When I started leatherworking as a hobby more than a decade ago, one of my early projects was making belts for an entire monastery of Carmelite nuns. They sent me one example belt and a bag full of old belt buckles. Carmelites are ever frugal.
The belt was in the medieval style: long enough to tie over itself and leave a hanging tail. In the tip of the belt was a little pocket, where the sisters could safely stash a little pair of scissors.
This is the letter I sent with the finished belts.
Dear Mother and Sisters,
Praised be Jesus Christ, and Merry Christmas! I pray that your Christmas devotions overflow with graces and the joy that this season brings. I am delighted to be able to present to each of you a new cincture that will hopefully last for a very, very long time.
Making the cinctures gave me plenty of time to pray and meditate. The craft of leatherwork is the oldest craft described in Scripture. Before Jesus was a carpenter, God was a leatherworker. Adam and Eve, newly fallen, received their first garments from God, made of animal skins. A profound truth is hidden in this simple detail, indeed it was a hidden promise. God took something dead and made something new of it. This was a sign and a prefigurement of the more profound gift of newness man receives when God clothes us in Christ, through baptism in water and the Holy Spirit.
St. Paul tells us to put on the belt of Truth. I think that the making of these belts gave me a bit of a parable that I can share with you. So here we go with the parable of the belt of Truth.
Each belt was cut from a sheet of leather that was half of a cow hide. First I cut the strap, then I used a punch to cut the rounded end, and a template to punch out the buckle end. Then I stained it black, washed it, and polished it (you can use regular black shoe polish to keep up the high shine). I used a tool called a burnisher to make the edges smooth and round. I sewed in the scissors pouch. I thought I was almost done, but I noticed that the back of each belt had some extra fluff that needed to be shaved off. I added a coat of polish on the back of the belts to give it an even color and smooth texture. Then I riveted the buckle to the end, they were finally done.
So let’s look at each step and see what we can glean from it:
A side of leather is not a belt, but the belt is in there. Every idea is not the Truth. The Truth is what you discover when you cut away everything that is not the Truth. When you do this, no matter how many times you do this, you will discover that the Truth is always the same size and shape. You might find something useful in the scraps leftover, but often they’re just trash.
Staining the belts black points to the ‘dark night’ which purifies the flesh. Truth is eternally connected to the Cross. Even when the cool waters of consolation wash us, the effects of the dark night stay with us forever. When you polish black leather, it reminds us of the way that Divine charity allows even the darkness to shine, to reflect the Light to the world that knows only darkness.
When you first cut the straps, the edges are quite sharp and rough. You have to use wax and something called a burnisher to make them round and smooth. There is a way that the Truth can cut if it isn’t made gentle by charity. Burnishing is a lot of work and takes a long time. My hands got pretty tired during the process.
The scissors pocket points to the fact that Jesus did not come to bring peace, but division. The word ‘division’ is used in classical logic for the process of separating two things at their most fundamental level. The Truth, like a pair of scissors, cuts through the division of soul and spirit, bone and marrow. The Truth also cuts away those things that hold us bound. It makes us free.
The backs of the belts almost escaped my notice. I was tempted to say, “No one will ever see them. Who cares?” It was more work to shave off the extra flesh from the side of the belt that would be hidden. It’s very much like the interior mortifications that are necessary for true holiness. You can have the outward appearance of holiness, and do everything that would convince others that you’re holy and pious, but until those fleshly impulses that continue on the inside are totally mortified, you’re in grave danger of being a terrible hypocrite. So you have to let God remove those disordered passions, and take you through the dark night of the interior.
Without the buckle, the belt is just a strap, missing something essential. As Pope Benedict once said, “Truth is not an imposition. Nor is it simply a set of rules. It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ.” The world’s pursuit of Truth has neglected its most central characteristic… and is astonished when it trips because its pants have fallen around its ankles. Without the Personhood of Truth, it just can’t hold anything up.
I almost forgot the last step. You probably noticed that none of the belts have any holes in them. I’ve included a belt hole template and a leather punch so you can fit each cincture to the sister who receives it. This points to the most important thing about the belt of Truth. You have to take it and make it your own. And you have to wear it, each and every day. It’s no use having a belt of Truth if it’s hanging in your closet.
When the belt is done, how wonderful it is! Not simply functional, but beautiful, and durable as well. The Truth is like that. It doesn’t just give us new and proper functioning, setting us free to be good, it makes us beautiful and eternal as well.
I hope that you get many years of useful service out of these cinctures. I enjoyed making them. The occasional application of black shoe polish should keep them looking shiny and new, and with use they will become more supple. (Which reminds me: the Truth becomes more comfortable the longer you wear it.)
May the Lord bless you superabundantly with His grace in this Christmas season. May He pour out joy, peace, and mercy on your congregation.
Blessings,
Nathan
If you applied for Banglar Yuva Sathi Prakalpa and you’re searching for a Yuva Sathi status check, here’s the situation in one line: applications closed in February 2026, but the status-check tool still works for anyone who already applied — and the scheme itself is on its way out, being replaced by a new West Bengal youth allowance. This guide covers both: how to track your existing application, and what’s actually coming next.