THE RELICS OF CHRIST’S PASSION
WHICH WILL VISIT US…

A piece of the True Cross discovered by Saint Helena. She brought it back to Rome in the Fourth Century. To house the single most significant relic in Christianity, St. Helen built the Basilica of Santa Croce in Rome, where a large piece of the cross is kept to this day. Skeptics have said that if all the Relics of the True Cross where put together there would be enough wood for two or three crosses. In 1870 a Frenchman, Rohault de Fleury, catalogued all the relics of the True Cross including relics that were said to have existed but were lost. He measured the existing relics and estimated the volume of the missing ones. Then he added up the figures and discovered that the fragments, if glued together, would not have made up more than one-third of a cross.

The Crown of Thorns was documented as being in Jerusalem in 409 AD. It was transferred to Constantinople in 1063, although it seems that the thorns were removed and presented to various rulers in Europe at an earlier date. In 1238 Baldwin II, the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, anxious to obtain support for his tottering empire offered the crown of thorns to Louis IX King of France who built the Sainte-Chapelle to house it. During the French Revolution, the crown was kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale until 1806 when the thornless remains were deposited in the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

The Holy Nails were discovered by Constantine’s mother the Empress Helena about 300 years after the Crucifixion. According to legend, one nail was tossed into the Adriatic to calm a storm. The other two were used by the Empress to protect her son. One was placed in his crown and another formed into a bridle for his horse. Filings were taken from the true nails and imbedded in copies to make relics of a lower class. Some of these are presented as true nails rather than copies but it is safe to say that the one kept at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, in Rome is among those most likely to be one of the True Nails used in the Crucifixion.

The Holy Column of Flagellation was transported from Jerusalem to Rome by John Cardinal Colonna, one of the leaders of the sixth Crusade, in the year 1223, and was placed in his title church of St. Praxedis.

St. Longinus is the centurion who pierced the side of Christ while He was hanging on the cross and it was he who was to exclaim. “Indeed this was the Son of God.” St. Longinus then converted; left the army, took instruction from the Apostles, and became a monk in Cappadocia. There he was arrested for his faith and beheaded. St. Longinus’ relics are now in the church of St. Augustine in Rome. Part of his lance is contained in one of the four pillars over the altar in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.

The effigy of the Veil of Veronica. The veneration of a “Veronice” can be dated back to the pontificate of John VII (705-707), according to the chronicle of Benedetto di Sant´Andrea. In 1011, Pope Sergius IV consecrated a special altar for the veneration of this “sudarium” (veil, sweat cloth). As Benedetto stated, a regular veneration was established in the 12th century, adding to its status and popularity, which grew with the establishments of the Holy Years in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII.

St. Veronica was the woman who wiped the face of Christ with a veil while he was on the way to Calvary. According to tradition, the cloth was imprinted with the image of Christ’s face. The relic is still preserved in St. Peter’s, and the memory of Veronica’s act of charity is commemorated in the Stations of the Cross. The veil shown here is one that has been touched to the original as attested to by the stamp of the Vatican.

Mensae Coenae D.N.J.C. (the room where the Last Supper took place) This relic is from the table or the ROOM (upper) where the Last Supper took place. On the night before he died: “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26: 26-28).

Sindonis D.N.J.C (from the burial shroud of Our Lord) This relic is believed to be from the exterior wrapping that the Shroud was rolled up in when it was not being venerated. Throughout history, references have been made to this practice.