Category:Relics of Jesus (subject)

• This page was created and is edited by Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

Relics of Jesus refers to a series of artifacts (mostly of medieval origin) which were believed to be connected with the historical Jesus.

Overview

It was common practice in the ancient Church to preserve and venerate relics of Christian saints and martyrs.

Christian teaching stated that Jesus was assumed into heaven corporeally. Therefore the only relics that could be collected were either objects belonging to, or touch by, Jesus, or parts of his body he had lost prior to his resurrection-—hair, blood, fingernails, milk teeth, his prepuce (from his circumcision), and the umbilicus (from his birth).

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "Very little reliance can be placed upon the authenticity of these specimens.” There is neither reliable, conclusive evidence nor historical record supporting the identification of these relics as genuine. On the contrary, all evidence leads to the conclusion that the search and collection of relics of Jesus started not before the fourth century CE and reached its climax during the Middle Age at the time of the Crusades.

While scholars dismiss the authenticity of all these ancient relics, the interest in Jesus' relics has lately increased in fictional and arch-fi circles, which speculate on the possibility of extracting Jesus' DNA for cloning; see Jesus Cloning.

Bodily parts of Jesus

Reliquaries containing bodily parts of Jesus could actually be commonly found in Europe during the Middle Ages. As an example, at that time there were as many as 18 churches claiming possession of the Holy Prepuce of Jesus: in Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, etc.

Most of those relics were lost or destroyed during the Reformation or the French Revolution. The authorities of the Catholic Church also began looking with great skepticism to those relics, as all of them were of very dubious provenance (to say the least). The cult of bodily parts of Jesus was discouraged and gradually felt into oblivion.

The last recorded occurrence of such a cult was in the Italian village of Calcata, Viterbo (near Rome), where the relic of the Holy Prepuce of Jesus was still paraded in the streets as recently as 1983. The practice ended, however, when thieves stole the jewel-encrusted case, contents and all.

Objects associated with Jesus

The Gifts of the Magi

The Gifts of the Magi to Jesus are said to be preserved in the monastery of St. Mark of Mount Athos—allegedly from the Holy Palace in Constantinople.

The Holy Grail

According to Christian legends, the Holy Grail was the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers. It was a legend which first came together in the form of written romances, deriving perhaps from some pre-Christian Celtic folklore hints, in the later 12th and early 13th centuries. The connection of Joseph of Arimathea with the Grail legend dates from Robert de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie (late 12th century) in which Joseph receives the Grail from an apparition of Jesus and sends it with his followers to Great Britain. The quest for the Holy Grail made up an important segment of the Arthurian cycle, appearing first in works by Chrétien de Troyes.

There are cups claimed to be the Grail in several churches, for instance the Saint Mary of Valencia Cathedral in Spain, which contains an artifact, the Holy Chalice, supposedly taken by Peter to Rome in the first century, and then to Huesca in Spain by Saint Lawrence in the 3rd century. Archaeologists say the artifact is a 1st century Middle Eastern stone vessel, possibly from Antioch, Syria (now Turkey); its history can be traced to the 11th century, and it presently rests atop an ornate stem and base, made in the Medieval era of alabaster, gold, and gemstones. There is no proven connection with Jesus.

The legend of the Holy Grail has inspired numerous pieces of art and works of fiction. Lately, in arch-fi circles, the legend has taken new life, as the Holy Grail was connected with the secret of a Jesus Bloodline from his "wife" Mary Magdalene.

The Column of the Flagellation

A column, preserved at the Church of Santa Prassede in Rome, is only one of the many columns that are said to be the Column of the Flagellation.

The True Cross

Relics of the Crown of Thorns, of the Cross, of the Nails of the Crucifixion are in the basilica “Santa Croce in Jerusalem” in Rome, Italy, and in hundreds of other churches and inside crucifixes all around Europe.

One of the nails of the crucifixion is said to have come to rest in the Iron Crown of Lombardy, used for the coronation of the Kings of Italy and preserved in the Cathedral of Monza, Italy. The Bridle of Constantine was also said to be maid from nails used during the crucifixion.

The Holy Lance

Fragments of the spear which according to the Gospel of John pierced Jesus on the cross, are said to be preserved in Rome (probably coming from Armenia), and in Vienna, Austria.

In January 2003, Robert Feather, an English metallurgist and technical engineering writer, was authorized by the Church to test the Vienna lance in a laboratory environment. The examination indicated the 7th century as the likeliest date of the spearhead.

The Robe

A tradition of the Latin Church, which goes back to the 12th century, holds that the robe that Jesus wore at his crucifixion is now housed in the Cathedral of Trier, Germany (here as shown in a 1959 stamp).

According to an Eastern Orthodox tradition, portions of Jesus’ clothing are preserved in the crypt of the Patriarchal Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, Georgia where the feast day in honor of the Chiton of the Lord is celebrated on October 1.

Other portions of Jesus’ Robe are believed to be preserved by the Russian Orthodox Church: in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kiev, and other monasteries. The Russian Orthodox Church commemorates the Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord at Moscow on July 10 (July 25). At Moscow annually on that day, the robe is solemnly brought out of the chapel of the Apostles Peter and Paul at the Dormition cathedral, and it is placed on a stand for veneration by the faithful during the divine services.

The legend of The Robe of Jesus inspired in 1942 a novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, and in 1953 a movie, directed by Henry Koster, with Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, and Victor Mature.

The Veil of Veronica

According to a medieval legend (the story is not in the Gospels), a woman - named Veronica from Jerusalem - encountered Jesus along the Via Dolorosa on his way to Calvary. When she paused to wipe the sweat off his face with her veil, his image was imprinted on the cloth.

The supposed original of the Veil of Veronica was publicly displayed for some time in the Vatican from 1297 to 1527, when the relic went lost during the Sack of Rome. The Veil of Veronica became a popular subject in the arts; and "copies" of the Roman Veil were displayed in several churches in Europe, including in Vienna (Austria), Alicante (Spain), and Genoa (Italy).

The Shroud of Turin (and the Sudarium of Oviedo)

The Shroud of Turin is a medieval representation of Jesus’ passion. It is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent with crucifixion. The linen is 14 feet, 3 inches long and 3 feet, 7 inches wide. It is being kept in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

In 1988, the Holy See agreed to permit three centers to independently perform radiocarbon dating on portions of a swatch taken from a corner of the shroud. All three Institutes of research (Oxford University, the University of Arizona, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) concluded that the Shroud of Turin was made between the 13th and the 14th century (1260–1390).

Related to the Shroud of Turin is the Sudarium of Oviedo, or Shroud of Oviedo. It is a bloodstained cloth, 34" x 21", kept in the cathedral of Oviedo, Spain and claimed to be the cloth that was wrapped around the head of Jesus of Nazareth after he died. The cloth has been dated to the 7th century by the radiocarbon method (1994).

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