Accompanying the worship of the cross, we find among orthodox
Christians the adoration of the three nails of the passion
which are nothing more than a union of the two Egyptian forms of
architecture--the obelisk, expressing the male idea, and the inverted
pyramid, expressing the female.
Two of these nails are supposed to have been found in the time of
Constantine, who adorned his helmet and horse's bridle with them. Rome,
Milan and Treves each boast of possessing one of them, while still
another may be seen at the church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem,
where it is annually exposed to the veneration of the people. In 1353
Pope Innocent VI. appointed a festival for these holy nails. Despite
these facts, a legend arose in the latter part of the sixteenth century
that these three nails were fashioned into an iron ring three-eighths
of an inch broad and three-tenths thick and presented by the Empress
Helena to Constantine to protect him in battle, and that this ring
was later used to support the golden plates of the celebrated Iron
Crown of Lombardy.
In reference to the practice of relic worship in the Christian church,
it is interesting to note that numerous objects of worship seem endowed
with remarkable powers of multiplication. The Church of Coulombs,
Diocese of Chârtres; the Cathedral of Pry, the Collegiate Church
of Antwerp, the Abbey of Our Savior at Charroux, and the Church of
St. John Lateran at Rome, all boast themselves the sole possessors
of the only authentic "holy prepuce," which was circumcised from
Jesus on the eighth day after his birth (Luke ii, 21), and preserved
by the midwife in oil of spikenard, which was later poured upon his
head and feet by Mary Magdalene (Infancy ii, 1-4).
Likewise, there are numerous "holy shrouds." That at Besancon, which
was brought from Palestine by crusaders about the beginning of the
twelfth century, won fame by delivering the city from a destructive
plague in 1544, while that at Turin had a festival instituted for
it by Pope Julius II. in 1506. Other authentic shrouds may be found
at the Church of St. Cornelius at Compeigne, in Rome, Milan, Lisbon,
and Aix la Chapelle.
Another much multiplied relic is the Virgin's ring, supposed to have
been the marriage ring used at the nuptials of Joseph and Mary. This
sacred souvenir was discovered in 996 by a jeweler of Jerusalem
and was readily recognized by its remarkable powers of healing and
self-multiplication. Many European churches claim to possess this
ring and profess to expose it to the devout for veneration, but,
undoubtedly, the most celebrated is that held by the Cathedral
of Perouse.
Relic worship and belief in the miraculous powers residing in the
bones of departed saints, which continues, despite the more general
education of the laity, is by no means of Christian origin. In ancient
Greece the bones of heroes were superstitiously regarded and those
of Hector of Troy were sacredly preserved at Thebes; the tools used
in the construction of the Trojan horse were kept at Metapontum;
the sceptre of Pelops was held at Chæroneia; the spear of Achilles
at Phaselis; and the sword of Memnon at Nicomedia. Miraculous statues
of Minerva that brandished spears, abounded, and paintings that could
blush and images that could sweat also existed.
In India there are numerous teeth of Buddha which his worshipers
believe capable of performing miracles; and his coat, which as
Prince Siddhatto he laid aside on entering the priesthood, has been
miraculously preserved, and is still shown.
Jerome, in defending the worship of relics which had been attacked
by Vigilantus of Barcelona, did not deny that it was adopted from
paganism, but commended it and explained that as this reverence had
been previously "only given to idols, and was then to be detested,
was now given to martyrs, and therefore to be received."