A special and important place in Christianity is occupied by the worship of the remains of the dead righteous, or, more simply, the relics. Among Catholics, the veneration of relics (mummified remains) or incorruptible bodies is generally widespread. However, with the correct approach to understanding the number of bodies, relics and other things, numerous deceptions surface and people worship and pray over cotton-wool bags.
The Orthodox have somewhat expanded the tradition of worshiping relics and worship not only bones, but also scraps of clothing from corpses, individual parts of the body, and even ashes.
How many saints, parts of their bodies, pieces of clothing are there actually?
Here are excerpts from the journal "Revolution and Church", 1920, №№ 9-12 "Report of the 8th Department of the People's Commissariat of Justice to the Congress of Soviets on the autopsy of the relics": "October 22, 1918, when registering the liturgical property of the monastery, Petrozavodsk province, in a cast reliquary weighing more than 20 poods, instead of the "imperishable" relics of Alexander Svirsky, a wax doll was found."
The news published by the Soviet government in the press caused great excitement, both among church officials and among the masses. The people themselves began to demand inspection of the contents in crayfish and caskets for relics. Based on this, a special commission was created, which in a number of provinces, in the presence of experts and representatives of the clergy, carried out 63 autopsies, as a result of which many falsifications on the part of the clergy were discovered.
It turned out, for example, that some silver tombs, often sparkling with precious stones, contained either decayed bones turned into dust, or imitation of bodies with the help of iron frames wrapped in fabrics, ladies' stockings, boots, gloves, cotton wool, and flesh-colored cardboard. etc.
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Immediately, signals from the patriarchal office began to arrive, calling for a public examination and examination of the holy relics, in order to "eliminate any reason for mockery and temptation," they are cleaning the cancer from such items as, for example, sardine boxes, brooches with the inscription "Shura " etc. The “discovery” of these particular items in the caskets of “holy relics” was precisely recorded in the autopsy reports signed by representatives of the clergy themselves.
Here are some examples from the inspection protocols:
“Abraham the Martyr, Vladimir February 12, 1919 After removing the covers, cotton wool of fresh origin was discovered, in which lay a group of bones of more than one person, at least two. One bone in appearance differs from all others in freshness, due to its density to whiteness. There is cotton wool inside the skull.
Sergiy of Radonezh, Sergiev, Moscow province. April 11, 1919 Moth-eaten rags, cotton wool, half-collapsed human bones, a mass of dead moths, butterflies, larvae. In the skull, in waxed paper of recent origin, light brown hair.
Prince Vladimir, Novgorod April 3, 1919 A pile of black bones, rags and dust, a skull split into two halves. The chest has no resemblance to the human skeleton. No limbs on the bones. Remains of machine-made leather boots. In the pile of dust, cocoons of dried worms are visible.
Makariy Zhabynsky. Belev., Tula province. On March 16, 1919, the tomb was empty. As a result of the instructions of the clergy that the relics were “resting under the bunk”, a grave was dug under the coffin to a depth of 5 arshins, no signs of the “relics” were found.
Pavel Obnorsky, Voskresenskoye village, Lyubimsk. at. September 26, 1920 Several planks, old coins, a jar of the Brocard firm, shavings, earth, chips and bricks."
It is clear that the acquisition of the numerous relics of the saints is a difficult matter, especially in conditions when each parish wishes to acquire at least a piece of the relic. Because of this, the relics and parts of the saints appear in unthinkable quantities. So, Andrew the First-Called had 5 bodies, 6 heads and 17 hands. Saint Anne has 2 bodies and 8 heads. Saint Philip has the same number of heads. John the Baptist has 10 bodies and 7 "genuine heads", and this despite the fact that, according to Christian legend, John's body was burned along with the severed head.
And here is the continuation of a selective and far from complete list of spontaneously cloned relics:
Benedict - 3 bodies and 4 heads;
Erasmus - 11 bodies;
Dorothea - 6 bodies;
Stefan - 4 bodies and 8 heads;
Wilhelm - 7 bodies and 10 heads;
Elena - 4 bodies and 5 heads;
Isaiah the Prophet - 3 bodies;
Jerome - 2 bodies, 4 heads and 63 fingers;
Juliana - 20 bodies and 26 heads;
Luca - 8 bodies and 9 heads;
Peter - 16 bodies;
Fedor - 4 bodies and 6 heads.
A complete list of duplicates will take several more pages.
The 60s of the 20th century were marked by the crisis of the Vatican, as a result of which the latter repented of its sins and demoted many saints known throughout the world. As an example, let's take the deprivation of all titles and ranks from St. George the Victorious. The reason is that it never existed. But at the same time, 30 bodies were found in the saint who never existed.
Nicholas the Wonderworker was also demoted. The reason for the forced "resignation" is the same as that of George. Catholics also recognized as never existed a whole list of their saints, including, for example, Saint Valentine (the very one in whose honor Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14). However, all these saints have relics.
However, the list of shrines is not limited only to relics; parts and particles of various objects are found all over the world. Let's note the hand of Mary Magdalene and a particle of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. However, if all the particles available in the world, then about a hundred crosses and dozens of hands can be made of them. Apparently, the cross was incredibly large, and the nails spent on Christ gathered around the world in the amount of 1235 pieces!
And here is a short list of other Christian relics. There are some truly amazing things beyond comprehension:
A piece of the window through which the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary;
The candle that shone at the birth of Jesus;
Rags with the blood of the Holy Virgin;
Tears of the Virgin;
Milk of the Virgin;
Hay from the manger in which Jesus lay;
Baby Jesus hair;
Tears of Jesus;
Foreskin of Jesus;
The stone on which Jesus sat;
The relics of a cock crowing to Peter;
The robe in which Jesus was led to Calvary;
Box with Jesus' last breath;
Blood of Jesus, collected at the foot of the Cross;
Shroud of Jesus;
Crown of thorns (stored in Notre Dame Cathedral);
A silver dish on which lay the head of John the Baptist;
Dishes from the Last Supper;
St. Paul's nail;
Remnants of the clothes of the apostles;
A vessel with the sweat of St. Michael, collected after his struggles with the Devil;
The bones of the donkey, on which Jesus entered Jerusalem (in Verona, the skeleton, and in Genoa, the tail;
Sneezes of the holy spirit;
Holy Spirit Finger (!);
Bones of cows dreamed of by the Egyptian pharaoh.
In November 2002, even the sandals of Christ were discovered (kept in Prum). Also in the world there are two tables that participated in the Last Supper - one cedar, located in Italy, the other oak, located in Austria. The objects of that very evening are presented in separate, very numerous quantities.
The rags from the shroud of the Lord would be enough for a decent sail, you can even find the relics of a crowing rooster. It seems that not disciples followed Christ, but collectors of various things and objects for posterity.
Many well-known and revered relics turned out to be fakes, for example, the relics of Saint Rosalia turned out to be the bones of a goat, and a spectral analysis of the Turin shroud showed that it was made in the XIV century. In March 1990, the British Museum hosted a huge exhibition about the Turin Shroud with the self-explanatory title: “Forgery. The art of swindle”.
It seems that the church is not in a hurry with the burials of their corpses, because even more particles can be made of them for even more worship and chant.