Confraternities of the Cord

Confraternities of the Cord are pious associations of the faithful, the members of which wear a cord or cincture in honour of a saint, to keep in mind some special grace or favour which they hope to obtain through his intercession.

In the early Church virgins wore a cincture as a sign and emblem of purity, and hence it has always been considered a symbol of chastity as well as of mortification and humility. The wearing of a cord or cincture in honour of a saint is of very ancient origin, and we find the first mention of it in the life of St. Monica. In the Middle Ages cinctures were also worn by the faithful in honour of saints, though no confraternities were formally established, and the wearing of a cincture in honour of Saint Michael was general throughout France. Later on, ecclesiastical authority set apart special formulae for the blessing of cinctures in honour of the Most Precious Blood, of Our Lady, of Saint Francis of Paola, and Saint Philomena.

Confraternities had their beginnings in the early Middle Ages, and developed rapidly from the end of the twelfth century from the rise of the great ecclesiastical orders. The main object and duty of these societies were, above all, the practice of piety and works of charity. There are various confraternities of the Cord, whose members wear a cord as insignia just as members of other confraternities wear a scapular. There are in the Church three archconfraternities and one confraternity the members of which wear a cord or cincture.

(This is also known as the "Archconfraternity of the Black Leather Belt of Saint Monica, Saint Augustine and Saint Nicholas of Tolentine".)

The oldest and most celebrated of these Confraternities of the Cord is probably the "Archconfraternity of the Black Leathern Belt of Saint Monica, Saint Augustine and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino", also called the "Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Consolation".

According to an old tradition, Saint Monica, in a vision received a black leather belt from the Blessed Virgin, who assured the holy widow that she would take under her special protection all those who wore it in her honour. Saint Monica related this vision to Saint Ambrose and Saint Simplician; both saints thereupon put on a leather belt, and Ambrose is said to have girded her son, Saint Augustine, with it at his baptism. Later on, it was adopted by the Hermits of St. Augustine as a distinctive part of their habit.

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Wikipedia