What kind of relics are there in the museum? “Holy Relics” - Myth and Reality
There are things in the world that are sacredly preserved and especially revered by all people or a certain group. Typically, each such item is associated with historical events of past times. A relic is something that can unite entire nations around an idea expressed in a similar way in an objective context. Usually such a thing is sacredly kept, sometimes even worshiped.
The meaning of the word "relics"
The concept itself comes from the Latin verb “to remain,” which determines its generally accepted meaning. According to the classification, relics can be divided into religious, historical, family, and technical. In any case, a relic is a deeply revered thing, requiring careful and even reverent treatment.
Historical
These are, as a rule, documents - evidence of events that occurred. In any major museum they are present in the exhibitions. A historical relic is a battle flag, an ancient manuscript, a manuscript. These also include all kinds of regalia of power, seals of kings, nobles and states, clothes of rulers of various eras. For example, the well-known Or Botik of Peter the Great. Or the banners of princely squads. As a rule, objects of this kind are preserved in museums or private collections for the purpose of either teaching history, testifying to a certain course of history. It is important to have and preserve such relics for the younger generation. Let us remember with what interest children look at such objects in the museum.
Religious
There were and are many religions in the world. Each of them has its own relics. Within a religion, a religious cult may even form, associated with a relic. Thus, the Holy Grail in Christianity served as the reason for the formation of the Order of Crusaders - the guardians of this relic. It still exists today. Among such relics of the world's main religions are the Western Wall, the Spear of Destiny, and the Tooth of Buddha.
Christian
The most famous in our part of the world are Christian relics. These are objects kept and revered by believers, associated with the lives of saints, Christ, and prophets. They come in varying degrees of importance (some are even definitely questionable) and are usually kept in specially designated places - reliquaries. In Catholicism, these are fragments of the cross on which the Savior was crucified, the sandals of Jesus, the shroud of Peter, and the relics of saints. In Orthodoxy, a relic is a nail from the Cross of the Lord, part of the Robe of the Mother of God, part of the Robe of Christ and the relics of saints and some icons, which sometimes stream myrrh, tear and bleed, foreshadowing various kinds of events, as pilgrims believe.
Technical
These include, for example, examples of machines and mechanisms of past eras that have long been no longer used in modern life. Typically, they have been preserved by collectors and are in working condition for the purpose of study and teaching. You can find them in private collections and museums. These are antique cars, typewriters, steam locomotives, steamships, watches and the like.
Family
This is another species according to the generally accepted classification. Family documents include all kinds of documents, objects, jewelry and other valuable things that are passed down from generation to generation, from generation to generation by inheritance. These are press materials about famous family members, pedigree, photographs, family tree. In ancient noble (and not only) families, such objects and information were traditionally preserved, which are considered by descendants to be family heirlooms and are sacred values within the same family.
Questions of faith are very important to most people. People spare no effort and time to even catch a glimpse of the most important religious relics. Usually these are things or even body parts that once belonged to holy people. This could be the beard of Mohammed, the relics of Buddha or the crown of thorns of Christ.
At the end of 2011, a piece of the Virgin Mary’s belt was brought to Moscow, which caused a massive gathering of pilgrims. They all wanted to see the shrine, delivered to the capital from the Greek Vatopedi monastery. The number of visitors exceeded 800 thousand people, and the most famous people they even received VIP passes for skip-the-line access to the shrine. But this is not the limit.
In 2007, the relics of St. Spyridon of Trimythous were delivered to Moscow from Corfu. Then about a million people came to worship them. Nowadays, in order to venerate the belt of the Virgin Mary, you have to stand in a seven-kilometer queue for almost a day. Neighboring streets are blocked, and special announcements are made in the metro about which station is best to get off at in order to get closer to the shrine.
In Christianity, in general, there is a cult of relics; it is in this religion that there are the largest number of them. There are fewer of them in Buddhism, a little less among Muslims. But Hindus and Jews are skeptical about relics. We will tell you below about the most famous religious relics revered in the world.
Shroud of Turin. According to legends, it was in this fabric that the body of the crucified Jesus Christ was wrapped. What makes the relic especially valuable is the fact that the imprint of the body remained on the shroud. The first mention of this relic occurs in 1353. Then one of the crusaders, Geoffroy de Charny, announced that he had this relic. Since 1532, the cloak has been in Turin, in the Cathedral of John the Baptist. This is actually what gave the relic its name. The Shroud is placed in a special ark; sometimes it is opened for worship by pilgrims. U christian church there is no clear position on this relic. Nevertheless, it is believed that this item is the best possible reminder of the Passion of Christ. Adding to the uncertainty about the authenticity is the fact that the last radiocarbon dating of the fabric showed that it was made only in the 14th century. True, there were immediately skeptics who questioned the results of the examination. IN last time The shroud was put on display in 2010. Then, in 45 days, 2.1 million people came to see it.
Head of John the Baptist. This saint is famous for the fact that it was he who baptized Jesus on the banks of the Jordan River. However, at one time John was executed. This was done by order of Salome, the wife of the ruler of Judea, Herod Antipas, and the daughter of Herodias. According to legend, after the execution, one of the maids secretly carried the saint’s head out of the palace. The shrine was buried in secret. IN Orthodox Christianity Three discoveries of the head of John the Baptist are celebrated. Each of them has its own unique story. In the Catholic Church, it is believed that the truly authentic head is the one in the Roman church of San Silvestro in Capite. Adherents of Islam also revere the Baptist. They believe that his head is kept in Damascus, in the Umayyad mosque. But there are several other places around the world that claim to own the sacred relic. These are Armenia, Antioch and Amiens. Every year hundreds of thousands of people come to these places wanting to venerate part of the saint’s body. In addition to John's head, the number of Christian relics also includes his hand, kept in Montenegro.
Belt of the Virgin Mary. According to legend, before ascending to heaven, Mary gave her belt to two Jerusalem widows. They preserved the heirloom, which was then passed down from generation to generation. And in Catholicism it is believed that the belt was given to the Apostle Thomas. In the 4th century, the relic was transferred to Constantinople. She stayed there for almost a thousand years. After the fall of the city, the belt was divided into several parts, they dispersed throughout different countries. Today there are five known places where these relics are located. The smallest of them lies in Moscow, in the Church of Elijah the Everyday Prophet. The most revered parts are in cathedral Prato, in Italy and in the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos. It was the last part that recently visited Moscow, causing serious excitement. The fact that they also have particles of the belt of the Virgin Mary is stated by the Blachernae Church in Georgian Zugdidi and the Trooditissa Monastery in Cyprus. In 2011, a piece of the relic was donated to the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. In the same year, accompanied by a group of Athonite monks, part of the belt from Vatopedi visited 15 cities. In total, about 3 million Russians came to bow to the belt.
Crown of thorns. This crown with thorns, according to the Gospels, was placed by Roman soldiers on the head of Christ before he went on his procession to Golgotha. What exactly the headdress was made of was never specified. Today, this relic, revered in Christianity, is located in the main cathedral of Paris - Notre Dame de Paris, also known as the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris. The crown came to the country only in the 13th century, and even then by accident. For the time being, the relic was kept in Constantinople, but one day the local emperor was forced to pawn it in one of the banks of Venice. It was there that the King of France, Saint Louis IX, bought the crown. At first, the relic was kept in the Basilica of Sainte-Chapelle, but after 1801 the French decided to move it to a more significant place - to Notre-Dame de Paris. The Crown of Thorns is available for worship by believers every first Friday of the month. When is it going for Catholics? Lent, the relic is shown generally every Friday. Thousands of parishioners go to see the crown of thorns that was on the head of Christ in his last hours.
Vladimir icon Mother of God. In Orthodoxy, this icon is considered miraculous. They say that its author was the Evangelist Luke himself at the table at which Jesus, Mary and Joseph ate. But most likely the author simply created the original version, from which a copy was later made. Icon for a long time was kept in Byzantium. From there, in 1131, it came as a gift to Prince Yuri Dolgoruky from the Patriarch of Constantinople, Luke Chrysoverg. The icon was placed in the Mother of God Monastery. But in 1155 she was stolen from there and placed in Vladimir. There she remained until 1395, in the Assumption Cathedral. Then the icon was transported to the cathedral of the same name, but in Moscow. This was done to protect the city from conquerors. It is believed that it was thanks to the miraculous icon that Tamerlane’s troops did not reach Moscow. After this, the invaders failed to take the city twice more. In our time Soviet authority seized the relic and placed it in the Tretyakov Gallery. In 1999, the relic was transferred to the Nicholas Church-Museum in Tolmachi, which is part of the same museum. Every day hundreds of people come here to venerate the miraculous icon.
Prophet Muhammad's beard. And this relic has its own legend. According to it, after the death of the prophet, a barber devoted to him shaved off and preserved Muhammad's beard. He intended to preserve the eternal memory of the legendary figure and personally contemplate a piece of his body. Today this relic is kept in the Topkapi Palace of the Istanbul Museum. Not only Muslim pilgrims, but also ordinary tourists can see it. Surprisingly, in Islam itself, a beard is not considered an official relic, and the prophet himself bequeathed to worship only Allah. Several hairs from Muhammad's beard are also preserved in other cities around the world. This is the Hazratbal Mosque in India, and the Tyumen Regional Museum. The shrine was brought to Russia in the 19th century by the merchant-philanthropist Karmyshkov-Seidukov, who paid a lot of money for it. It was kept for a long time in the Yurt Embaevsky mosque, but the Soviet government transferred the religious object to the museum. And hundreds of thousands of people come to see the beard itself in Istanbul every year.
Black stone of the Kaaba. Muslims have a sacred building - the Kaaba. This cube-shaped building is located inside the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. A black stone is built into the eastern corner of the Kaaba. Muslims themselves call it the Stone of Forgiveness. It is located at a height of one and a half meters and is enclosed in a silver frame. The visible part of the stone occupies an area of 16*20 centimeters. Islam does not believe that this stone has any unusual properties. It simply must indicate the corner from which to begin circumambulating the Kaaba. But believers strive to touch the sacred stone or even kiss it. According to legend, the Prophet Muhammad himself touched this relic at one time. The stone has its own beautiful legend. Allah himself gave it to Adam and Eve during their expulsion from paradise. Then the stone was white. But already in Mecca he turned black, saturated through and through with the sins of people. There is a theory that the stone is actually a fragment of a meteorite, but this has not yet been proven. The last time almost 3 million people visited Mecca during the Hajj, and they all wanted to touch the unusual black part of the Kaaba.
Maqam al-Ibrahim. And this relic is located in the Sacred Mosque of Mecca. The history of Islam says that the prophet Ibrahim, together with his son Ismail, built the Kaaba at the direction of Allah. When the walls of the building became taller than a man, the son brought a stone for the prophet. Standing on it the work was completed. One of the miracles in Islam is that the stone suddenly became soft and the footprint of the prophet remained on it. There is even a mention of this place of Ibrahim in the Koran. Today, imams stand next to the stone. From here they lead the prayers of believers, of whom several million come every year. It’s just that the courtyard of the Sacred Mosque can accommodate “only” 105 thousand people at a time. During the Hajj there are many more people who want to get there and see the place of Ibrahim.
Buddha's tooth. In 540, the deceased Buddha was cremated. According to legend, the saint’s disciples took four teeth from the fire, which were taken all over the world. The most important of them was kept in India for eight centuries, and in 1371 it was transported to Ceylon. This was done by the ruler’s daughter, hiding the relic in her comb. Magical properties were attributed to the tooth. It was believed that whoever owned it would rule the country. It is not surprising that the tooth was the property of the royal dynasty. In the 17th century, a special temple of Dalada Maligawa was erected, in which the valuable relic is now kept. On the island they believe that as long as it is kept here, faith in Buddha will remain unshakable. The tooth is kept in seven chests, nested one inside the other. Buddhists believe that the disappearance of the relic will end their faith in Ceylon. True, there are rumors that the tooth nevertheless left the island several times in history, having visited India or Burma. The relic remains in the sights of Islamists. In 1998, terrorists tried to blow up the temple and its main relic. After the explosion, the building was damaged, but the tooth itself remained intact. The relic itself was seen by few. Previously, only monks and the king could see the tooth. Now anyone can see the stupa with the relic, but they have to wait in a long line. Occasionally, the Buddha's tooth itself is displayed. It is placed on a special golden loop coming out from the center of the golden lotus. Every year in the summer the temple hosts special holiday in honor of the relic, where tens of thousands of believers come.
Relics of Buddha. Buddha himself determined in advance how he should be buried. After his death, the saint was buried according to Buddhist canons. The body was wrapped in 500 layers of cotton cloth and then burned. After this procedure, only bones and two layers of tissue remained from the person - upper and lower. Eight Indian regions laid claim to possessing the relics of the enlightened one. As a result, each of them got its own urn. A stupa was erected above it, a special ritual structure for storing relics. Legend has it that Emperor Ashoka opened all the stupas and divided the relics into many parts. They say that Buda's body parts eventually numbered 84 thousand. These pieces have spread all over the world, and they are also in Russia. In 2011, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka handed them over to Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who handed them over to the central Buddhist temple of Kalmykia. As a result, this is the only place in Europe where such a relic is located. The relics of Buddha are one of the most revered relics. According to some estimates, about half a billion people worship them every year. There is just so much in the world of Buddhists.
For many centuries, people have tried at all costs to find at least some things related to Jesus Christ, and no wonder, because many of them, according to legend, have healing properties. Today we will tell you about the eight most important relics associated with Jesus Christ.
Life-giving Cross
The Life-Giving Cross is the cross on which, according to Christian beliefs, Jesus Christ was crucified. It is one of the main Christian relics. According to legend, the cross was found by Queen Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I, in 326. She ordered the destruction of the temple built on the site of Christ's crucifixion and the excavation of three crosses - one - the blessed one, on which Christ hung, and the other two, on which the robbers were crucified. According to legend, in order to determine which cross Jesus was crucified on, all three crosses were brought to a terminally ill woman, who recovered as soon as she touched the Life-Giving Cross.
Over its history, the tree of the Life-Giving Cross was divided into particles of different sizes, which can now be found in many churches and monasteries around the world. According to a study conducted in the 19th century, the total weight of all documented fragments of the Cross is only about 1.7 kg.
Veronica's Veil (Veil of Veronica) is a miraculous image of Jesus Christ, which, according to legend, appeared on the scarf that Saint Veronica gave to Jesus Christ when he carried his cross to Calvary. The history of this relic is quite ambiguous, because the first mentions of it are found only in the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, many copies of the scarf were created, until in 1600 the Pope issued a ban on its copying.
According to legend, the true Plath of Veronica is kept in the Cathedral of St. Peter's in Rome. This is a thin fabric in which the image of the face of Jesus Christ can be seen in the light. The Vatican calls the Plata Veronica the most valuable relic of Christianity, which is kept in St. Peter's Basilica. In 1628, Pope Urban VIII issued a ban on public display of the painting, and since then it has been removed from the column for public viewing only once a year - on the fifth Sunday supper of Lent. The display time, however, is limited, and the board itself is shown from the high loggia of the Pillar of St. Veronica. Only canons of St. Peter's Basilica are allowed to approach the relic.
Veronica's Plaid shown from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica
The crown of thorns is a crown of plant branches with thorns, which, according to the Gospels, was placed on the head of Jesus Christ by Roman soldiers during His reproach. Today, the relic, revered as the Crown of Thorns of God, is located in Paris, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. Despite numerous studies, the authenticity of the crown could not be proven. The relic is displayed on every first Friday of the month, Good Friday, and every Friday of Lent.
Nails
While believers around the world debate whether three or four nails were needed to crucify Jesus Christ, there are already at least 30 such relics in the world. According to legend, the nails were found by the same Queen Helen during the excavation of the Life-Giving Cross. She gave some of the nails to her son Constantine I, who used them to create a royal diadem and a bridle for his horse. It is rumored that one of the nails was used to create the Iron Crown, which is kept in the Temple of John the Baptist in Italy.
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is the cup from which Jesus Christ ate at the Last Supper and into which Joseph of Arimathea collected the blood from the wounds of the Savior crucified on the cross. Despite the titanic efforts of many generations of researchers, the Holy Grail was never found.
Conspiracy theorists claim that the word “grail” refers to the blood of Jesus’ descendants. According to other researchers, the Holy Grail may mean the breast of Mary Magdalene.
Foreskin of Jesus Christ
If the Holy Grail is the most coveted relic, then the foreskin of Jesus is certainly the most unusual. The foreskin (or prepuce) is a product of the Circumcision of the Lord, or speaking in simple words, part of the skin of Christ's penis. Numerous monasteries and churches have declared and continue to declare that they have a sacred prepuce, and numerous miraculous properties are attributed to the relic itself. According to some reports, there are as many as 18 preputies in the world, but officially, the church does not recognize any of them.
The Shroud of Turin is undoubtedly one of the main Christian relics, kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin (Italy). The Shroud is a four-meter-long linen cloth, in which, according to legend, the body of Jesus Christ was wrapped after death. It clearly shows two full-length imprints of the human body: from the side of the face and from the side of the back. The Catholic Church does not officially recognize the shroud as authentic, but considers it an important reminder of the Passion of Christ. Some believers are convinced that the shroud contains real imprints of the face and body of Christ, but disputes about its authenticity still continue.
Every year great Christian shrines and relics are brought to our country. Thanks to widespread advertising, millions of believers come to worship them. This time the Belt of the Virgin Mary, stored on Mount Athos, was brought. Alas, there was some excitement and disappointment. The queues stretched for many kilometers, and not everyone was able to venerate the holy relic. At the same time, many do not even suspect that in Russia there are more shrines kept in churches and monasteries than in any country in the world, and many of them are in no way inferior to those that are brought to us on “tours”. Among the owners of objects of religious veneration, Moscow and the Moscow region traditionally lead. But there are also a lot of them in many other cities and towns.
Robe of the Mother of God
According to legend, the Mother of God wove Her belt from camel hair and before her death gave it, as well as Her other clothes, to the widows of Jerusalem. The belt and Robe were passed down from generation to generation and several centuries later became permanent shrines of Constantinople. After the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI was healed by touching the Belt in the 9th century, the relic began to be revered as miraculous. In gratitude, the queen even embroidered it with gold threads.
After the fall of Constantinople, the Belt was divided into three parts. One ended up on Mount Athos in the Vatopedi monastery, the second in Cyprus, the third in the Georgian city of Zugdidi. The shrine could also become the property of Russia. IN early XIX century, Princess Nino presented the Georgian part of the Belt to Emperor Alexander I. But he returned it back to Georgia, decorating precious stones...
Many Russian pilgrims who visited the Holy Mountain had the opportunity to venerate the Athos relic. A parishioner of our church, Dmitry, even begged the Mother of God for children. His wife could not give birth for a long time, but after the prayers of her husband, who visited Mount Athos, she finally became pregnant. When Dmitry touched the ark with the Belt, it seemed to him that he was illuminated by a flash of unearthly light, and his heart felt warm from love and happiness. Now he and his wife already have two children, and they are again waiting for a new addition to the family.
During their stay in Russia, about three million believers visited the shrine. The queues in Moscow were especially large - on some days they stretched from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to the Sparrow Hills. People stood for several hours to days at a time, but surprisingly, most of them managed to remain steadfast and complacent.
On the one hand, it is good that we have so many people who want to venerate Orthodox shrines. At the same time, those who did not have the strength and health to stand the gigantic queues evoke sincere sympathy. Quite a few people, hungry and cold, left in tears, having stood in an endless line in vain and painfully for days and nights. And some were even taken away by ambulance.
At the same time, one cannot help but admit the fact that such people, in some way, became victims of the hype.
Those who did not go to the temple did not even suspect that literally a few steps from the KhHS there is the Church of the Prophet Elijah (2nd Obydensky Lane), in which exactly the same shrine is constantly kept, only smaller in size. And you can venerate a piece of the same Belt of the Virgin Mary without any queues on any day from 8 am to late evening. There is also a particle of the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross, a piece of the Holy Sepulcher, miraculous icons and an ark containing the relics of many saints.
And few people know that many domestic churches contain particles of a miraculous relic equally revered by Christians - the Robe, which was worn by the Mother of God during her earthly life. Has nothing to do with it fewer stories healing of people and God's protection. One of these particles is located in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. There is also a piece of the Robe of Jesus Christ. Without unnecessary fuss and queues, you can venerate them on any day when the cathedral is open for free access. And it is open almost always, except for special celebrations and events.
There is also a piece of the Robe in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Old Simonovo (Vostochnaya Street, 6), in the Ascension David Hermitage and in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Relics of Christ
After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, many things remained related to His life and death. Some were subsequently lost, but most are still freely available in churches.
Information about the Robe of the Lord is in the Gospels of Mark, Luke and John. Its particles are stored all over the world. Before the revolution, this miraculous relic was kept in many large cities of the Russian Empire, but now it is present only in the main temple of the country.
A fragment of another robe of Christ - the Robe of the Lord - is kept in the above-mentioned David's Hermitage (Chekhov district of the Moscow region, the village of Novy Byt). In addition to it and the ark with a particle of the Robe of the Mother of God, the monastery houses a copy of the Nail of the Lord’s Crucifixion with a particle of the same authentic nail with which the Savior was nailed to the cross. There are also arks with particles of the relics of many great saints - Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Herman of Alaska, Nikita the Stylite and others.
The nails with which the hands and feet of the Savior were nailed have also long been objects of worship by believers. Tiny fragments were traditionally separated from them to make copies of the shrine. But in Russia there is also a whole Nail of the Lord. It is kept in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Assumption Holy Mother of God in the Kremlin. In 1688, it was brought by the Georgian king Archil, who emigrated to Russia.
The most common relic of Christianity is particles of the Life-Giving Cross on which Jesus was crucified. It was found in 326 during the reign of St. Equal to the Apostles Helen. Along with him they also found crosses on which the robbers were crucified. According to the version of some Byzantine historians and Church Fathers, the Bishop of Jerusalem Macarius I one by one brought the crucifixion instrument to a dying seriously ill woman, believing that Christ Cross will heal her. And so it happened, and the world acquired a genuine holy relic. Over time, the Cross of the Lord began to be divided into parts and given to churches all over the world. After the capture of Jerusalem by the Egyptians in 1187, large remains of the relic were lost. Small particles are now found not only all over the earth, but even in space - in 2006, a particle of the Life-Giving Cross was delivered to low-Earth orbit.
In Russia, there are particles of the Cross in quite a few churches and monasteries. Here are some of them: Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the capital's churches of the Placing of the Robe on Donskaya (20) and the Church of the Savior Miraculous Image in Gireevo (Svobodny Prospekt, 4a).
In Nizhny Novgorod you can venerate the great shrine in Krestovodvi convent(Oksky Congress, 2a), and in the city of Orel - in the Holy Vvedensky Monastery (1st Kurskaya St., 92). Particles of the holy relics of many dozens of saints are also stored there. In Yekaterinburg, the Holy Cross Monastery, located on the still unrenamed Karl Marx Street, possesses the relic. It also contains miraculous icons, for example, the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God with particles of the relics of Saints Mitrofan of Voronezh and Tikhon of Zadonsk, Simeon of Verkhoturye and many other saints.
The Pokrovsky Alexander Nevsky Monastery in the village of Kolyvan near Novosibirsk, in addition to the cross with a particle of the Life-Giving Tree, is famous for its miraculous icons and the ark with many particles of the relics of Russian saints. And in the Ivanovo region, in the Resurrection-Feodorovsky convent in the village of Sergeevo near Shuya, in a cypress cross on a particle of the Tree you can see a trace of a dried drop of Christ’s blood. There is also an ark with a piece of stone on which the Monk Seraphim of Sarov prayed, and several hairs of the holy elder.
Nicholas the Wonderworker
Archbishop Mir is considered the most beloved and revered saint in Rus' Lykiyskikh Nikolay, who has never been to Russia in his earthly life. In the old days, some simple-minded pilgrims even ranked him as one of the persons of the Holy Trinity, sincerely believing that it consisted of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Particles of the relics of St. Nicholas the Pleasant are in many Moscow churches. For example, in the churches of the Archangel Michael in Troparevo (Vernadskogo Avenue, 90), the Savior of the Image Not Made by Hands on Setuni (Ryabinovaya Street, 18) and the Ascension of the Lord on Gorokhovoy Pole (Radio Street, 2). The latter also contains particles of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Andrew of Crete, a piece of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, as well as fragments of stones from the Sepulchers of Christ and the Mother of God.
There are many shrines in the Moscow St. Daniel Monastery (Danilovsky Val, 22). In addition to the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker, fragments of the relics of Saint Prince Daniel and Savva of Storozhevsky rest here. And also, as a great shrine, they keep the velvet slipper from the foot of St. Spyridon of Trimythous, donated by the Greek Metropolitan Nektarios, who is revered in the world no less than in Russia - St. Nicholas the Pleasant.
Well, in Yekaterinburg, a particle of the relics and the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is kept in the Novo-Tikhvin Monastery (Green Grove, no. 1). There is also an ark with the relics of 25 saints of God.
Hegumen of the Russian Land
Nicknamed by the people as the abbot of the Russian land, the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, whose prayer healed and sometimes even raised the dead, left behind many memorable places. Many thousands of pilgrims come to his homeland in Rostov the Great every year. The pearl of the village of Varnitsa, where he was once born and lived as a child, is the picturesque Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery. Next to the monastery, on the site where the house of the future saint stood, stands worship cross. Many pilgrims consider it miraculous and believe that it heals diseases. And a kilometer from the monastery there is a holy spring.
When Bartholomew (that was Sergius's name before becoming a monk) was 14 years old, his family moved from Rostov to Radonezh. Nowadays this village is famous for its healing holy springs. And in the nearby ancient Intercession Khotkovsky Monastery, the saint’s parents, Cyril and Maria, are canonized as saints.
The relics of Sergius of Radonezh are kept in the Trinity Cathedral of the Lavra he founded. And on the site of the cell of the great ascetic, in which, according to legend, the Mother of God herself visited him one night, accompanied by the apostles Peter and John, the Serapion Chamber has stood since the 16th century. It contains many great shrines - stones from the Holy Sepulcher and the Tomb of the Mother of God, a fragment of the Robe of the Mother of God, the incorrupt hand of the first martyr Archdeacon Stephen, leather sandals, the schema and staff of the monk, sacred vessels for worship, as well as a coffin that he made with his own hands and in which he was buried.
In the Moscow branch of the Lavra, in the churches of the Life-Giving Trinity in the Troitskaya Sloboda and the Venerable Sergius in the Trinity Compound (2nd Troitsky Lane, 6a and 8–10), an icon of Sergius of Radonezh with a particle of his relics and miraculous icons of Seraphim equipped with reliquaries are kept Sarovsky and the Holy Fathers of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
Easter Father Seraphim
Before becoming famous throughout the world as a great Russian saint, Seraphim of Sarov went through a long spiritual path, full of ascetic deeds. He lived in the forest for many years, ate pasture, prayed incessantly and hardly slept. Wild animals came to him, and even a huge bear became meek and tame in his presence. Only at the end of his life did the perspicacious old man begin to receive numerous visitors - from commoners to kings. He addressed everyone who came: “My joy!” and at any time of the year he greeted everyone with the words: “Christ is Risen!” The people revered Father Seraphim as a saint during his lifetime. Even proud and arrogant people who came to him out of curiosity or to “make fun” often left in tears of repentance and began a new life.
There are four places on Earth that are famous as the inheritance of the Most Holy Theotokos, taken by Her under special protection: Iveria, Athos, Kyiv and Diveevo. Almost everyone who has ever visited the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery (the village of Diveevo, about an hour’s drive from Arzamas-2 station) dreams of coming here again and again.
In addition to the relics of the monastery’s confessor, St. Seraphim, many of his personal belongings, collected and carefully preserved by the Diveyevo nuns, are kept here. Anyone can see the priest’s coat, cap, shirt, mittens, boots and bast shoes, his rosary, stole, axe, hoe, bench, bending over which the elder passed into another world, and much more.
Pilgrims especially loved the elder’s cast-iron cauldron, which is kept in the altar and taken out from time to time for worship. During his lifetime, Father Seraphim distributed crackers that had healing powers to everyone. This tradition has been preserved in the monastery to this day. The crackers are blessed in a cast iron pot by the priest and distributed to the pilgrims.
In Moscow, a particle of Father Seraphim resides in the Church of John the Warrior (B. Yakimanka St., 46). Miraculous icons, a fragment of the finger of the Great Martyr Barbara and particles of the relics of more than 150 saints of God are also kept there. You can also venerate the relics of the saint in the Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious in Endov (Osipenko St., no. 6). It also contains particles of the relics of St. George the Victorious, the healer Panteleimon and other saints.
Well, the Diveyevo shrine, in which the bones of Seraphim of Sarov and an icon with a particle of his relics rested for 12 years, is now one of the main shrines of one of the largest cathedrals in Russia - the Church on the Blood in Yekaterinburg. It was built on the site of the Ipatiev House, in which Emperor Nicholas II and his family were shot in July 1918.
To Matronushka - without a queue
Saint Matrona of Moscow is so popular among the people that for many years now there have been huge, hours-long queues of sufferers visiting her relics, located in the Holy Intercession Monastery. And few people know that literally a 10-15 minute walk from the monastery, in the ancient Moscow Church of St. Martin the Confessor, a particle of the relics of the holy old woman and her shirt in which she was buried are kept. People flock to the monastery, and the huge beautiful temple with the most valuable shrines is undeservedly ignored by many. But it also contains a reliquary with a particle of the Cross of the Lord and the relics of many great saints - Equal to the Apostles Nina, Saints Martin and Tikhon and others. In addition, in the church there are miraculous icons “The Queen of All” and the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God, through whose prayers many women were healed of infertility and serious illnesses.
People also love the complex of three churches - Assumption, Nikolskaya and Tikhonovskaya, located on the shore of White Lake in Kosin (B. Kosinskaya St., 29). In addition to a particle of the relics of the Matrona of Moscow, his ark contains the relics of 134 saints - the Optina and Kiev-Pechersk elders, as well as many ascetics of antiquity and new martyrs of the 20th century.
Since the 18th century, Kosino churches have kept records of miraculous healings of people who visited the shrines. There are so many of them that you could write a whole book. From modern evidence, many cases of healing of people from alcoholism and cancer can be identified.
We have listed only a small part of the shrines for which our land is famous. In fact, there are many hundreds, or even thousands, and even short description could constitute a multi-volume encyclopedia. One can only rejoice for our people and wish everyone to know and love the spiritual heritage of Russian Orthodoxy.
TV company CNN and Time magazine compiled a rating of the 10 most revered religious relics
1st place in it was taken by the famous one - the funeral linen in which the body was allegedly wrapped Jesus Christ taken down from the cross. In some incomprehensible way, the image of a crucified man was imprinted on the shroud. Despite the ongoing controversy and the growing number of supporters of the version that the shroud is a fake, crowds of pilgrims. Those wishing to visit the cathedral in Turin, where the relic is kept, do not dry up from year to year.
In 2nd place is another Catholic relic - kept in the Naples Cathedral blood of Saint Gennaro (Saint Januarius). Twice a year, on September 19 and the first Sunday in May, a vessel containing the dried blood of a Christian martyr, executed in 305 by order of Emperor Diocletian, is taken out of the cathedral for public viewing. At some point, a miracle happens: the dried, hardened blood of the saint becomes liquid, bright scarlet, begins to bubble and completely fills the vessel. Residents of Naples believe that as long as the blood “comes to life”, the city is safe (in particular, it is not threatened by the eruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius). This legend has real confirmation. For example, in 1527 the vessel remained dry, and soon the city was swept by a plague epidemic. In 1980, the saint’s blood did not “revive” again, and an earthquake occurred in Naples.
The 3rd most important relic is located in the Istanbul museum - Topkapi Palace. This Prophet Muhammad's beard, which, as legend has it, was cut off by his favorite barber after the death of the prophet. And although it does not enjoy official status in Islam, because Muhammad called not to worship anyone but Allah, millions of people come to Istanbul specifically to look at this relic.
Also, a hair from the beard of the Prophet Muhammad is kept in the Hazratbal mosque (city of Srinagar, Kashmir state), and the third - oddly enough, in the Tyumen regional Museum of the City Duma. In the 19th century, a Bukhara merchant purchased the shrine for a lot of money and brought it to the Tyumen region.
In 4th place - Virgin Mary belt. It is knitted from camel hair and, according to legend, was given by the Mother of God to one of the apostles before she ascended to heaven. The belt is kept in the Italian city of Prato, where a special temple was built for it. The belt is put on display 5 times a year - at Christmas, Easter, May 1, August 15 and on the birthday of the Virgin Mary - September 8.
Interestingly, Prato itself has been famous for the production of wool and fabrics since the 13th century.
5th relic - head of John the Baptist. However, there are several heads vying for this status. Muslims believe that his head rests inside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, while Christians are convinced that John's head is on display in the Roman church of San Silvestro. According to other versions, she was buried in Turkey or the south of France.
In 6th place is the tooth of Buddha. The most popular relic of Buddhism known in all countries is buddha tooth(which few people have seen, so I can only imagine images of the temple in which this relic is kept), carefully preserved in the Dalada Maligawa temple in the city of Kandy (Sri Lanka). It is believed that the person who owns this relic has full power. All it takes is for the tooth to disappear and the Buddhist faith in Sri Lanka will come to an end.
They often tried to destroy the relic, but to no avail. In 1998, Islamists planted a bomb at the Dalada Maligawa Temple. The bomb went off, the temple was damaged, but the tooth remained intact.
Every year, from July to August, a two-week festival is held at the temple, with services and ceremonial processions with the participation of dancers and musicians. The procession of elephants looks impressive, one of which is carrying a casket with a relic. (In fact, the Buddha's tooth is hidden in seven caskets, nested one inside the other.)
According to legend, when the body of the Enlightened One was burned, one of his disciples snatched a tooth from the fire burial. For eight centuries after this, the sacred relic was kept in India, but in 361 war broke out, and the tooth was hidden and taken to Sri Lanka.
True, Portuguese archival sources claim that Portuguese troops captured the Buddha’s tooth in 1560, after which, at the insistence of Catholic Church, they crushed it into powder and burned it. Whether this was true or not, in any case, the annual holidays in honor of the Buddhist relic attract a huge number of pilgrims.
The tunic of the holy virgin took 7th position. Tunic of the Virgin Mary, which she wore before giving birth to the Savior, in Chartres (France), in the beautiful Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres by many connoisseurs, this cathedral is considered even more beautiful than the famous Notre-Dame de Paris). The tunic was brought by the crusaders in 876 after their next campaign against Jerusalem. In 1134, the cathedral burned down, but Mary’s sacred clothing, kept in one of the hiding places, remained unharmed. In 1194, the cathedral was struck by lightning, and the recently rebuilt building was again badly damaged. The tunic disappeared, but a few days later it was miraculously discovered in the surviving basement of the cathedral. During the Second World War, the whole of Chartres was wiped off the face of the Earth by Allied bombing, but neither the Cathedral of Our Lady of Wartre nor the relic hidden in it was damaged.
Another outstanding relic (8th place in the ranking) was named by American experts as the ancient cross made of grapevine. He became a symbol of Georgian Orthodox Church. The cross traveled to a number of countries before finding a permanent home in the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi.
In 9th place - Footprint of the Prophet Muhammad. A similar relic can be found in different places. For example, in the Qubbat al-Sakhra mosque (Dome of the Rock), built in 687-691 in Jerusalem. According to legend, the Prophet Muhammad traveled to heaven by pushing off a rock with his foot. The footprint of the prophet remained on the stone, and a fragment of the rock is now kept in the mosque with the appropriate name. The largest mosque in India, Jama Masjid (Delhi), can also boast that it owns things directly related to the Prophet Muhammad. This is a chapter from the Koran on deerskin and also the imprint of his foot.
Located near Damascus, Jami Al-Qadam (Mosque of the Feet) is actually not a mosque at all, but a fenced courtyard, in the center of which is an octagonal mausoleum with the tomb of Asali Ahmet Pasha (1636). According to legend, the Prophet Muhammad visited here too, who, before reaching Damascus, looked at him and said: “A person is only allowed to enter paradise once, but I want to enter heavenly paradise.” So the prophet did not visit Damascus - the earthly paradise, but, again, he left the imprint of his foot on a stone stored in a niche in the wall under a neat rug, which only mosque servants are allowed to lift
10th place awarded chains of the apostle Peter with which he was bound in Jerusalem. Tradition says that on the night before the trial he was freed by an angel from his shackles and released from prison. The chain now resides in a reliquary located under the main altar of the Basilica of St. Peter in Chains in Rome.
I would like to mention one more relic that was not included in the rating. Right hand (right hand) of the prophet with which he baptized Christ.
According to legend, Evangelist Luke, going around different cities and villages preaching Christ, took with him from Sebastia (a city in the historical region of Israel) a piece of the relics of the great prophet - his right hand. In 959, the hand of the Forerunner ended up in Constantinople, where it was kept until the time of the conquest of this city by the Turks. After right hand John the Baptist came to St. Petersburg as a gift from the Knights of Malta to Emperor Paul I) and was located in the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands in the Winter Palace.
After the October Revolution, the relic was taken out of the country, and until 1993 it was considered lost forever. It was discovered in the Cetinje Monastery in Montenegro, where it is currently kept.
