tuttle wrote: ↑20 Apr 2023, 12:59
I don't know what to make of this. I just find it fascinating at the moment.
Per the BBC:
Coronation cross will include 'crucifixion relics'
The BBC wrote:Fragments said to be from the cross on which Jesus was crucified will be included in a newly made Cross of Wales used at the head of the coronation procession in Westminster Abbey.
The relics of what is known as the True Cross were given to King Charles by Pope Francis, as a coronation gift.
Without (at least initially) getting into the credibility of relics, giving fragments of the True Cross to the sovereign governor of a breakaway church seems a tad out of the ordinary. Especially if the gift is given in honor for the specific ceremony wherein Charles symbolically becomes the Head of the Anglican church.
I'm not saying I think it's bad or anything. Just kind of weird, historically/politically speaking.
As Wozzie said, sharing relics across lines of schism is a sign of ecumenical goodwill. We all know that Christians should all be One.
St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (originally built by Emperor Constantine the Great) was established on five major relics.
1) The High Altar is located above the tomb of St. Peter. Peter's tomb was unmarked but well remembered by early Christians. The tomb was re-discovered by excavation and verified by a preponderance of circumstantial evidence 1950.
2) The spear tip of St. Longinus; the spear that pierced the side of Jesus after He died on the Cross.
3) The skull of St. Mark the Evangelist, who was sent by Peter to establish the Church in Alexandria, Egypt. Pope St. John Paul the Great returned this great relic to the Patriarch of Alexandria, leader of the Coptic Church in Egypt and throughout the world. The Oriental Orthodox Church made schism with the Universal Church after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D.
4) The Veil of Veronica. This is not recorded in the Gospels, but a woman named Veronica offered her veil to Jesus so he could wipe his face as he carried His Cross. The blood, sweat, and grime is said to have left an image of Jesus's Face on the veil, perhaps miraculously. The Holy Face is no longer recognizable on the Veil, and perhaps it never was. Yet this relic remains immensely sacred, simply as an item from the eternal event of Jesus's Passion.
5)The relics of the True Cross, discovered by St. Helena (Mother of Constantine the Great), who pilgrimaged with the authority of her son, the Emperor, to the Holy Land after religious persecution ended. By miracles and astounding chances, she discovered the hiding place of the relics of the Crucifixion: Three crosses, nails, the sign of Pontius Pilate (INRI). After a prayer asking God to reveal the truth, a miracle of healing after touching the three crosses revealed which one was the Cross of Christ.
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My feelings are not clear (Star Wars reference) on this most sacred gift of two splinters from the True Cross from the current Pontiff to the new King of England. Bu as everyone seems to be acting in good faith, I shall humbly accept this as a Very Good Thing.
We who have been Christian for 20 centuries still have these