Editing Relic (section)

==<span class="anchor" id="Christian relics"></span>Christianity==
[[File:BJ23-reliquary.jpg|thumb|A [[reliquary]] at [[Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary]] in the [[United States]], with relics of [[James the Greater|St. James]], [[Matthew the Evangelist|St. Matthew]], [[Philip the Apostle|St. Philip]], [[Simon the Zealot|St. Simon]], [[Thomas the Apostle|St. Thomas]], [[Saint Stephen|St. Stephen]] and other [[saint]]s]]

===History===
One of the earliest sources that purports to show the efficacy of relics is found in 2 Kings 13:20–21:
{{blockquote|And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites used to invade the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. <ref>{{Bibleverse|2|Kings|13:20–21|HE}}</ref>}}

Also cited is the veneration of relics from the martyr and bishop [[Saint Polycarp of Smyrna]] recorded in the ''[[Martyrdom of Polycarp]]'', written sometime from 150 to 160 AD.<ref name=head>[http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/hagiography/cult.htm Head, Thomas. "The Cult of the Saints and Their Relics", The On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies (the ORB), College of Staten Island, City University of New York] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717041711/http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/hagiography/cult.htm |date=July 17, 2012 }}</ref> With regard to relics that are objects, an often cited passage is [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 19:11–12, which says that [[Paul the Apostle]]'s handkerchiefs were imbued by God with healing power. In the [[gospel]] accounts of [[Jesus healing the bleeding woman]] and again in the [[Gospel of Mark]] 6:56, those who touched Jesus' garment were healed.

The practice of venerating relics seems to have been taken for granted by writers like [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], St. [[Ambrose]], [[Gregory of Nyssa]], St. [[Chrysostom]], and St. [[Gregory Nazianzen]]. Dom Bernardo Cignitti, O.S.B., wrote, "[T]he remains of certain dead are surrounded with special care and veneration. This is because the mortal remains of the deceased are associated in some manner with the holiness of their souls which await reunion with their bodies in the [[Resurrection of the Dead|resurrection]]."<ref name=mangan>[http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0331.html Mangan, Charles. "Church Teaching on Relics", Catholic Education Resource Center]</ref> [[Thomas Aquinas]] (d. 1274) pointed out that it was natural that people should treasure what is associated with the dead, much like the personal effects of a relative.<ref name=odonnell/> In an interview with [[Catholic News Service]], Fr. Mario Conte, executive editor of the Messenger of St. Anthony magazine in [[Padua]], [[Italy]], said, "Saints' relics help people overcome the abstract and make a connection with the holy ... Saints do not perform miracles. Only God performs miracles, but saints are intercessors."<ref name=griffin>{{cite web|url=http://www.americancatholic.org/news/report.aspx?id=4106|title=Catholic News - Saints' Relics Help People Make Connection to the Holy |website=American Catholic}}</ref>

[[File:Reliekschrijnbinnen.jpg|thumb|A relic from the shrine of [[Saint Boniface|Saint Boniface of Dokkum]] in the [[hermit|hermit-church]] of [[Warfhuizen]]: the bone fragment in middle is from [[Saint Boniface]]; the folded papers on the left and right contain bone fragments of Saint [[Benedict of Nursia]] and [[Bernard of Clairvaux]].]]

In the early Church the disturbance of the remains of martyrs and other saints was not practiced. They were allowed to remain in their often unidentified resting places such as in cemeteries and the [[catacombs of Rome]].  These places were always outside the walls of the city, but [[martyrium (architecture)|martyrium]]s began to be built over the site of the burial.  Since it was considered beneficial to the soul to be buried close to the remains of saints, several large "funerary halls" were built over the sites of martyr's graves, including [[Old Saint Peter's Basilica]]. These were initially not regular churches, but "covered cemeteries" crammed with graves, wherein was celebrated funerary and memorial services. It may have been thought that when the souls of the martyrs went to heaven on resurrection day they would be accompanied by those interred nearby, who would thus gain favour with God.<ref name=Thurston/>

Some early Christians attributed [[traditional medicine|healing powers]] to the [[Hanānā|dust from graves]] of saints, including [[Gregory of Tours]]. The cult of [[Martin of Tours]] was very popular in [[Merovingian]] [[Gaul]], and centered at a great church built just outside the walls of Tours. When Saint Martin died on November 8, 397, at a village halfway between [[Tours]] and [[Poitiers]], the inhabitants of these cities were ready to fight for his body, which the people of Tours managed to secure by stealth. Tours became the chief point of [[Christian pilgrimage]] in Gaul, a place for the healing of the sick.<ref name=sourcebook/> 

[[Gregory of Tours]] travelled to the shrine when he had contracted a serious illness. Later, as bishop of Tours, Gregory wrote extensively about miracles attributed to the intercession of St Martin.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00570|title=Gregory of Tours, Glory of the Martyrs 49|journal=Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity|first=Marta|last=Tycner|publisher=[[University of Oxford]], [[University of Warsaw]], [[University of Reading]], [[European Research Council]]|access-date=5 October 2022}}</ref> [[Nestorian Christianity]] utilized the ''hanānā''–a mixture made with the dust of [[Thomas the Apostle]]'s tomb–for healing. Within the [[Assyrian Church of the East]], it is consumed by a couple getting married in the [[Mystery of Crowning]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-c-30/V-2/page-hr/0412.html.en|title=The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East|author=[[Henry Yule|Yule, Henry]]|location=[[London]]|publisher=John Murray|date=1903|volume=2|page=356|via=National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project, Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.malankaralibrary.com/ImageUpload/8cbe709334d186a0f272183699f0a27f.pdf|title=East Syriac Theology: An Introduction|chapter=Theology of 'Rāzē: The Mysteries of the Church in the East Syriac Tradition|first=Jose|last=Kochuparampil|editor-first=Pauly|editor-last=Maniyattu|publisher=Ephrem's Publications|date=2007|location=[[Madhya Pradesh|MP]], [[India]]|page=264, 267|access-date=5 October 2022|via=Malankara Library}}</ref>

The [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787 drew on the teaching of St. [[John Damascene]]<ref name=butterfield/> that homage or respect is not really paid to an inanimate object, but to the holy person, the veneration of a holy person is itself honour paid to God.<ref name=odonnell>{{cite web|url=http://carmelite.org/index.php?nuc=content&id=127|title=Relics|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301045514/http://carmelite.org/index.php?nuc=content&id=127|archive-date=2016-03-01}}</ref> The Council decreed that every [[altar]] should contain a relic, making it clear that this was already the norm, as it remains to the present day in [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] churches. The veneration of the relics of the saints reflects a belief that the saints in heaven [[Intercession|intercede]] for those on earth. A number of cures and miracles have been attributed to relics, not because of their own power, but because of the holiness of the saint they represent.<ref name=bc>[http://www.bostoncatholic.org/Being-Catholic/Content.aspx?id=11478 "Relics of Saints"], ''Boston Catholic'', Archdiocese of Boston</ref>

Many tales of [[miracle]]s and other marvels were attributed to relics beginning in the early centuries of the church. These became popular during the [[Middle Ages]]. They were collected in books of [[hagiography]] such as the ''[[Golden Legend]]'' or the works of [[Caesarius of Heisterbach]]. These miracle tales made relics much sought-after during the period. By the Late Middle Ages, the collecting of, and dealing in, relics had reached enormous proportions, and had spread from the church to royalty, and then to the nobility and merchant classes.

The [[Council of Trent]] of 1563 enjoined bishops to instruct their flocks that "the holy bodies of holy martyrs ... are to be venerated by the faithful, for through these [bodies] many benefits are bestowed by God on men". The Council further insisted that "in the invocation of saints, the veneration of relics and the sacred use of images, every superstition shall be removed and all filthy lucre abolished."<ref name=Thurston>Thurston, Herbert. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12734a.htm "Relics"]. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 13 March 2014</ref> There are also many [[relics associated with Jesus]].

[[File:Reliquary of St. Francis Xavier's humerus.jpg|thumb|upright|St. [[Francis Xavier]]'s [[humerus]], [[St. Joseph's Seminary and Church|St. Joseph's Church]], [[Macau]]]]

In his introduction to Gregory's ''History of the Franks'', [[Ernest Brehaut]] analyzed the Romano-Christian concepts that gave relics such a powerful draw. He distinguished Gregory's constant usage of ''sanctus'' and ''[[virtus (virtue)|virtus]]'',  the first with its familiar meaning of "sacred" or "holy", and the second as "the mystic potency emanating from the person or thing that is sacred... In a practical way the second word ''[virtus]'' ... describes the uncanny, mysterious power emanating from the supernatural and affecting the natural... These points of contact and yielding are the miracles we continually hear of."<ref name=sourcebook>Medieval Sourcebook, Gregory of Tours (539–594), ''History of the Franks'', Books I–X, [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/gregory-hist.html#brehaut Introduction by Earnest Brehaut (from his 1916 translation), pp. ix–xxv] [Note: Many of Brehaut's opinions and prejudices would not be upheld by modern historians. Students should not rely on this ''Introduction'' as a guide.]</ref>

===Relics and pilgrimage===
Rome became a major destination for Christian pilgrims as it was easier to access for European pilgrims than the [[Holy Land]]. [[Constantine the Great]] erected great basilicas over the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul. A distinction of these sites was the presence of holy relics. Over the course of the Middle Ages, other religious structures acquired relics and became destinations for [[pilgrimage]]. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, substantial numbers of pilgrims flocked to [[Santiago de Compostela]] in Spain, in which the supposed relics of the apostle [[James, son of Zebedee]], discovered {{circa}} 830, are housed.<ref name=sorabella>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pilg/hd_pilg.htm|title=Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History}}</ref> Santiago de Compostela remains a significant pilgrimage site, with around 200,000 pilgrims, both secular and Christian, completing the numerous pilgrimage routes to the cathedral in 2012 alone.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Beardsley|first1=Eleanor|title=An Ancient Religious Pilgrimage That Now Draws The Secular|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/05/20/185577205/Modern-Pilgrims-Find-New-Meaning-Walking-An-Ancient-Path|newspaper=NPR.org|access-date=20 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in Pictures|url=http://www.santiago-compostela.net/|website=Camino de Santiago}}</ref>

By venerating relics through visitation, gifts, and providing services, medieval Christians believed that they would acquire the protection and intercession of the sanctified dead.<ref name=head/> Relics of [[local saint]]s drew visitors to sites like Saint Frideswide's in [[Oxford]], and San Nicola Peregrino in [[Trani]].<ref name=sorabella/> Instead of having to travel to be near to a venerated [[saint]], relics of the saint could be venerated locally. 

Believers would make pilgrimages to places believed to have been sanctified by the physical presence of Christ or prominent saints, such as the site of the [[Holy Sepulchre]] in [[Jerusalem]].{{cn|date=July 2023}}

====Economic effect====
As holy relics attracted pilgrims and these religious tourists needed to be housed, fed, and provided with souvenirs, relics became a source of income not only for the destinations that held them, but for the abbeys, churches, and towns en route. Relics were prized as they were portable.<ref name=ekelund>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ByFRavb95AYC&pg=PA139 |title=Sacred trust : the medieval church as an economic firm |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Robert B. Ekelund |isbn=0-19-510337-8 |location=New York |oclc=34943197| author-first=Robert B. | author-last=Ekelund | author-first2=Robert D.| author-last2=Tollison | author-first3=Gary M. | author-last3=Anderson | author-first4=Robert F.| author-last4=Herbert | author-first5=Audrey B.| author-last5=Davidson }}</ref> They could be possessed, inventoried, bequeathed, stolen, counterfeited, and smuggled.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Manns |first=D. |date=2015-04-13 |title=The Business of Bones: Relic Trafficking in the Middle Ages |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-business-of-bones-relic-trafficking-in-the-middle-ages |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref> They could add value to an established site or confer significance on a new location.<ref name=smith>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Julia M. H. |date=2010 |title=Portable Christianity: Relics in the Medieval West (c. 700–1200) |url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1953/pba181p143.pdf |url-status=live|series=[[Proceedings of the British Academy]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |publication-date=2012 |volume=181 |pages=143–167 |doi=10.5871/bacad/9780197265277.003.0006 |isbn=9780197265277 |issn=0068-1202 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223053830/https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1953/pba181p143.pdf |archive-date=2022-02-23 |access-date=2022-04-18}}</ref> Offerings made at a site of pilgrimage were an important source of revenue for the community who received them on behalf of the saint.<ref name=geary>{{Cite book |last=Geary |first=Patrick J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXriQodlUsQC&pg=PA22 |title=Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages |edition=Revised |year=2011 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-2020-7 |language=en}}</ref> 

According to [[Patrick J. Geary|Patrick Geary]], "[t]o the communities fortunate enough to have a saint's remains in its church, the benefits in terms of revenue and status were enormous, and competition to acquire relics and to promote the local saint's virtues over those of neighboring communities was keen."<ref name=patg>{{Citation |last=Geary |first=Patrick |title=Sacred commodities: the circulation of medieval relics |date=1986-04-30 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9780511819582A016/type/book_part |work=The Social Life of Things |pages=169–192 |editor-last=Appadurai |editor-first=Arjun |edition=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511819582.008 |isbn=978-0-521-32351-2 |access-date=2022-04-18 |archive-date=2014-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314102934/http://sacredspace.barrystephenson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Geary-Sacred-Commodities-Medieval-Relics.pdf |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }}.</ref> Local clergy promoted their own patron saints in an effort to secure their own market share. On occasion guards had to watch over mortally ill holy men and women to prevent the unauthorized dismemberment of their corpses as soon as they died.<ref name=butterfield>{{Cite magazine |last=Butterfield |first=Andrew |date=2011-07-28 |title=What Remains |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/92804/medieval-christian-art-relics |access-date=2022-04-18 |issn=0028-6583}}</ref> Geary also suggests that the danger of someone murdering an aging holy man in order to acquire his relics was a legitimate concern.<ref name=patg/>

Relics were used to cure the sick, to seek intercession for relief from famine or plague, to take solemn oaths, and to pressure warring factions to make peace in the presence of the sacred. Courts held relics since Merovingian times.<ref name=smith/> St [[Angilbert]] acquired for [[Charlemagne]] one of the most impressive collections in Christendom.<ref name=ekelund/> An active market developed and relics entered into commerce along the same trade routes followed by other portable commodities. Matthew Brown likens a ninth-century Italian [[deacon]] named Deusdona, with access to the Roman catacombs, as crossing the [[Alps]] to visit monastic fairs of northern Europe much like a contemporary art dealer.<ref name=brown>{{Cite web |url=http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/bown/art-value5-25-10.asp | title=Dust to Dust | first=Matthew | last=Brown |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=www.artnet.com | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205143130/http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/bown/art-value5-25-10.asp | archive-date=2022-02-05}}</ref>

[[Canterbury]] was a popular destination for English pilgrims, who traveled to witness the miracle-working relics of St [[Thomas Becket]], the sainted [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] who was [[Thomas Becket#Assassination|assassinated by knights]] of [[Henry II of England|King Henry II]] in 1170.<ref name=sorabella/> After Becket's death, his successor and the Canterbury chapter quickly used his relics to promote the cult of the as-yet-uncanonized martyr. The motivations included the assertion of the Church's independence against rulers, a desire to have an English (indeed [[Anglo-Normans|Norman English]]) saint of European reputation, and the desire to promote Canterbury as a destination for pilgrimage. In the first years after Becket's death, donations at the shrine accounted for twenty-eight percent of the cathedral's total revenues.<ref name=freeman>{{Cite book |last=Freeman |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDQH9Pi5eT0C&pg=PA31 |title=Holy Bones, Holy Dust: How Relics Shaped the History of Medieval Europe |year=2011|publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-16659-0 |language=en}}</ref>

===Counterfeits===
In the absence of real ways of assessing authenticity, relic-collectors became prey to the unscrupulous, and some extremely high prices were paid. Forgeries proliferated from the very beginning. [[Augustine]] already denounced impostors who wandered around disguised as monks, making a profit from the sale of spurious relics.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1314.htm "Of the Works of Monks"] (St. Augustine): "36...Some hawking about limbs of martyrs, if indeed of martyrs"</ref> In his ''Admonitio Generalis'' of 789, [[Charlemagne]] ordered that "the false names of martyrs and the uncertain memorials of saints should not be venerated."<ref name=head/> The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) of the Catholic Church condemned abuses such as counterfeit relics and exaggerated claims.<ref name=odonnell/>

Pieces of the [[True Cross]] were one of the most highly sought-after of such relics; many churches claimed to possess a piece of it, so many that [[John Calvin]] famously remarked that there were enough pieces of the True Cross to build a ship from.<ref>Calvin, ''Traité Des Reliques''</ref> By the middle of the 16th century, the number of relics in Christian churches became enormous, and there was practically no possibility to distinguish the authentic from the falsification, since both of them had been in the temples for centuries and were objects for worship. In 1543, John Calvin wrote about fake relics in his ''[[Treatise on Relics]]'', in which he described the state of affairs with relics in Catholic churches. Calvin says that the saints have two or three or more bodies with arms and legs, and even a few extra limbs and heads.<ref>[[:ru:Радциг, Николай Иванович|Radtsig, N. I.]] [http://www.srednieveka.ru/upload/journal/01.150-163.pdf "Traite des reliques" Кальвина, его происхождение и значение] / [http://www.srednieveka.ru/journal.php?op=cat&id=1171 Сборник «Средние века»], №01 (1942) / Ежегодник [[Russian Academy of Sciences|РАН]] / [[Nauka (publisher)|Nauka]].</ref><ref>[[Philip Schaff]]. [http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/8_ch15.htm "History of the Christian Church"]. Volume VIII: "History Of The Reformation, 1517–1648". Third Book. The Reformation in French Switzerland, or The Calvinistic Movement. / Chapter XV. Theological Controversies. / § 122. Against the Worship of Relics. 1543.</ref>

Due to the existence of counterfeit relics, the Church began to regulate the use of relics. [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Canon Law]] required the authentication of relics if they were to be publicly [[Veneration|venerated]]. They had to be sealed in a [[reliquary]] and accompanied by a certificate of authentication, signed and sealed by someone in the [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints|Congregation for Saints]],<ref name="Vatican Website">{{cite web |title=Instruction for Conducting Diocesan or Eparchial Inquiries in the Causes of Saints (Rome 2007) – Authentication |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20070517_sanctorum-mater_en.html#Authentication |website=Vatican Website |publisher=Congregation for the Causes of Saints |access-date=23 October 2019 }}</ref> or by the local Bishop where the saint lived. Without such authentication, relics are not to be used for public veneration.<ref name=AmericanCatholic.Org>{{cite web|title=AmericanCatholic.Org|url=http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Jan1998/Wiseman.asp|website=American Catholic|access-date=10 May 2015}}</ref> The Congregation for Saints, as part of the [[Roman Curia]], holds the authority to verify relics in which documentation is lost or missing. The documents and reliquaries of authenticated relics are usually affixed with a [[Seal (emblem)|wax seal]].<ref name="Vatican Website"/>

===Classifications and prohibitions in the Catholic Church===
[[File:Relic of Bishop Alfredo F. Verzosa.jpg|thumb|First-class relic of the [[Alfredo Verzosa|Servant of God Alfredo F. Verzosa]] (''Ex Ossibus'', “from [the] bone”)|250x250px]]

[[File:Second class relic of Saints.jpg|thumb|Second-class relics of Venerable Maria Teresa Spinelli, Venerable Santo of St. Dominic, and Venerable Giovanni of St. William (''Ex Indumentis'')|187x187px]]

[[File:Third class relic of Saint Therese of Lisieux.jpg|thumb|Third-class relic of [[Saint Therese of Lisieux]] (''Reliqua Tertiae classis'')|187x187px]]

In Catholic theology, sacred relics must not be worshipped, because only God is worshipped and adored. Instead, the veneration given to them was "[[Veneration|dulia]]". [[Saint Jerome]] declared, "We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are."<ref>Jerome, ''Ad Riparium'', i, P.L., XXII, 907.</ref>

{{anchor|Classes}}<!-- [[First-class relic]], [[Second-class relic]], [[Third-class relic]] redirect here -->Until 2017, the Catholic Church divided relics into three classes:
* '''First-class relics:''' items directly associated with the events of Christ's life (the Manger, [[True Cross]], etc.) or the physical remains of a saint (a bone, a hair, skull,<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.11141/ia.59.8 | issue=59 | title=The High-Status Late Medieval Skull Shaped Relic in Turku Cathedral, Finland – a study of its origin with oxygen and strontium isotope analyses | year=2022 | journal=Internet Archaeology | last1 = Lahtinen | first1 = Maria | doi-access=free }}</ref> a limb, blood, etc.). Traditionally, a martyr's relics are often more prized than the relics of other saints. Parts of the saint were significant to their life are also more prized; King St. [[Stephen of Hungary]]'s right forearm is especially important due to 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 travelled often, then the bones of his feet may be prized. Catholic teaching prohibits relics to be divided up into small, unrecognizable parts if they are to be used in liturgy (i.e., as in an altar; see rubrics listed in Rite of Dedication of a Church and an Altar).
* '''Second-class relics:''' items that the saint owned or frequently used, for example, a [[crucifix]], [[rosary]], book, etc. Again, an item more important in the saint's life is thus a more important relic. Sometimes a second-class relic is a part of an item that the saint wore (a shirt, a glove, etc.) and is known as ''[[ex indumentis]]'' ("from the clothing").
* '''Third-class relics:''' any object that has been in contact with a first- or second-class relic.<ref>The Catholic Source Book ''A Comprehensive Collection of Information about the Catholic Church {{ISBN|0-15-950653-0}}''</ref> Most third-class relics are small pieces of cloth, though in the first millennium oil was popular; the [[Monza ampullae]] contained oil collected from lamps burning before the major sites of Christ's life, and some reliquaries had holes for oil to be poured in and out again. Many people call the cloth touched to the bones of saints "''ex brandea''". But ''ex brandea'' strictly refers to pieces of clothing that were touched to the body or tombs of the apostles. It is a term that is used only for such; it is not a synonym for a third-class relic.
In 2017, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints abolished the relics of the third degree, introducing a two-stage scale of classification of relics: significant (insigni) and non-significant (non insigni) relics. The first are the bodies or their significant parts, as well as the entire contents of the urn with the ashes preserved after cremation. The second includes small fragments of the bodies, as well as objects used by saints and blesseds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instruction "Relics in the Church: Authenticity and Conservation" (8 December 2017) |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20171208_istruzione-reliquie_en.html |access-date=2022-05-07 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

The sale or disposal by other means of "sacred relics" (meaning first and second class) without the permission of the Apostolic See is now strictly forbidden by canon 1190 of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law|1983 ''Code of Canon Law'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4D.HTM |title=Code of Canon Law |publisher=Holy See |access-date=2013-03-04 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303003850/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4D.HTM |archive-date=2013-03-03 }}</ref> However, the Catholic Church permitted the sale of third-class relics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scripturecatholic.com/catholic-relics/#Third_Class_Relics_Or_Even_Fourth |title=Catholic Relics: Third Class Relics |date=27 May 2019 |access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref> Relics may not be placed upon the altar for public veneration, as that is reserved for the display of the [[Blessed Sacrament]] (host or prosphora and Eucharistic wine after consecration in the sacrament of the Eucharist).<ref name=McNamara>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zlitur288.htm|title=Venerating Relics at Mass}}</ref>

<!--The gallery should remain between the sections on Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, as it contains images pertaining to both-->
<gallery>
File:Rome San Pietro in Vincoli 12-1-2011 10-38-51.jpg|[[Liberation of Saint Peter|St. Peter's chains]], preserved in [[San Pietro in Vincoli]], Rome, a second-class relic
File:Strdubmainaltar.jpg|Main Altar of [[St. Raphael's Cathedral (Dubuque)|St. Raphael's Cathedral]], [[Dubuque, Iowa]], containing the remains of [[Saint Cessianus]], a boy [[martyr]]ed during the [[Diocletianic Persecution]]
File:Relics of Saint Demetrius.jpg|Relics of [[St. Demetrius]] in the cathedral of [[Thessalonika]], Greece
File:Visoki Decani 08.JPG|Relic of the [[True Cross]], [[Decani Monastery]], [[Serbia]]
File:Relic of Pope St. John Paul II 7119.jpg|Relic of [[Pope John Paul II|Pope St. John Paul II]], declared a saint in 2014, in the [[Hong Kong Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception]]
</gallery>

===Eastern Orthodoxy===
[[File:SaintNinoCross.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Grapevine cross]] of [[Saint Nino]] of Georgia ([[Sioni Cathedral]], [[Tbilisi]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]])]]
[[File:Relics of St. Sabbas the Sanctified in the Mar Saba monastery in Palestine.jpg|thumb|Relics of Saint [[Sabbas the Sanctified]] in the [[Katholikon|Catholicon]] of [[Mar Saba]] Monastery in the [[Kidron Valley]]]]

The importance of relics in the Byzantine world can be seen from the veneration given to the pieces of the [[True Cross]]. Many great works of [[Byzantine enamel]] are ''staurothekes'', or relics containing fragments of the True Cross. Other significant relics included the [[Cincture of the Theotokos|girdle worn by the Virgin]], and pieces of the body or clothing of saints. Such relics (called [[contact relic]]s, or secondary relics)<ref name="Promey">{{cite book|last=Clifton|first=James|editor=Sally M. Promey|title=Sensational Religion: Sensory Cultures in Material Practice|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1yyAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA210|year=2014|publisher=Yale UP|isbn=9780300187359|pages=205–214|chapter=Conversations in Museums}}</ref> were, however, scarce and did not provide most believers with ready access to proximity to the holy. The growth in the production and popularity of reproducible contact relics in the fifth and sixth centuries testifies to the need felt for more widespread access to the divine.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

These contact relics usually involved the placing of readily available objects, such as pieces of cloth, clay tablets, or water then bottled for believers, in contact with a relic. Alternatively, such objects could be dipped into water which had been in contact with the relic (such as the bone of a saint). These relics, a firmly embedded part of veneration by this period, increased the availability of access to the divine but were not infinitely reproducible (an original relic was required), and still usually required believers to undertake pilgrimage or have contact with somebody who had.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

The earliest recorded removal, or [[Translation (relic)|translation]] of saintly remains was that of [[Saint Babylas]] at [[Antioch]] in 354, but, partly perhaps because Constantinople lacked the many saintly graves of Rome, they soon became common in the Eastern Empire, though still prohibited in the West. The Eastern capital was therefore able to acquire the remains of Saints [[Saint Timothy|Timothy]], [[Saint Andrew|Andrew]] and [[Saint Luke|Luke]], and the division of bodies also began, the 5th century theologian [[Theodoretus]] declaring that "Grace remains entire with every part."<ref>"Sectis corum corporibus, integra et indivisa gratia perseverat" appearing in Sermon on the Martyrs (de Martyribus), ch. 8, in, The Cure of Pagan Maladies (Cure of the Pagan Diseases; Cure for Hellenic Maladies; Cure of Greek Maladies; Cure of Pagan Ills). [Graecorum affectionum curatio, Graecarum affectionum curatio, Graecarum affect. Curatio, Graec. Aff. cur.], (ante A.D. 449)</ref> In the West, a decree of [[Theodosius I|Theodosius]] only allowed the moving of a whole [[sarcophagus]] with its contents, but the upheavals of the barbarian invasions relaxed the rules, as remains needed to be relocated to safer places.<ref>Eduard Syndicus; ''Early Christian Art''; p. 73; Burns & Oates, London, 1962</ref>

The [[veneration]] of relics continues to be of importance in the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. As a natural outgrowth of the concept in Orthodox theology of [[Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)|theosis]], the physical bodies of the [[saint]]s are considered to be transformed by [[divine grace]]—indeed, all Orthodox Christians are considered to be [[sanctification|sanctified]] by living the mystical life of the Church, and especially by receiving the [[Sacred Mysteries]] ([[Sacraments]]). In the Orthodox [[Euchologion|service books]], the remains of the departed faithful are referred to as "relics", and are treated with honour and respect. For this reason, the bodies of Orthodox Christians are traditionally not [[embalming|embalmed]].

The veneration of the relics of the saints is of great importance in Orthodoxy, and very often churches will display the relics of saints prominently. In a number of [[monastery|monasteries]], particularly those on the semi-autonomous [[Mount Athos]] in Greece, all of the relics the monastery possesses are displayed and venerated each evening at [[Compline]]. As with the veneration of [[icons]], the [[veneration]] ([[Greek language|Greek]]; δουλια, ''dulia'') of relics in the Orthodox Church is clearly distinguished from [[adoration]] (λατρεια, ''[[latria]]''); i.e., that worship which is due to God alone. Thus Orthodox teaching warns the faithful against [[idolatry]] and at the same time remains true to scriptural teaching (vis. 2 Kings 13:20–21) as understood by Orthodox [[Sacred Tradition]].

The examination of the relics is an important step in the [[glorification]] (canonization) of new saints. Sometimes, one of the signs of sanctification is the condition of the relics of the saint. Some saints will be [[incorruptibility|incorrupt]], meaning that their remains do not decay under conditions when they normally would (natural [[mummy|mummification]] is not the same as incorruption){{clarify|date=June 2018}}. Sometimes even when the flesh does decay the bones themselves will manifest signs of sanctity. They may be honey-coloured or give off a [[odour of sanctity|sweet aroma]]. Some relics will exude [[myrrh]]. The absence of such manifestations is not necessarily a sign that the person is not a Saint.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}}

Relics play a major role in the [[Consecrations in Eastern Christianity#Consecration of a church|consecration of a church]]. The consecrating bishop will place the relics on a [[diskos]] (paten) in a church near the church that is to be consecrated, they will then be taken in a [[Crucession|cross procession]] to the new church, carried three times around the new structure and then placed in the [[Holy Table]] (altar) as part of the consecration service.

The relics of saints (traditionally, always those of a martyr) are also sewn into the [[antimension]] which is given to a priest by his bishop as a means of bestowing [[Liturgical|faculties]] upon him (i.e., granting him permission to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries). The antimens is kept on the [[Holy Table]] (altar), and it is forbidden to celebrate the [[Divine Liturgy]] (Eucharist) without it. Occasionally, in cases of fixed altars, the relics are built in the altar table itself and sealed with a special mixture called [[wax-mastic]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tomov |first1=Nikola |last2=Dzhangozov |first2=Januarius (Yanko) |title=Wax Embedding as a Method for Preservation of Body Relics Used by the Orthodox Church |journal=Acta Morphologica et Anthropologica |volume=25 |issue=1–2 |pages=122–125 |url=http://www.iempam.bas.bg/journals/acta/acta25a/122-125.pdf}}</ref>

The necessity of provide relics for [[antimins|antimensions]] in new churches often necessitates continuous division of relics. An account of this process can be found in a treatise of the pre-revolutionary Russian church historian {{ill|Nikolay Romansky|ru|Романский, Николай Алексеевич}}. According to Romansky, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church operated a special office, located in the Church of Philip the Apostle in the [[Moscow Kremlin]], where bones of numerous saints, authenticated by the church's hierarchs, were stored, and pieces of them were prayerfully separated with hammer and chisel to be sent to the dioceses that needed to place them into new antimensions.<ref>{{citation|url=http://lib.pravmir.ru/library/readbook/410|first=Nikolay (Николай Романский)|last=Romansky|title=Что такое святые мощи и как совершается их раздробление |trans-title=What are holy relics and how their division is carried out}}</ref>

===In art===
Many churches were built along pilgrimage routes. A number in Europe were either founded or rebuilt specifically to enshrine relics, (such as San Marco in [[Venice]]) and to welcome and awe the large crowds of pilgrims who came to seek their help. Romanesque buildings developed passageways behind the altar to allow for the creation of several smaller chapels designed to house relics. From the exterior, this collection of small rooms is seen as a cluster of delicate, curved roofs at one end of the church, a distinctive feature of many Romanesque churches. Gothic churches featured lofty, recessed porches which provided space for statuary and the display of relics.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

Historian and philosopher of art Hans Belting observed that in medieval painting, images explained the relic and served as a testament to its authenticity. In ''Likeness and Presence'', Belting argued that the cult of relics helped to stimulate the rise of painting in medieval Europe.<ref name=butterfield/>

====Reliquaries====
[[File:10.2006 Brazos relicario.jpg|thumb|Reliquaries in the Church of San Pedro, in [[Ayerbe]], Spain]]

[[Reliquary|Reliquaries]] are containers used to protect and display relics. While frequently taking the form of caskets, they have many other forms, including simulations of the relic encased within (e.g., a gilded depiction of an arm for a relic consisting of arm bones). Since the relics themselves were considered valuable, they were enshrined in containers crafted of or covered with gold, silver, gems, and enamel.<ref name=boehm>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/relc/hd_relc.htm|title=Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History}}</ref> 

Ivory was widely used in the Middle Ages for reliquaries, its pure white color an indication of the holy status of its contents.<ref name=speakman>{{cite web|url=http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/Reliquary.php|title=Reliquary}}</ref> These objects constituted a major form of artistic production across Europe and Byzantium throughout the Middle Ages.

===List of claimed relics===
[[File:The Holy Tunic of Jesus Christ in Trier, Germany.JPG|thumb|The [[Seamless robe of Jesus]] in [[Cathedral of Trier|Trier Cathedral]]]]
[[File:2018 Maastricht Heiligdomsvaart, reliekentoning Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek, voorbereiding 15.jpg|thumb|Detail of the Girdle of Mary in the [[Basilica of Our Lady, Maastricht|Basilica of Our Lady]] in [[Maastricht]]]] 
[[File:Shrine of the Three Magi, Cologne.jpg|thumb|The [[Shrine of the Three Kings]] in [[Cologne Cathedral]]]]

* Relics of the [[True Cross]] of Jesus are claimed by many churches around the world. The same applies to [[Holy Nail]]s, [[Holy Sponge]]s, [[Holy Lance]]s, [[Crown of thorns|Holy Thorns]] and other [[Instruments of the Passion]]. Famous examples are the Holy Nail in the [[Iron Crown of Lombardy]] in [[Monza Cathedral]], the Holy Lance that was part of the [[Imperial Treasury, Vienna|Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire]] in the [[Hofburg Palace]] in [[Vienna]], and the [[Holy Thorn Reliquary]] in the [[British Museum]] in [[London]].
* The [[Seamless robe of Jesus]] is kept in a purpose-built chapel in [[Cathedral of Trier|Trier Cathedral]].
* The [[Sandals of Jesus Christ]] were donated to [[Prüm Abbey]], Germany, by popes Zachary and Stephen II in the 8th century.
* The [[Marienschrein]] in [[Aachen Cathedral]] contains four important relics: the nappy and loin cloth of Jesus, the dress of Mary and the decapitation cloth of John the Baptist. The [[Karlsschrein]] in the same church contains the remains of [[Charlemagne]], who was locally venerated as a saint.
* The Girdle of Mary is kept in the [[Basilica of Our Lady, Maastricht|Basilica of Our Lady]] in [[Maastricht]], Netherlands.
* The [[Shrine of the Three Kings]] in [[Cologne Cathedral]] contains the remnants of the [[biblical Magi]].
* St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican contains [[Saint Peter's tomb|Saint Peter's]] relics.
* St Paul's relics are allegedly contained in the [[Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls|Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Wall]], in Rome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=14539|title=Relics of St Paul discovered|work=Independent Catholic News|date=28 June 2009 }}</ref>
*[[James the Great|St James]]' relics are reputedly held at the [[Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela]], Spain.
*[[Luke the Evangelist|St Luke]] the Evangelist's body is held at the [[Abbey of Santa Giustina]] in [[Padua]], Italy; his head, in the [[St. Vitus Cathedral]] in [[Prague]]; and a rib, at his tomb in [[Thebes, Greece]].
* St Mark the Evangelist's relics are held at [[St Mark's Basilica]] in Venice.
* St Matthew the Evangelist's relics are purported to be in the [[Salerno Cathedral|Cathedral of Salerno]], Italy.
* St John the Evangelist's tomb is purported to be in the [[Basilica of St. John]] at [[Ephesus]] in Turkey. The opening of his tomb during [[Constantine the Great]]'s reign yielded no bones, giving rise to the belief that his body was [[Entering heaven alive|assumed into heaven]].<ref>{{Cite web|url={{Google books|SuclAQAAIAAJ|plainurl=yes}}|title=The Biblical Archaeologist|date=March 7, 1974|publisher=American Schools of Oriental Research.|via=Google Books}}</ref>
*[[John the Baptist]]'s skull, or parts of it, are venerated at the [[Amiens Cathedral]] in France, at the Church of [[San Silvestre in Capite]] in Rome and at the [[Munich Residenz]] Palace. His other relics were discovered in a Bulgarian monastery in 2010.<ref>Squires, Nick (August 2010). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/bulgaria/7926657/St-John-the-Baptists-bones-found-in-Bulgarian-monastery.html "St John the Baptist's bones 'found in Bulgarian monastery{{'"}}]. ''The Telegraph''.</ref>
*[[Andrew the Apostle|St Andrew's relics]] are contained in the Basilica of St Andrew in Patras, Greece.
* Reliquary arms of Saint [[Thomas the Apostle]] can be found in churches around the globe. Most contain only a fragment of the arm that allegedly touched Christ's side wound after the Resurrection.
* Saint [[Thomas Aquinas]]' relics are contained in the Church of the Jacobins, [[Toulouse]], France.
* [[Francis of Assisi|Saint Francis of Assisi]]'s relics are enshrined in the [[Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi|Basilica of Saint Francis]] in [[Assisi]], Italy.
* Saint [[Catherine of Siena]]'s head is stored in San Domenico church, [[Siena]], with her body in Santa Maria sopra Minerva Church in Rome.
* [[Sacred Relic of St. George|Saint George]]'s arm is kept in [[Lod]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-04-21 |title=The Tomb of the Holy Great Martyr George from Lodd, Lydda |url=https://orthodoxword.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/the-tomb-of-the-holy-great-martyr-george-from-lodd-lydda/ |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=OrthodoxWord |language=en| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816013205/https://orthodoxword.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/the-tomb-of-the-holy-great-martyr-george-from-lodd-lydda/|archive-date=2021-08-16|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Saint Servatius]]' relics are largely kept in a gilded chest and bust in the [[Basilica of Saint Servatius]] in [[Maastricht]], Netherlands. Some of his relics are in [[Tongeren]], Belgium, and [[Quedlinburg]], Germany.
* [[Lambert of Maastricht|Saint Lambert]]'s skull is contained in a reliquary bust in [[Liège Cathedral]], Belgium.
* [[Hubertus|Saint Hubert]]'s remains were enshrined in the [[Abbey of Saint-Hubert]], Belgium.
* [[Willibrord|Saint Willibrord]]'s remains are in [[Echternach]], Luxemburg.
* Nun Maria Droste zu Vischering's (known as [[Mary of the Divine Heart]]) relics are exposed in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in [[Ermesinde]], Portugal.
* The shin of Pope [[Pope Clement I|Saint Clement I]] is kept in the [[Iglesia de la Concepción (Santa Cruz de Tenerife)|Church of the Conception]] of [[Santa Cruz de Tenerife]], Spain.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzofqK1vZJ8C&dq=Fiestas+y+creencias+en+Canarias+en+la+Edad+Moderna&pg=PA3 |title=Fiestas y creencias en Canarias en la Edad Moderna |first=Manuel Hernández |last=González |publisher=Ediciones IDEA |year=2007 |isbn=9788483821077}}</ref>