Tuesday 24 April 2007

A relic of St George - among others ...

A correspondent asked yesterday whether we had any relics of St George in the vaults. I don't recall seeing any of St George (although there are hundreds of relics, as you may recall from this posting!) - but I do boast a relic of England's patron in my office, as part of this astonishing reliquary which contains a relic for every day of the year.

George is duly there, for 21 April, as is St Mark two days later. In between (that is, today) is St Leo III martyr.

In the centre are the truly serious relics (sadly, a crack runs through the reliquary here, but the relics are undisturbed). From the top (as seen below) they are:

The True Cross (just off the top of the picture)
The Cradle
The Manger
The Table of the Last Supper
The Column of the flagellation
The Crown of Thorns
The Purple Robe
The Title of the Cross
The Tomb of our Lord
The Veil of Our Lady
The Cloak of St Joseph
sss
Now that should be enough to keep you going for some time!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank you father i will show this to my students in morning prayer today

Andrew said...

Wow! What a treasure trove.

I am reminded of this paragraph from the martyrdom of Polycarp:

Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps.

You truly have a great and precious treasure, Father. You are truly blessed.

James Casey said...

My word. I oughtn't to be surprised... but wow. No matter what the origins of the relics, there must be amazing stories in that reliquary.

I make do with a relic of St. Charles de Foucauld. Enough to make me feel lucky!