By: Alicia Etscorn
For: HY 236
Extra Credit Spring 2009
The holy relics of St. Prince Lazar of Kosovo
Relics have been apart of christian history since 300 yaers after Jesus died.
What Are Relics?
Relics are snippits of flesh, bones, and sometimes clothing of holy men and women of the past. Usually, these individuals had been martyred for their faith. The trinkets left over held amazing fascination for European Christians of the Middle Ages. All along the trade and pilgrimage routes between Europe and the Holy Lands there were churches which promised the faithful a ghoulish glimpse and a chance to pray for intervention.More
In addtion, according to reiglionfacts.com relics are the material remains of a deceased saint or martyr and objects closely associated with those remains. Relics can be entire skeletons, but more usually they consist of a part such as a bone, hair or tooth. Pieces of clothing worn by the deceased saint or even an object that has come in contact with a relic is also considered a relic.
How Have They Effected Christianity?
Relics have played an important role in Christian ritual since the earliest centuries of the church and were a major part of popular religion in the Middle Ages. Until 1969, relics were placed under the altar stones of all Roman Catholic churches. The veneration of relics was rejected by most of the Protestant Reformers and most Protestants today, but relics continue to play an important part in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.
Throughout the 2007 years of Christian history that we provide, many relics have been appearing, some fake, others that raise serious doubts. In the 5th century, when it had spread the habit of worship, there was no church, for it to be humble, not to venerate poseyese some rest. More
The fact Objects sacred worship has its origins in Greek culture, and it is the belief in divine grace and charity in the energy radiating property.
The Vatican itself owns what it believes to be a fragment of the table from the Last Supper and marble stairs that are the same ones Jesus ascended on His way to appear before Pontius Pilate.
Relics Being Sold?
The pilgrims saw the purchasing of a relic as a means to bring the shrine back with him or her upon returning home in a small way, since during the Middle Ages the concept of physical proximity to the “holy” (tombs of saints or their personal objects) was considered extremely important. Instead of having to travel hundreds of miles to become near to a venerated saint, one could venerate the relics of the saint within his or her own home. (Source)
Catholic canon law now plainly forbids their sale. The sale of relics is strictly forbidden by the Church.
The Code of Canon Law states:
§1190 §1 - "It is absolutely forbidden to sell sacred relics."
§1190 §2 - "Relics of great significance and other relics honored with great reverence by the people cannot be alienated validly in any manner or transferred permanently without the permission of the Apostolic See."
But the door to buying them is left open by an injunction that Catholics "rescue" relics. If, for instance, a Catholic sees a relic in a pawnshop, he or she is obliged to buy it, so that it won't be used for blasphemous purposes by a nonbeliever.
Even today there are relics for sale according to Forbes Magazine. According to the article there is a women, Amanda Broomer, who is a delear of Chrisitian artifacts. Broomer sells the skulls of martyrs ($4,500 each). She sells the teeth of saints ($300). For $975 you can get what may be a tiny splinter from the cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified.
Body of Pope Innocent XI
Relics In The Bible:
Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding to 12 years came up behind him [Jesus] and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. (Matthew 9:20-22)
People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by... and all of them were healed. (Acts 5:15-16, NIV)
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. (Acts 19:11-12, NIV)
Accodring to Religionfacts.com, in 787 AD, the Second Council of Nicea met to consider the iconoclastic controversy. The assembled bishops affirmed the veneration of icons, images and relics:
We accept the image of the honorable and life-giving Cross, and the holy relics of the saints; and we receive the holy and venerable images; we accept them and we embrace them, according to the ancient traditions of the Holy Catholic Church of God, that is to say our holy Fathers, who also received these things and established them in all the most holy Churches of God and in every place of His dominion. (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol 14, p. 541).
Classes of Relics:
- First-Class Relics
- Items directly associated with the events of Christ's life (manger, cross, etc.), or the physical remains of a saint (a bone, a hair, a limb, etc.). Traditionally, a martyr's relics are often more prized than the relics of other saints. Also, some saints' relics are known for their extraordinary incorruptibility (Human remains do not deteriorate as would normally be expected. For instance a 500 year old body that appears as though it is still in wake) and so would have high regard. It is important to note that parts of the saint that were significant to that saint's life are more prized relics. For instance, King St. Stephen of Hungary's right forearm is especially important because of his status as a ruler. A famous theologian's head may be his most important relic. (The head of St. Thomas Aquinas was removed by the monks at the Cistercian abbey at Fossanova where he died). If a saint did a lot of travelling then the bones of his feet may be prized. Current Catholic teaching prohibits relics to be divided up into small, unrecognizable parts if they are to be used in liturgy.
An item that the saint wore (a shirt, a glove, etc.) Also included is an item that the saint owned or frequently used, for example, a crucifix, book etc. Again, an item more important in the saint's life is thus a more important relic.
- Third-Class Relics
- Any object that is touched to a first class relic.
Relic of the manger inside St. Mary major said to contain relics of Jesus cradle.
The Shroud Of Turin
Arguably the most famous relic. However, many question the authenticy of the piece of material.
The Shroud of Turin has intrigued millions over the centuries who believed it to be the actual burial cloth that wrapped Jesus in the tomb. Also known as the Turin Shroud or the Shroud of Jesus, this ancient burial cloth bearing a blood stained image of a crucified man has also intrigued scientists, historians and medical experts with the possibility of its authenticity.
Prominent scientists have ruled out the Shroud as being an artwork and the bloodstains on the cloth appear to be from actual wounds. This was the conclusion of the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), a team of 24 scientists who examined the cloth for five days in 1978 and amassed volumes of data. The results were released in 1981. “We can conclude for now that the Shroud image is that of a real human form of a scourged, crucified man. It is not the product of an artist. The blood stains are composed of hemoglobin and also give a positive test for serum albumin.”
However dark days were ahead for Shroud enthusiaists when it was carbon dated in 1988 and was determined to be only about 700 years old! But like any good mystery, that is not where the story ends. Recent research now indicates that the Carbon Dating tests performed on the Shroud in 1988 were taken from a sample that was re-woven in the Middle Ages. Many critics of the dating tests at the time were highly concerned because the sampling protocol was ignored and only one sample was removed instead of several as called for in the protocol. The worst mistake of all was the location of the sample from an outside corner edge precisely where it was handled hundreds of times over the centuries. Of all locations on the Shroud, the one chosen had the greatest potential for contamination or repair.
First look under the shroud in 1978. No image on other side. Image is purely superficial penetrating only top 2 microfibers.
It seems now the Carbon Dating tests performed on the Shroud prove next to nothing except the old science sampling maxim: “The data is only as good as the sample.” It pays to follow instructions. From the abstract published in Thermo Chimica Acta, January 2005: "The radiocarbon sample was not part of the original cloth of the Shroud of Turin. The radiocarbon date was thus not valid for determining the true age of the shroud."
(Source)
