it to the crash site within about 10 minutes. Nathan had been pushed out about 15 - 20 feet into the intersection. Thank the Lord there was no on coming traffic entering in this intersection at the time.
I first made sure that everyone was OK and I would take them to the emergency room. But before we left, I noticed something that really freaked me out. I noticed that the percussion hitting the vehicle caused the rear-view mirror ended up between the second and third row of seats. Everything in front of the Rosary everyone was safe and no issues for damage. Everything behind the Rosary was decimated.
Psalms 5:12 states, "Then all who trust in you will be glad and forever shout for joy. You will protect them and those will rejoice in you who love your name."
