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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: average joe who wrote (23846)	3/29/2012 1:53:14 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

Am sure the little kids make fun of "Lenny" behind his back , greg has got to look something like this and we forgot the blacks & the Jews & moslems which we know of course are all Brumdum's favorite people, that ugly stone is about as sick as they come ...twisted . The kids today have them covered :

To: average joe who wrote (23846)	3/29/2012 5:59:43 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 69300

The Trade in Fake Christian Souvenirs in the Middle Ages (grave robbing became an industry , early capitalism at its finest ! ) Religious relics were the crowd-pullers of the medieval age. Any church or monastery that could lay claim to a relic would be assured a steady stream of visitors. However, relics weren’t confined to religious houses, they were freely available for purchase for those with the means to pay for them. What was a Medieval Religious Relic? A relic was an item which was believed to be an authentic physical part of a religious figure, such as a saint, the Virgin Mary, or even Jesus. Relics could range from the impressive, such as the forefinger or St Benedict or part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, through to what may seem ludicrous to the modern mind, such as a drop of the breast milk of the Virgin Mary, a phial of Christ’s blood or one of Jesus’ baby teeth. Some relics could be visited at the place they were housed, such as the milk of the Virgin Mary at England’s Walsingham Abbey, others were sold by merchants to private individuals, often for an inflated price. A pilgrim buoyed up by the excitement of safely reaching his destination, was one person who could easily fall prey to the persuasions of an unscrupulous relic merchant. So popular was the trade in relics, that a counterfeit industry grew during this period, with desperate vendors resorting to robbing graves for human bones, which they could pass off as the remains of a saint. Many relics which were greatly venerated in Europe had been brought from the Holy Land by those who had visited there on Crusade. These relics were to be especially revered, as they had come from Jesus’s birthplace and were often strongly associated with the Holy Family. Why Were Relics so Important in the Middle Ages? Many people in the Middle Ages believed that relics were invested with heavenly powers and that to be close to a relic, or even better, to touch one, would provide a person with spiritual blessings, divine protection and even a cure from illness. Read This Next Relics in Early Church History The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages Religion in the Middle Ages In a world which could seem so uncertain, with wars, disease and incurable illnesses, religious people often sought the protection which they believed a religious relic could offer. Someone who bought a relic would often carry it on their person, to be accessible at all times. The Display of Religious Relics in Medieval Times Most sites which held relics charged an entrance fee, which visitors had to pay to gain access to view the holy item. Such a practice meant that religious communities came to rely on relics as an important form of income. Throughout the Middle Ages, there was intense competition between various European religious houses about who had the most impressive relics. Inevitably, relics were stolen and turned up mysteriously at another location, or a cathedral or monastery would be accused by a rival house of holding a fake relic. Worse still, two supposedly genuine relics could be found at different houses. During the fourteenth century, both the towns of Amiens and Constantinople claimed to own the head of St John the Baptist. The Storage of Medieval Relics Most relics were displayed and stored in reliquaries, ornate containers which were decorated with precious metals as befitted the status of the relic contained within. A reliquary could range in size from a small container, through to a casket large enough to hold the entire body of an esteemed saint. These containers would be taken out on special occasions and paraded through the streets in a religious procession. Although many relics have been lost or destroyed over the years, many are still in existence, including a relic of the hand of St Stephen in the Basilica at Budapest and relics of St William at England’s York Minster. These are sites which are still popular now, just as they were in the days of the medieval pilgrims. Read more at Suite101: The Importance of Medieval Religious Relics: The Trade in Real and Fake Christian Souvenirs in the Middle Ages \| Suite101.com http://rachel-bellerby.suite101.com/the-importance-of-medieval-religious-relics-a64836#ixzz1qXtKUowB Read more at Suite101: The Importance of Medieval Religious Relics: The Trade in Real and Fake Christian Souvenirs in the Middle Ages \| Suite101.com http://rachel-bellerby.suite101.com/the-importance-of-medieval-religious-relics-a64836#ixzz1qXsw3JGo