pat loughery

THE NEW medieval gallery at the British Museum in London is full of beautiful images of saints in ivory, stone, gold and wood – but invisible to visitors, it also holds the bones of 39 real saints, whose discovery came as a shock to their curator.

The relics, packed in tiny bundles of cloth, including one scrap of fabric more than 1,000 years old, were found when a 12th-century German portable altar was opened for the first time since it came into the British Museum collection in 1902.

It was in for a condition check and cleaning before going on display tomorrow. But to the amazement of James Robinson, curator of medieval antiquities, when it was opened a linen cloth was revealed, and inside it dozens of tiny bundles of cloth, each neatly labelled on little pieces of vellum.

The most precious was the relic of St Benedict, an Italian who in the early 6th century was credited as the father of the western monastic tradition, founding monasteries and establishing guiding principles still followed at many monasteries. The relic was wrapped in cloth which was itself an extraordinary object, a piece of silk from 8th- or 9th-century Byzantium.

Source: The Irish Times

Wow. Wow wow wow.

Until this past year, I didn’t understand why Orthodox Christians venerated the remains of dead women and men. But, after spending time in the presence of (the relics of) John Chrysostum, Paul, Constantine and his mother Helena among others, I understand this devotion much better, though still only slightly.

Orthodox theology is steeped with a pervasive sense that the veil between the living and the dead is thin, that those who have died aren’t far away, and that they are part of the communion of saints that we read about in Biblical encouragements. For the Orthodox, being in the physical presence of a relic is the same as being in the presence of the guy standing next to you.

I can honestly say that something profound and sacred happened to me in the presence of the relics of those great saints. It’s hard to describe – but it meant that the people (and places) that are part of the story of my faith became tangible; the literary character of St. Paul literally took on flesh and bones for me and reminded me that God works through frail flesh and bones.

The writer of this commentary on the discovery from The Catholic Herald in Britain quotes local followers of Jesus this way:

The news was met with excitement. Mgr Keith Barltrop, who has been organising the visit of St Thérèse of Lisieux’s relics to Britain this year, said: “I think it’s rather exciting. Relics are as relevant today as they always have been. They serve as a reminder of our incarnational faith, that it inhabits the physical world, that there are bodies. I think that the bodies of holy people help us draw closer to God and the communion of saints.”

Dom Antony Sutch, the former headmaster of Downside, a school run by Benedictines, said: “I think there’s no doubt in the fact that having a relic contributes a great deal. It has real devotional value. To know that somebody really existed, to come into contact with that, makes that person more real and the example they set more tangible.”

That’s what I felt too, and the fact that Benedict’s relics were discovered today is frankly thrilling for me. I know that he existed historically, but this just gives me a sense of connection with an individual who make a profound impact on Christian spirituality.

Anytime that we’re reminded of the earthiness and the historical reality of Christianity, and the profound examples of figures through history, it’s a humbling but also invigorating experience. Today’s one of the great discoveries in recent times.