Detente

Sister,
I was tidying up the Catholic Club box of stuff at school (holy cards, rosaries, pamphlets etc.) and I found an interesting item at the bottom of the box. An extensive search of the web told me it's called a "Religious Detente" I'm not sure if it's a relic. It's about the size of a dime, crochet around the edges, with leather and clear plastic encasing the tiniest saint medal of Our Lady, a few tiny photos and some other paper items I can't make out. Anyways, I'd like to know what it is and what it's used for. Do you know?

Sort of. I'm surprised you haven't seen anything like this before. I thought every Catholic had something on this order in the bottom of a drawer somewhere in their house. Which is ironic, considering the whole idea behind the little crocheted pieces.

Come on, you've all seen these! The most common image in the middle of all the needlework is the Sacred Heart of Jesus or Mary. Sometimes scapulars come this way, too.

It's news to me that they are called "detentes". I'll throw that out to the Peanut Gallery and see if anyone knows how that name stuck on them. Our Spanish relations must have a clue. The word "Detente" means "the easing of tensions". So...there you go.

The idea here is that you have a little mini shrine. The simplest ones have the image in the middle and then some tatting around the edge. But sometimes it's an image and then some embroidery around there and some tatting around that.

And if you really want to go whole hog on the mini shrine effect, you sew the image on felt that's big enough to close like a little wallet around the image and then you also sew medal onto the inside of the felt so you wind up with a felt thing with tatting around the edges with the image inside with embroidery around it and medals on the sides. Whew! And you could have a relic in there to boot! Probably a third class relic.

They do end up in the bottom of drawers a lot. Seriously, go right now and rummage through your Grandmother's chest of drawers, particularly the drawer where she keeps her old watch and those earrings that screw onto the earlobes and I'll bet you'll find at least one of these. How do they end up in the bottoms of so many drawers? Maybe people mistake them for sachets.

Also, wallets have gotten smaller. People used to keep them in their wallets, back when there was only cash in there and this year's grade school pictures of the children. Now, what with credit cards, ID cards, ATM cards, store club cards, free coffee after you buy 25 coffees cards AND this years grade school pictures of the children, this little crocheted shrine would really cause a bulge.

Hi Sister,
I have 2 beautiful girls a 17 month old and a 5 month I was put on thyriod medicine that can cause phyical deformitys like cleft lip and I was on another medicine that can cause heart defects (I'm no longer on that medicine)I wanted to go off all medicine but my doctor says with my levels I could lose my baby. This pregnacy wasnt planned but its still my baby and I dont want anything to happen because of something I did. Do you know a patron saint for preventing heart defects and physical abnormalitys in babies, also for faith in my doctors and you might want to give me one for patience if 1 more person comments on how close my girls are I'm going to scream

Our prayers are with you and your thyroid gland!

Here are my saint picks. I would start with St. Gerard, who is the patron saint of a safe and healthy pregnancy resulting in a safe and healthy baby. And guess who is often on the back of a St. Gerard medal? My second pick! Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She is our go to solace in difficult and trying times.

And for patience, St. Therese the Little Flower, the patron saint for people who are annoyed by the annoying habits of others.