Finding meaning in pieces of the ‘holy dead’
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- June
- 5
Relics.
They’ve always fascinated me.
Pieces of the dead.
People travel from far and wide to see them, be near them, venerate them, pray by them.
When I’ve written about relics—usually in the Catholic world—I’ve been taken by the mysterious histories of many relics.
I wrote last year about relics of St. Barbara, a patron saint of firefighters, which were brought to St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Ossining. The ocassion was a Mass to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11.
In doing a bit of research, I learned that there was much disagreement about her legend. And that several churches claimed to have at least some of St. Barbara’s relics.
But it was very meaningful to firefighters and others to have some relics of the saint in the midst.
Now, a writer named Peter Manseau has released a book about relics. It’s called “Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World’s Holy Dead.”
It may have to be part of my summer beach reading (I know, it’s not everybody’s idea of beach reading).
Manseau’s website offers this description:
*****
By examining relics—the bits and pieces of long-dead saints at the heart of nearly all religious traditions—Peter Manseau delivers a book about life, and about faith and how it is sustained. The result of wide travel and the author’s own deep curiosity, filled with true tales of the living and dubious legends of the dead, Rag and Bone tells of a California seeker who ended up in a Jerusalem convent because of a nun’s disembodied hand; a French forensics expert who travels on the metro with the rib of a saint; two young brothers who collect tickets at a Syrian mosque, studying English beside a hair from the Prophet Muhammad’s beard; and many other stories, myths, and peculiar histories.
This entry was posted
on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 11:23 am by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
