Editing Relic (section)

===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>