Christian Relics

 In class on Tuesday, we discussed briefly St. Helena being credited with the finding of Jesus's true cross and this discussion piqued my interest, especially with the story of testing the various crosses on the ill noblewomen.

    It is said that early Christians did not place such emphasis on special relics as modern Christians do, but rather 

    It was believed that Jesus's true cross was hidden in a ditch someone, among the crosses of the thieves who were crucified among Jesus, so that the early Christians would not be able to worship the cross. With that said, there were a few people who knew where the true cross was buried, one of them being Judas. As told in the Golden Legend, Judas dug the crosses up, but because he did not know which one was Jesus's, Judas brought the 3 crosses to the middle of the city and laid the coffin of a young man's corpse and when he placed the coffin on the 3rd cross, the body came back to life. This is an alternative to the story we discussed in class but follows the same idea.

    After the cross was found, the admiration of it led to the sale of fragments of the cross which were regarded as relics by many Christians. The importance of relics in Christianity is very apparent, as many relics grant healing power to those who touch them.

    Another very important Christian relic is the Shroud of Turin, which is said to be the burial garment of Jesus Christ. The Shroud was first historically documented in 1354 when Geoffroi de Charnay, a famed knight, had possession of it. The local bishops of Troyes declared the cloth was falsely painted when it went on display in 1389. 

    In 1988, the Vatican gave 3 labs small portions of the cloth and all 3 labs concluded that the cloth was made sometime between 1260 and 1390, but some scientists still doubt the researchers' methods. Whether the Shroud of Turin is the real burial cloth of Jesus Christ, it will most likely continue to serve as a relic in the Christian religion was it connects Christians with Jesus Christ, as well as fragments of the True Cross as found by Judas and St. Helena.

    

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Shroud of Turin". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 May. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shroud-of-Turin. Accessed 20 March 2022.

Kosloski, Philip. “How Did St. Helena Find the True Cross of Jesus Christ?” Aleteia, 18 Aug. 2021, https://aleteia.org/2021/08/18/how-did-st-helena-find-the-true-cross-of-jesus-christ/.