CHRISTIANITY ...
Relics
Relics have played an important role in Christian ritual since the earliest centuries of the church and were a major part of popular religion in the Middle Ages. Until 1969, relics were placed under the altar stones of all Roman Catholic churches. The veneration of relics was rejected by most of the Protestant Reformers and most Protestants today, but relics continue to play an important part in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.
Locations of Notable Relics
If you would like to see some relics for yourself, whether as a spiritual pilgrimage or a matter of historical interest, the locations of some of the most notable Christian relics are given below. (Keep in mind that the authenticity of some of these relics is in doubt. If that matters to you, read up before you go.) The location of the remains of some non-saints are also listed here, though it should be remembered that these would not be considered relics either by the Catholic Church (because the deceased was not a saint) or Protestants (because Protestants do not generally venerate relics).
Relics of Jesus, Mary and the Apostles
- Jesus' baby blanket - Aachen, Germany
- Jesus' foreskin ("Holy Prepuce") - Coulombs Abbey, France
- Jesus' loin cloth worn on the cross - Aachen, Germany
- Pieces of the true cross - many locations, but primarily Santo Toribio de Liébana, Spain
- Mary's cloak - Aachen, Germany
- St. Peter's remains - St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
- St. Mark's remains - St. Mark's Basilica, Venice, Italy
Relics of Church Fathers
- St. Ignatius of Antioch (d. c.107) - St. Peter's Baslica, Vatican City
- St. Augustine's Elbow - Annaba (formerly Hippo Regius), Algeria
- St. Augustine - Pavia, Italy
- St. Athanasius (d. 373) - Santa Croce, Florence, Italy
- St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) - Alexandria, Egypt
- St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274)- Saint-Servin, Toulouse, France
Relics of Other Saints
- Venerable Bede - Durham Cathedral, Durham, England
- St. Cuthbert (d. 687) - Durham Cathedral, Durham, England
- St. Anthony of Egypt (d. 356) - near Vienne
- St. Francis of Assisi (d. 1226) - Assisi, Italy
- St. Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) - Alba de Tormes, Spain
- St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 270) - Calabria
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