Relics

Relics
Author: Joan Carroll Cruz
Publisher: TAN Books
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2015
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0895558505

Scripture speaks of miracles wrought through relics: a dead man was raised when Elisha’s bones touched him, and the clothing of Jesus and His apostles healed the sick. In the early Church, Masses were celebrated over the bones of the martyrs, and phials of their blood have effected countless miracles. Direct successors of the Apostles themselves speak of venerating relics; Church Fathers encourage it; throughout the ages of Catholic legacy, relics of the saints are always present. The Church takes diligent care in preserving and documenting the authenticity of her relics. Best-selling author Joan Carroll Cruz takes full advantage of these resources. With painstaking research, she exposes the details behind hundreds of the Church’s most famous and beloved relics. She covers 38 second-class relicsof our Lord and Lady, such as the Holy Grail and Our Lady’s Veil, and relics of all sorts from 75 favorite saints, such as St. Mary Magdalene, St. Agnes, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Maria Goretti, and many more! Relics is a unique collection of years of dedicated research about the lives of the saints and the mementos they left behind, to remind us of their presence and intercession for us.

The Holy Blood

The Holy Blood
Author: Nicholas Vincent
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2001-12-13
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780521571289

The first extended study of relics of the Holy Blood: portions of the blood of Christ's passion preserved supposedly from the time of the Crucifixion and displayed as objects of wonder and veneration in the churches of medieval Europe. Inspired by the discovery of new evidence relating to the relic deposited by King Henry III at Westminster in 1247, the study proceeds from the particular political and spiritual motives that inspired this gift to a wider consideration of blood relics, their distribution across western Europe, their place in Christian devotion, and the controversies to which they gave rise among theologians. In the process the author advances a new thesis on the role of the sacred in Plantagenet court life as well as exploring various intriguing byways of medieval religion.

The Blood and the Shroud

The Blood and the Shroud
Author: Ian Wilson
Publisher: Free Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1999-04
Genre: Holy Shroud
ISBN: 9780684855295

A compelling examination of one of history's greatest and most controversial mysteries revealing that the recent scientific findings confirms the authenticity of the shroud. 48 pp, photo insert.

Relics of the Christ

Relics of the Christ
Author: Joe Nickell
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2007-03-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0813172128

Religious relics, defined as “either portions of or objects connected with the body of a saint or other holy person,” are among the most revered items in the world. Christian relics such as the Holy Grail, the True Cross, and the Lance of Longinus are also the source of limitless controversy. Such items have incited people to bloodshed and, some say, have been a source of miracles. Relics inspire fear and hope among the faithful and yet are a perennial target for skeptics, both secular and Christian. To research the authenticity of numerous Christian relics, Joe Nickell takes a scientific approach to a field of study all too often tainted by premature conclusions. In this volume, Nickell investigates such renowned relics as the Shroud of Turin, the multiple heads of John the Baptist, and the supposedly incorruptible corpses of saints, first examining the available evidence and documented history of each item. From accounts of true believers to the testimony of the relics’ alleged fabricators, Nickell then presents all sides of each story, allowing the evidence to speak for itself. For each relic, Nickell evaluates both the corroborating and contradictory bodies of evidence and explores whether the relic and attributed miracles can be reconstructed. In addition to his own experiments, Nickell presents findings from the world’s top scientists and historians regarding these controversial objects of reverence and ire, explaining the circumstances under which each case was examined. Radiocarbon dating and tests to determine the validity of substances such as blood or patina indicate a variety of possible origins. Nickell even reveals some of the techniques used to create archaeological forgeries and explains how investigators have exposed them. Each relic is a mystery to be solved; guided by the maxim, “extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof,” Nickell seeks only the truth.

Wonderful Blood

Wonderful Blood
Author: Caroline Walker Bynum
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780812239850

Bynum argues that Christ's blood as both object and symbol was central to late medieval art, literature, and religious life. As cult object, blood provided a focus of theological debate about the nature of matter, body, and God and an occasion for Jewish persecution; as motif, blood became a central symbol in popular devotion.

The Book in the Cathedral

The Book in the Cathedral
Author: Christopher de Hamel
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 69
Release: 2020-08-06
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0141994258

From the bestselling author of Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts, a captivating account of the last surviving relic of Thomas Becket The assassination of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170 is one of the most famous events in European history. It inspired the largest pilgrim site in medieval Europe and many works of literature from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral and Anouilh's Becket. In a brilliant piece of historical detective work, Christopher de Hamel here identifies the only surviving relic from Becket's shrine: the Anglo-Saxon Psalter which he cherished throughout his time as Archbishop of Canterbury, and which he may even have been holding when he was murdered. Beautifully illustrated and published to coincide with the 850th anniversary of the death of Thomas Becket, this is an exciting rediscovery of one of the most evocative artefacts of medieval England.

Strange Beauty

Strange Beauty
Author: Cynthia Jean Hahn
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2012
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0271050780

"A study of reliquaries as a form of representation in medieval art. Explores how reliquaries stage the importance and meaning of relics using a wide range of artistic means from material and ornament to metaphor and symbolism"--Provided by publisher.

An Artful Relic

An Artful Relic
Author: Andrew R. Casper
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0271091088

Winner of the 2022 Roland H. Bainton Book Prize from the Sixteenth Century Society & Conference In 1578, a fourteen-foot linen sheet bearing the faint bloodstained imprint of a human corpse was presented to tens of thousands of worshippers in Turin, Italy, as one of the original shrouds used to prepare Jesus Christ’s body for entombment. From that year into the next century, the Shroud of Turin emerged as Christianity’s preeminent religious artifact. In an unprecedented new look, Andrew R. Casper sheds new light on one of the world’s most famous and controversial religious objects. Since the early twentieth century, scores of scientists and forensic investigators have attributed the Shroud’s mysterious images to painterly, natural, or even supernatural forces. Casper, however, shows that this modern opposition of artifice and authenticity does not align with the cloth’s historical conception as an object of religious devotion. Examining the period of the Shroud’s most enthusiastic following, from the late 1500s through the 1600s, he reveals how it came to be considered an artful relic—a divine painting attributed to God’s artistry that contains traces of Christ’s body. Through probing analyses of materials created to perpetuate the Shroud’s cult following—including devotional, historical, and theological treatises as well as printed and painted reproductions—Casper uncovers historicized connections to late Renaissance and Baroque artistic cultures that frame an understanding of the Shroud’s bloodied corporeal impressions as an alloy of material authenticity and divine artifice. This groundbreaking book introduces rich, new material about the Shroud’s emergence as a sacred artifact. It will appeal to art historians specializing in religious and material studies, historians of religion, and to general readers interested in the Shroud of Turin.

Book of Secrets

Book of Secrets
Author: Claudia Blood
Publisher: Dragon Bane Publishing
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2021-05-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1954603118

The human world and the world of myth have merged. Ordinary individuals must become extraordinary if they hope to save it. Joshua Lighthouse never wanted to be a hero, but now, he has no choice. For three hundred years, the human world and the world of Myth have lived as one. The cataclysmic Merge forced those who survived – both human and Others – to form factions. As leader of the Human Protection Agency, Joshua is charged with maintaining the safety of the humans in his city. But he secretly protects an artifact more powerful than even he knows… The Book of Secrets. With the anniversary of the Merge approaching, the Book of Secrets is stolen and Joshua finds himself at the center of a plot to unmerge the worlds. Stripped of his position, betrayed, and with a bounty on his head, Joshua must outrun the organization he once served and legions of Others in a race against time to locate the book and prevent the inter-species war that will end the world he knows forever. Can he find his way to salvation when everything he believed is a lie, or will his distrust lead to another epic cataclysm he can’t stop? This is the first book in the Merged series. If you love urban fantasy stories full of desperate rescues, unexpected twists and tragic betrayals, you’ll love this installment of Claudia Blood’s epic series.