OBJECTS OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL 41 



building can be consecrated unless it contains relics. Reliquaries 

 are repositories of relics and are usually made of precious metals and 

 adorned with jewels, in form of a box, casket, or shrine. The ven- 

 eration of relics dates back to the early centuries of Christianity; in 

 the fourth century it was already widely spread. 



129. Silver reliquary. — Made in form of an ostensory, encompassed 

 by sunbeams. Chased work. Behind the glass is seen a crosslet, 

 supposed to be made from a particle of the true cross. By the ''true 

 cross" is meant the actual original cross upon which Jesus was cruci- 

 fied. It is believed by both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern 

 Church that the cross buried upon Golgotha was found in 326 A. D. 

 by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, and the 

 church commemorates this event by appointing May 3 (in the 

 Eastern Church September 13), as the annual festival of the dis- 

 covery of the cross (inventi crucis). Height, Sji inches. Seville, 

 Spain. (Cat. No. 166987, U.S.N.M.) 



130. Reliquary. — Consisting of an oval metal frame. Behind the 

 glass in front is a tiny cross set in a gilt frame of scroll design. An 

 inscription reads. Lignum S S. crusis D. N. J. C. (wood of the most 

 holy cross of our Lord Jesus Christ). On the back is the episcopal 

 v/ax seal, attesting to the genuineness of the relic. Diameters, 1 V^ 

 by 1 )i inches. Probably from Italy. (Cat. No. 256893, U.S.N.M.) 

 Lent by Mrs. G. Brown Goode. 



131. Relic oj St. Anne, mother of Mary. — In an oval case of white 

 metal. On the back is in relief an effigy of Mary and the petition in 

 French, "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who take their 

 refuge to thee." Diameters, 1 inch by ]i of an inch. Italy. (Cat. 

 No. 179058, U.S.N.M.) 



132. Relic oj St. Peter. — In an oval case of white metal, with the 

 episcopal seal. Diameters, Iji bj^ 1% inches. Italy. (Cat. No. 

 179061, U.S.N.M.) 



133. Relics of St. Clement. — Consisting of two molar teeth in a 

 brass frame. St. Clement was the third Bishop of Rome toward the 

 end of the first century. Diameters, 1 % by 1 K inches. Italy. (Cat. 

 No. 179060, U.S.N.M.) 



134. Relics of Christ, Mary, St. Joseph, St. Francis a Paula (1416- 

 1607); St. Francis Xavier {1506-1552); St. Theresa (1616-1582); 

 and St. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591). — In an oval brass case. 

 Diameters, 3 by 2% inches. Italy. (Cat. No. 179062, U.S.N.M.) 



135. Relic of St. Charles Borromeo (1638-1684). — In an oval case of 

 white metal with the episcopal seal. St. Borromeo was Cardinal and 

 Archbishop of Milan. Diameters, 1 }^ by 1 inch. Italy. (Cat. No. 

 179059, U.S.N.M.) 



61551—29 4 



