Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) was born in the in the Italian village of Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, in northern Italy. Frances Cabrini was born a few months premature and suffered health problems the rest of her life because of complications associated… Read More ›
Simon of Sudbury (ca. 1316-14 June 1381) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1375 to 1380, crowned King Richard II in 1377, and was the Lord Chancellor of England from 1380-1381. He became extremely unpopular because the lower classes believed he… Read More ›
In Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox religions, incorruptibility is the belief that if the corpse of a saint does not decompose it is a sign that God has intervened because of that person’s holiness. Incorruptibility is a temporary state of… Read More ›
Mount Athos is an Eastern Orthodox monastic republic located on a remote, mountainous peninsula in northern Greece that is only accessible by boat. It is an independent mini-state within Greece, similar to the Vatican, and operates under a charter granted… Read More ›
One of the thrills of being a forensic scientist is positively identifying human remains, which can be hundreds of years old and revered as relics. Other times forensic science can be used to debunk a hoax, and the really interesting… Read More ›
When I picture a church where the bodies or bones of saints are displayed I typically think of a place in Europe. But there are few places in the U.S. where the relics of saints can be viewed, and one… Read More ›
In 2008, a cathedral in Northern Italy was undergoing renovations, when workers discovered more than 300 bones belonging to two skeletons in one of the sealed crypts. The skulls were packed inside a pair of silver-and-gold busts deep in a… Read More ›
According to legend, the bones of St. Nicholas secrete a sweet liquid, called manna, that is supposed to have healing powers. This legend of the manna of St. Nicholas starts in the 4th century in the town of Myra in… Read More ›
In Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, a little town in the southeastern region of France, there is a grotto and a medieval basilica that attract thousands of pilgrims each year. These people believe that the cave, known as La Baume of Mary Magdalene, holds the bones… Read More ›
Al Farrow is a San Francisco based sculptor who uses media associated with warfare to reconstruct religious buildings for his “Twentieth Century Reliquaries” series. At first glance these intricate pieces look like miniature replicas of churches, synagogues, mosques, monuments, and mausoleums. … Read More ›
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