# Ordination gift for cousin? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordination-gift-for-cousin/356230 "2006-05-10T15:52:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordination-gift-for-cousin/356230/1 "2006-05-10T15:52:39Z")
My cousin is being ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church in three weeks and I’ll be attending the festivities in Florida. We’re in a little bit of a budget crunch with ElzaHub unemployed right now, and a baby on the way, so I’m trying to find a meaningful gift that won’t break the bank. Any suggestions? He’s a good guy with lots of interests (I know he used to have a thing for Jennifer Lopez, but I’m pretty sure a JLo calendar wouldn’t be appropriate - and I’ve forgiven him for that lapse in judgment;) ), but I was hoping to find something appropriate to the day, some sort of keepsake that he can either use in his new church or in his daily faith. E. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordination-gift-for-cousin/356230/2 "2006-05-10T16:06:29Z")
> [@Elza B](#): > > My cousin is being ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church in three weeks and I’ll be attending the festivities in Florida. We’re in a little bit of a budget crunch with ElzaHub unemployed right now, and a baby on the way, so I’m trying to find a meaningful gift that won’t break the bank. > > Any suggestions? Condoms? The name of a good lawyer? I keed, I keed. Could you buy some piece of his vestment, perhaps something with decorative embroidery symbolizing the family? ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordination-gift-for-cousin/356230/3 "2006-05-10T16:20:28Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Condoms? The name of a good lawyer? > > I keed, I keed. > > Could you buy some piece of his vestment, perhaps something with decorative embroidery symbolizing the family? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I knew there’d be a bad joke coming from somewhere :rolleyes: 😉 . However, you redeemed yourself with the suggestion - I really like that idea. I’ll hae to drop his mom an email and see if she knows how to do something like that. Originally, I was going to put together a scrapbook for him of the cousins (we’re all pretty much like brothers and sisters), but ran out of time, so I want something that he’ll be able to use to remember his family. E. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordination-gift-for-cousin/356230/4 "2006-05-10T17:28:48Z")
> [@Elza B](#): > > Yeah, yeah, yeah, I knew there’d be a bad joke coming from somewhere. I am nothing if not willing to go for the obvious cheap shot. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordination-gift-for-cousin/356230/5 "2006-05-10T17:44:07Z")
A stole. Most priests won’t own full sets of vestments, but a stole counts as a “traveling set” and is often personal. Even if his immediate family is getting him one, having two in different colors would be nice. I’ve seen some really cool ones from Latin America, multicolored like sarapes. Once in summer camp, a priest visiting for “family Sunday” found out he’d forgotten to pack his stole. Fortunately, long wide scarves were in fashion and he was able to borrow one: he said he felt “out of uniform” having Mass without a cloth band on his shoulders. Also, does he have a tiny, carry-in-any-pocket prayerbook (they come in all kinds of sizes) or one of those Missals in two volumes? (One for Sundays, one for weekdays) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordination-gift-for-cousin/356230/6 "2006-05-10T21:35:57Z")
How about a piece of the True Cross? I bet you could find it on eBay. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ordination-gift-for-cousin/356230/7 "2006-05-10T22:30:47Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Most priests won’t own full sets of vestments A friend of mine is getting ordained in June and a group of us have banded together to get some vestments made for him.