Paisley Honey marks Saint Francis’ 8th centenary with handmade Anglican prayer beads
Handmade 33-bead Anglican prayer beads in green jade and antiqued brass from Paisley Honey’s 2026 Saint Francis collection. The Tau Cross depicts Saint Francis among birds and includes a small bee detail. Photo: Paisley Honey.
Paisley Honey, a small independent devotional business based in Scotland, has launched a handmade Saint Francis collection during 2026, the eighth-centenary year of the Transitus of Saint Francis of Assisi, 1226–2026.
Created by Irish maker and founder Fiach OBroin-Molloy, the collection includes traditional 33-bead Anglican prayer beads in green jade and antiqued brass, together with an original Saint Francis Tau Cross necklace on leather. Each piece is designed and made by hand in Paisley, Scotland, as a practical object for prayer, carrying and daily use.
The Anglican beads comprise 28 smooth 8mm jade Week beads arranged in four groups of seven, four antiqued-brass Cruciform beads and a single Invitatory bead leading to the Tau Cross. The richly textured cross depicts Saint Francis among birds and includes a small bee, connecting Franciscan attentiveness to creation with the beekeeping roots of Paisley Honey.
“Francis belongs to a Christian inheritance shared across later divisions, but Anglican and Catholic traditions do not always pray in the same way,” said OBroin-Molloy. “I wanted to respect that difference rather than blur it. The 33-bead structure is recognisably Anglican, while the Tau holds the collection together and points beyond Francis to Christ. These are meant to become companions for prayer: held, carried and used.”
Anglican prayer beads provide a contemplative structure without prescribing one fixed form of words. They may be used with Scripture, a collect, the Jesus Prayer, verses from the Psalms or another short repeated prayer.
The Tau necklace features original, double-sided Paisley Honey metalwork. Saint Francis and doves appear in raised relief on the front, while a solitary bee appears on the reverse. The substantial antiqued-brass pendant is worn on genuine brown leather. The Tau was repeatedly used by Francis as a plain, Christ-centred sign associated with conversion, peace and a life returned to the Gospel.
The wider collection includes Catholic five-decade rosaries, a seven-decade Franciscan Crown, devotional bracelets and other Tau pieces. The different traditions and structures of prayer remain distinct, while shared materials and original metalwork connect them across the collection.
The Saint Francis collection is Paisley Honey’s own independent handmade response to the anniversary and is not official centenary merchandise.
The collection can be viewed at:
www.paisleyhoney.com/saint-
A selected wholesale collection is available to church shops and independent retailers through Faire Direct:
paisleyhoney.faire.com
About Paisley Honey
Paisley Honey is a small independent, maker-led business based in Paisley, Scotland, creating handmade rosaries, prayer beads and devotional gifts for people around the world. Each rosary and set of prayer beads is assembled by hand in its Paisley workshop, with selected original crosses, medals and devotional details designed in-house. The business also keeps bees in the west of Scotland, connecting its devotional work with the rhythms of creation, attention and care.
For further information, photographs or interview enquiries, contact Fiach OBroin-Molloy through www.paisleyhoney.com/contact.