Holy Relics Research Articles

Clarifying Key Concerns about the Dating of Holy Relics: The Holy Chalice of the Last Supper at the Cathedral of Valencia

The Cathedral of Valencia, Spain, has preserved the so-called Holy Chalice of the Last Supper since 1437. It consists of a foot, a gold stem, and an upper cup carved in agate stone. Based on a pious tradition, this cup is supposed to be the one used by Jesus of Nazareth to institute the Eucharist. According to an archeological study published in 1960, this agate bowl was crafted around the 2nd–1st centuries BC, but people visiting this famous relic often wonder about its authenticity and about the evidence supporting it as a Hellenistic–Roman cup. Attempting to clarify this concern, a photographical characterization of the agate cup is presented and discussed. The main conclusions are the following: (i) The typology of the bowl is common to classical tableware, but the wall thickness, shape of the rim, and foot are typical of gemstone cups from the Hellenistic–Roman period. (ii) This cup would have been extremely valuable, which agrees with the location of the Cenacle in the aristocratic neighborhood of Jerusalem. This case study highlights the importance of further investigating the dating of historical objects as a key issue to support their authenticity.

Decorative Coatings of the Saint Demetrius Basarabov Reliquary’s Wooden Pedestal

This study presents the results and information revealed by in-depth physicochemical investigations carried out on an 18th-century polychrome wooden pedestal of the holy relics of Saint Demetrius Basarabov preserved at the Romanian Patriarchy of Bucharest. The preliminary stylistic observations and examinations on its present state of conservation were followed by optical microscopy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, and attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) analysis performed in order to adopt an appropriate restoration treatment for bringing the artifact, as close as possible, to its original appearance as well as for dating/attributing the artifact and assessing its state of conservation. It was revealed that several interventions were subsequently undertaken on the original gilded surface consisting of a gypsum support layer with an iron oxide layer of bolus on which a silver foil or a gold foil and a natural resin on top of it as a protective layer were applied. The regilding and later restoration interventions consisted in applying, over the original, layers of a copper–zinc alloy foil (Dutch metal as an imitation of gold) with a resin layer of vernis over it. The final decision on the restoration intervention was taken based on the scientific analysis outcome. This work attempts also to highlight the importance of the interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers, conservation scientists, restorers/conservators, and curators for the preservation and valorization of the historical religious Romanian heritage artifacts, largely unknown worldwide.

Holy Communion and Holy Relics

In this essay, I show how Gloria Anzaldúa transforms the Roman Catholic concepts of Holy Communion and the veneration of relics as part of the Chicana lesbian aesthetic that characterizes her decolonial project. Reading two poems from her watershed 1987 book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, (hereafter Borderlands) “The Cannibal’s Canción” and “Holy Relics,” along with an extended metaphorical conceit about corn within the book’s final prose chapter, “La conciencia de la mestiza/ Towards a New Consciousness,” I show how Anzaldúa critiques the colonial logic of gendered exploitation by repurposing Roman Catholic concepts into stylistic devices that imagine a queer Chicana erotic of mutual consumption. Specifically, this paper considers the way Anzaldúa engages with Catholic rituals that rely on dismemberment, redistribution, and consumption of human bodies for worship and veneration to reexamine Anzaldúa’s transformation of Catholicism through her poetics. By incorporating some context about how she understands the moon goddess, Coyolxauhqui, I show how Anzaldúa understands dismemberment and reconstitution as a healing, reparative project, and I then connect this notion of dismemberment with the Catholic rituals of Holy Communion and veneration of relics to suggest that Anzaldúa was able to find continuity within as well as more obvious points of departure from Catholic ritual.

A CARVED FIGURE OF SAINT DEMETRIUS OF THESSALONICA IN THE EPONYMOUS AISLE OF THE ASSUMPTION CATHEDRAL OF THE MOSCOW KREMLIN. THE RELIC AND ITS SCULPTURAL EMBODIMENTY

In the article, the author continues her research on the Holy relics and wooden carved sculpture in ancient Russian art in the context of East and West relations. The author draws attention to the current problem of studying the relationship of form formation with the structure of symbolic thinking within the cultural space of the era. Moreover, the author explores historical analytical texts which highlight the problems of sacred synthesis, confirming the author’s conclusions that church space and each object, regardless of its size and sacred significance, originally formed a single whole. In her article, the author proves that the kiot carved statue of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica was made by a Moscow master at the end of the 14th — beginning of the 15th centuries. It was placed in the Demetrius chapel of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, signifying, according to Metropolitan Cyprian’s plan, the image of the saint’s “tomb board”, which was brought to Vladimir from Thessalonica in 1197. Restored in the 16th and 17th centuries, the icon of the Thessalonica martyr, from which a golden filigree crown (the end of the 14th — beginning of the 15th century) has been preserved, could have also been commissioned by Cyprian in order to liken the Moscow Assumption Cathedral to the ancient basilica of St. Demetrius, and Moscow to Thessalonica. The only ancient shrine brought to Moscow from Vladimir in the 90s of the 14th century was most likely a Byzantine ark of the 11th century with a particle of St. Demetrius’s “shirt”, which was the main shrine of the basilica. The reconstruction of the “tomb board”, commissioned by Cyprian, in the form of a wooden statue of the saint confirms the opinion that it was a relief. The author draws attention to the polemical problem of interpretation of the phenomenon of Russian church sculpture in the synodal era as a manifestation of pagan beliefs, pointing out that its in-depth study at the end of the 20th — beginning of the 21st centuries made it possible to assert the high spiritual and artistic status of this phenomenon. The author bases her evidence on archival documents, analysis of historical and cultural contexts, and comparative analysis of monuments.

Translation Effects: Language, Time, and Community in Medieval England

Translation Effects: Language, Time, and Community in Medieval England

Pilgrimages in Times of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Romania

In 2020, religious celebrations in Romania were greatly affected by restrictions meant to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Easter, the highlight of the Orthodox Christian ritual year, was celebrated in empty churches during the spring lockdown. Participation in religious activities was later progressively permitted. During autumn, pilgrimages were allowed, but only in compliance with strict regulations. This article focuses on the restrictions imposed by public authorities, the solutions found by church representatives, and the faithful’s reaction to the new situation. The Orthodox liturgical year begins in Romania on the 1st of September, marked by a series of pilgrimages, occasioned by feasts for several saints whose relics are venerated in local churches. Some of them, centuries old, attract thousands of people. The celebrations last several days, during which people wait patiently, for hours, to touch the holy relics. In 2020, governmental measures limited participation to local residents, without previous consultation with the church authorities. This caused great discontent. Despite this, the number of pilgrims was not substantially less than in previous years, in large part due to the direct negotiations between the faithful and the local law forces.

Relics, Images, and Christian Apotropaic Devices in the Roman-Persian Wars (4th-7th Centuries)

This paper analyses the military use of holy relics, images, and other Christian apotropaic devices in the Roman-Persian wars. I examine a wide range of literary evidence from the 4th to the 7th century exploring where, why, and how different Christian objects were used in military contexts. Moreover, I consider different factors, as the local religious practices or the rivalry between the Christian Roman Empire and Zoroastrian Persia. I argue that the earliest military uses of relics and holy images happened in the context of the Roman-Persian conflict and frontier region, and that, during the 4th-7th centuries, these uses were much more common there than anywhere else. Also, that some local practices of this region could have been adopted by military officers and the Imperial elite. I propose that three factors could explain this: First, the intensity of the cult of relics and images in Syria and the Near East. Second, the growing identification of the Roman Empire as a Christian power between the 4th and 7th centuries. Finally, the Roman-Persian conflict and the climate of religious confrontation that grew over the course of the Byzantine-Sassanian wars.

Le Pèlerinage de Port-Royal (1767)

In 1767 a leaflet containing the texts of a stations-of-the cross liturgy for a pilgrimage from the Parisian church of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas to the site at Port-Royal-des-Champs, was published in thirteen parts. The votive office was based on the model of the offices of the holy relics in the Parisian breviary of 1736 for the octave of All Saints, but with specific readings for the matins. Of the ten liturgical poems, nine - most of them by Santeuil or Coffin - were borrowed for this model. The sequence of the mass, the curious Ad portum currant regium, was an original creation. On arriving at the Champs setting, one had to recite the second vespers, with a hymn that was an adaptation of the Urbs Jerusalem beata of the old Roman breviary, in which it belonged to the office of the dedication.

Review: The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome, by Nicola Denzey Lewis

Review: The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome, by Nicola Denzey Lewis

ОМСКАЯ И ТЮМЕНСКАЯ ЕПАРХИЯ ПРИ АРХИЕПИСКОПЕ МАКСИМЕ (КРОХЕ)

The article reconstructs the diocesan history in the Omsk and Tyumen dioceses under Archbishop Maxim (Krokha) (1975–1986),. there was a significant increase in the education of the clergy of the diocese, the number of Orthodox parishes increased, and cathedrals and churches were reconstructed. The bishop's house was opened in Tyumen, overhauled, and received the status of an architectural monument of the Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral in Omsk, extensions to the St. Nicholas Church were made, St. Sophia Cathedral in Tobolsk was restored, under the guise of repair new churches were built in Isilkul and Tyukalinsk Omsk region. During the episcopacy of Archbishop Maxim (Krokha), the holy relics of St. John of Tobolsk were examined in 1975, Archbishop Maxim compiled a patericon of Siberian saints, with the blessing of the patriarch established the celebration of the Cathedral of Siberian Saints (June 10/23) and compiled services for the Moscow Metropolitan. St. Innocent (Veniaminov) and the Cathedral of Siberian Saints. The number of parishioners, the number of baptisms, funerals and the income of the Russian Orthodox Church has almost tripled in comparison with the beginning of the 1970s. As of June 1, 1985, 13 churches were operating in the Omsk diocese (of which 3 cathedrals), 21 priests, 3 deacons, 5 psalmists, 2 regents were registered. The material for the study was the primary materials of the Archives of the Omsk Diocesan Administration, as well as statistical reports of the representatives of the Council for Religious Affairs in the Omsk and Tyumen regions. Based on archival documents, the lists of the Orthodox clergy, monastics and parishes of the diocese have been reconstructed. The article examines the issues of anti-religious and atheistic propaganda, as well as tendencies that indicate the beginning of a change in church-state relations.

The Lateran Church in Rome and the Ark of the Covenant: Housing the Holy Relics of Jerusalem. With an Edition and Translation of the Descriptio Lateranensis Ecclesiae (BAV Reg. Lat. 712), by Eivor Andersen Oftestad

The Lateran Church in Rome and the Ark of the Covenant: Housing the Holy Relics of Jerusalem. With an Edition and Translation of the Descriptio Lateranensis Ecclesiae (BAV Reg. Lat. 712), by Eivor Andersen Oftestad

The myth of phocaicus: new evidence on the silk industry in Byzantine Central Greece

The article originates from a record David Jacoby drew attention to but left mostly unaddressed in his path-breaking article on the silk industry in western Byzantium. It examines three underexplored hagiographical texts concerning the endeavours of Arechis II, the prince of Benevento (758–787), in the translation of holy relics. These texts all feature the word phocaicus when describing the luxurious textiles Arechis dedicated to the relics. This article argues that this word is a geographical designation pointing to a so-far unidentified centre of the Byzantine silk industry sometime around 1050–1150, most likely Phokis in Central Greece.

Royal Saints, Artistic Patronage, and Self-representation among Hungarian Noblemen

During the 1401–1403 political crisis in the Kingdom of Hungary, the magnates who were hostile to the ruling King Sigismund of Luxemburg and supported instead the Angevin King Ladislas of Naples deployed a wide range of propaganda tools for proving the legitimacy of their political cause. In a previous study published in this journal (Vestnik of SPbSU. History, 2021, vol. 66, issue 1, рp. 179–192), I have focused on the Hungarian noblemen’s anti-royal propaganda through the utilizing of political and spiritual symbols (i. e., the Holy Crown of Hungary and the cult, relics, and visual representations of St. Ladislas), symbolic actions (coronations and oath-swearing on holy relics), and heraldic self-representation (the Árpádian double cross). The present study approaches the same topic of anti-royal propaganda in the troubled political context of the early 15th century, but from the perspective of the elites’ self-representation strategies via the cult of Hungarian royal saints, artistic patronage, and heraldic self-representation. The two leaders of the anti-royal movement, Archbishop of Esztergom John Kanizsai and Palatine of Hungary Detre Bebek, repeatedly commissioned works of art (i.e., seals, stained-glass windows, and wall paintings) which featured prominently the images of the three Holy Kings of Hungary (Sts Stephen, Emeric, and Ladislas) or displayed the realm’s coat of arms (the Árpádian two-barred cross). The reliance of John Kanizsai and Detre Bebek on the cults and images of the patron saints of the country blended harmoniously the commissioners’ personal piety with their political ambitions. In the context of the early-15th century political crisis, the appropriation of the ideal figures of the sancti reges Hungariae became the driving force behind the Hungarian noblemen’s political cause.

The Lateran Church in Rome and the Ark of the Covenant: Housing the Holy Relics of Jerusalem. Studies in the History of Medieval Religion. By Eivor Andersen Oftestad. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2019. xv + 257 pp. $120.00 cloth.

The Lateran Church in Rome and the Ark of the Covenant: Housing the Holy Relics of Jerusalem. Studies in the History of Medieval Religion. By Eivor Andersen Oftestad. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2019. xv + 257 pp. $120.00 cloth. - Volume 89 Issue 1

Bolsheviks and the Holy Relics

The article explores the opening of religious relics in the first years of Soviet power and the reaction to this opening by “popular оrthodoxy”. Holy relics — the bones and imperishable remains of holy people — are revered in both the Orthodox and Catholic churches. In 1918–1920, the Bolsheviks, knowing popular belief in the incorruption of Holy relics, organized the opening of Church relics, and instead of imperishable relics found only bones. Government officials, priests, and doctors were appointed to the Commission responsible for opening relics of saints. Thus, the Soviet authorities tried to discredit the Church. The organizers of the company for opening relics were those who before the Revolution were linked to the Orthodox Church. These were either former priests or people who served in the Synod. The opening of the relics was a great shock for the faithful and a great success for the new authorities. Instead of imperishable relics, the tombs were found at best with rotted bones. The results of this campaign were published in the press and were actively used by Soviet power later.

Rethinking Women's Suffering and Holiness: Gloria Anzaldúa's “Holy Relics”

In the poem, "Holy Relics," Chicana theorist Gloria Anzaldúa (1942–2004) interrogated Christian imaginaries of female holiness by troubling existing stories that locate holiness in passivity, suffering, and silence. Creatively envisioning the tearing apart of Teresa of Ávila's body for the sake of collecting relics, Anzaldúa showed how this notion of holiness can lead to an objectification of women's bodies and an attempt to manipulate their power. Furthermore, she revealed how conceptions of wholeness/holiness already carry fragmentation within them. By reimagining wholeness and fragmentation, Anzaldúa offered a way of rethinking suffering, one in which brokenness opens a space through which new identities and ways of being can emerge.

Relics, Jesuit Masculinity, and the Performance of Martyrdom in Triumpho de los Sanctos

In this article I analyze the sixteenth-century New Spanish Jesuit play Triumpho de los Sanctos, written and performed at the Colegio Máximo de San Pedro y San Pablo in Mexico City as the centerpiece of an eight-day festival to welcome the arrival of a shipment of holy relics from Rome. The play focuses on four early Christian martyrs—saints Pedro, Doroteo, Gorgonio, and Juan—, whose bones were among those sent by Pope Gregory XIII to the New World. The choice the anonymous Jesuit authors made to foreground these four lives among all the saints, virgins, and other holy personages whose relics made it to New Spain is not coincidental. The recently arrived Society of Jesus believed the promotion of martyrdom would assist them in their desire to save the native souls of New Spain. The depiction of the four ancient martyrs as embodying the masculine ideals of holy courage and exemplary virtue allowed the Society to promote a blueprint for the conduct of those whom they would send out to be missionaries in this hostile new landscape. In relating the circumstances of the four saints' death in a dramatic work, moreover, the Jesuits allowed the audience to connect the recently arrived holy fragments of bone to the flesh and blood men whose suffering they believed would bring glory to God.

The Struggle of Believers against the Disclosure of Holy Relics in the European North of Russia in 1918–1920

The Struggle of Believers against the Disclosure of Holy Relics in the European North of Russia in 1918–1920

Eivor Andersen Oftestad, The Lateran Church in Rome and the Ark of the Covenant: Housing the Holy Relics of Jerusalem with an Edition and Translation of the Descriptio Lateranensis Ecclesia (Bav Reg. lat. 712)

Eivor Andersen Oftestad, The Lateran Church in Rome and the Ark of the Covenant: Housing the Holy Relics of Jerusalem with an Edition and Translation of the Descriptio Lateranensis Ecclesia (Bav Reg. lat. 712)

Sacred Substantiations: Lincoln Casts and Statuary in the American Imagination

On March 31, 1860, Abraham Lincoln waited in the studio of Leonard Wells Volk as a plaster mold hardened around his face and head. After one hour, Volk removed the mold; he later repeated the process for Lincoln’s hands. The resulting life casts elicited profound emotional reactions in those who saw them. Augustus Saint-Gaudens recognized and capitalized on their invaluable status as candid indexes of Lincoln’s likeness in his 1887 Chicago monument, Abraham Lincoln: The Man. In the words of sculptor Lorado Taft, “It does not seem like a bronze. . . . One stands before it and feels himself in the very presence of America’s soul.”
 It was also Saint-Gaudens who amplified the casts’ influence through the manufacture of a prized series of thirty-three bronze replicas. The actual and imagined characteristics of these casts—their sense of possessing a “soul,” and their physical manifestation of Lincoln’s touch—all warrant consideration of their place within the larger tradition of holy relics. This paper posits the Lincoln casts as “contact relics” and establishes the generative potential of such a numinous categorization for American audiences, especially in the wake of the Civil War. Volk’s direct impressions of Lincoln’s visage and hands provided the “blueprints,” so to speak, for an astonishingly wide variety of sculptural manifestations—from the iconic Lincoln Memorial (1920) by Daniel Chester French to Abraham Lincoln (1917) by George Grey Barnard. This essay argues that the cultural impact of this sculptural genealogy is largely indebted to the casts’ material substantiations of Lincoln’s bodily presence and touch. Indeed, by situating these objects between medieval and modern modes of viewing, it will become clear that the casts, as progeny of the original life molds, afforded an affective, even remedial, authenticity for subsequent Lincoln monuments in the American imagination.