Ecclesiastical ring

[2] In a decree of Pope Boniface IV (AD 610) it describes monks raised to the episcopal dignity as anulo pontificali subarrhatis, while at the Fourth Council of Toledo, in 633, it was stated that if a bishop has been deposed from his office and afterwards reinstated, he is to receive back stole, ring and crosier (orarium, anulum et baculum).

St. Isidore of Seville, at about the same period, couples the ring with the crosier and declares that the former is conferred as "an emblem of the pontifical dignity or of the sealing of secrets".

[3] The ring is strictly speaking an episcopal ornament conferred in the rite of consecration, and that it was commonly regarded as emblematic of the mystical betrothal of the bishop to his church.

In the eighth and ninth centuries in manuscripts of the Gregorian sacramentary and in a few early pontificals (e.g., that attributed to Archbishop Egbert of York) there are various formulae for the delivery of the ring.

Ludovic Taurin-Cahagne, Bishop of Adramythe in Ethiopia, Apostolic Vicar of the Gallas, c. 1875, had a unique ring that locked and unlocked, apparently an early form of adjustability (and perhaps a security mechanism).

[6] Cardinal O'Malley's ring, conferred by Pope John Paul II, could be opened from the back and resized.

In the past, a cardinal's ring could be set with a sapphire, while it bore on the inner side of the bezel the arms of the pope conferring it.

The solid gold cardinal's ring chosen by John Paul II bears an oblong crucifixion scene.

The origin of the ring design is inspired by Jesus telling St. Peter, who was by trade a fisherman, "I will make you a fisher of men."

It is not unusual for the ring to be inscribed inside the band with the initials of the previous Masters of Sacred Theology of the province.

Ambrose of Milan speaks as though it were customary for consecrated virgins to wear a ring as a sign of their betrothal to Jesus Christ, their heavenly spouse.

[16] This bestowal of a ring to nuns with solemn vows is also mentioned by several medieval pontificals, from the twelfth century onwards.

Certain specimens prove this today, such as a gold ring found near Arles, from circa the fourth or fifth century AD, and bearing the inscription Tecla vivat Deo cum marito seo [suo].

In the coronation ceremony too, it has long been the custom to deliver both to the sovereign and to the queen consort a ring previously blessed.