RELICS OF THE CRUCIFIXION. Where the Cross, Lance, Sponge. Nails and the Others are.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 274, 20 June 1888, Page 4

RELICS OF THE CRUCIFIXION. Where the Cross, Lance, Sponge. Nails and the Others are.

Tmk iclics of the crucifixion are objects clear to every Christian, but few know oi their history and present location. To the pu>wi llclcrm, the mother of Const'tiitine, the world owes much for the discoveiy of the eross 1 . She visited Palestine in the year 326, and, taxing to the giound the temple that had been erected to Venus o\er the tomb ot the Saviour, began a .search for the precious relic. After much excavatory proceedings the workmen came upon the fsejmlclue, nearby which weie discoveied tlnee crosses. The inscription, ' 1.J5'.K.1.,' was detached and lying convenient. Which was the cross of the Saviour was ascertained by the working of a miiacle, and was soon after enshrined in a siher ease, with the exception ot two pieces, one ot which was sent to Rome and the other to Constantinople. .Jerusalem waseapbuiul by the I'ei ->ian-> in 614 and thccro.-.s was com eyed to Pei-ia. ILeiaehus vanquished the I'ei in 628, and one of the condition* ot the peace sued for by the Persians was the lotum or the ei oss. When the Aiabs took .lerusaloin they endeavoured to obtain possession ot the poi tion ot thccioss ieco\cicd by Hciaclius, bur the Chiintians divided iv into small pieces, which they sent Lo unions place-. Thu.s ib was th;il *o many dilleiuH ehui ches obtained l elics ot the tiue ( u>-s , the largest poitions being in the Basihc-t of the Holy Cioss ot .lerusaloin, at Homo, and l in the Cathedial of Paris. The tablet on which is the well-known mJsciiption I. N. R. J. (Jesus oi Xa/aiobh, King of the Jevys), is piosened in the Basilica ot the Holy Cross ot .Jcuwilem, at Home, which was especially built to enshrine the t elics fonvaided to Rome by Helena. As to whether there weie tlnee or four nails to the cioss 1 found by Helena, there is much doubt, Ulstoiy that one was tin own by Helena into the pea to calm a htoi m. In the Church ot the Hol\ Cross is a poitionof a nail which is said to ha\e been presented by St. Helena. It is believed that the missing part was cut oil and placed in the crown of Constantino, which i.s now known as the cclcbiated lion Ciown oi the kings of Itah Tin- is made of gold, lined on the inside with a \eiy thin plate of non, toigcd tiom the missinu ])oition of the sacied n.ul. Tin- thiid nail is in the Chinch of Notie Paint, m Pan-, and at ilon/a, neai Milan, is anothei nail whose inithenticiey Benedict \l\ is said to have established. The body of the l.ince that pieiced the side ot Chiist is at Jlome and the point is at Paiis. The sponge is at Rome in the Basilica ot St John ot Lateian. IMie piincipal pal t ot Iheciownot thoi nis ])i('ser\ed in the Chinch of N'otie Dame, in Pans, but it is de\oul of thorns, pieceot which have been gi anted to a gieat many chinches. Tin iclic, with a fiaguu nt of the ero-s, is borne in tunmph by twei\e canons or cures oi Paris in the solemn pioeession which i- held at 8 o clock, (lood Fuda> night, in Xotie D.imo The uppei pait ot the pillai ot the scomgmg i- m Rome, in the Church ot St. Pia\edes, since 1223. The other part is in Jerusalem, in the Chinch ot the Holy Sepulclne. The city of Turin leioice- in the no-ses-sion ol the sluoud, or winding sheet, iv which Joseph of Arimathca em eloped the body of our Saviour. Accoiding to tiaditiou, it. was brought thither fiom Jerusalem, and a feast, instituted by Pope Julius til. in 1506, is celemaU'd in itshonoui on the 11th ot Ma\ This precious lelic is preser\ed in a chapel called the " Holy Shroud " There is even a confiatevnit\ beai ing the same title. Lisbon and othei places also claim to be in possession ot the Holy Sluoud. it is piobable that they ha\e only fragments of ir, oi cloth that merely touched it. The ( 'at holic Chinch tu-asuics in Rome the towel of Veronica, bearing the iinpiint ot the face of Jesus The stoi\ runs that the Empeior Tibeiius was atllieted with lepiosy, anil hearing from Pontius Pilate of the many wondei" wi ought h\ Jes>us in Jude.i, sent amba^s-adois to him to obtain acme ; but w hen they auheil at Jeiusalem Jesus had been crucified, llawng made mqunies into the ciicumstances of Jlio lite and death, they learned, amongst other tihing.s, that He had le^L the impiession ot His tace to a holy woman afterward known as Veionica, and that many peisoiis had been cured ot \ avion* maladies by its means Veronica was \isited by the amba.ssadois She acknowledged that she possessed the sacied relic, and ollered to accompany them to Rome, affirming that at sight oi ifc the lOmpeior -would be cured. Her oder was accepted, and the event justified hoi prophecy : for Tiberius did actually j obtain his cine aftei beholding the im-piess-ion of the di\ mc countenance. The Society ot the Holy Face has branches in many cities. One of its hisfonanssays. 'Veionica placed the towel which boie the impiint ot the sacred countenance of Our Lotd in the hand of St. Clement, St Peter's coadjutor, and afterw r ard hi- thiid successor ; and it thus became the heritage of the Church, and has lemained in the possession of Home e\er since. At the present day it is in the Vatican Basilica, where it is treasured as one of the most piccious relics in the whole woi Id. The So\ ereign Pontiffs have alw ays watched oaci it with jealous caie. reselling to themselves exclusively the right to allow it to be inspected. ' Thelaigest memento of the ciucitixiou is the Seal-ie Sanctae or holy stairs which, it is | popularly supposed, Christ ascended while I beiny brought into Pilate's presence. The memento is composed of twenty-eight marble steps, and is located in the Church ol the Passionists, beyond the walls ot Rome. One of the visitors to the Papal Jubilee thus writes of these stairs : 'No one ia allowed to go up them except on the knees, a task arduous and paintui, for the climb is a steep one. The pilgrims, howe\er, undertook the duty with celerity and de\ otion. From step to step they proceeded, halting at intervals to recite aloud prayers and invocations. When the summit was touched, some of them could not use their legs for a while because of the pain consequent upon the mn ol mode of locomotion. The chapel on the landing at the top was in its day a private one for the Popes, and had stored in it many relica of the Passion of the Redeemer, which fact gave rise to the inscription over the altar in Latin, 'There is nob in the whole world a holier place than this. ' The descent is by easy passages on both sides of the Holy Stairs, each terminating at base with striking pieces of statuary. One of these represents the betrayal of Jesus. The expression of the thick, puckered lips of Judas, in the act of kissing- the cheek of his Master, is admirably carved. The outer group is a renowned ' Ecce Homo,' with Pilate presenting Christ bound with ropes to the populace. These stairs were taken to Rome in the year 326 by order of Empress Helena. They are protected by a covering of wood from the wear to which they would be subjected were not such precautions taken. They are h' ve feet long, and are treasured as relicb beyond price.