Confraternities of the Cord are ancient associations of Catholics who wear cords, cinctures or belts in devotion to a saint whom they wish to honour and emulate.
The oldest and most celebrated of them is the Archconfraternity of Our Lady of Consolation, but there are also the Archconfraternity of the Cord of St Francis, the Archconfraternity of the Cord of St Joseph and the Confraternity of the Cord of St Thomas (Aquinas).
The practice of wearing a cincture, a rope-like belt, has its origins in the early Church, when virgins used them to signify their maidenhood. But by the Middle Ages, with the rise of the great religious orders, it had spread to honour particular saints.
