Posted on 07/30/2010 5:11:37 PM PDT by Palter
Parts of St. John the Baptist's relics might have been discovered during archaeological excavations in Bulgaria's southern Black Sea town of Sozopol, report Bulgarian media.
Archaeologists investigating the Sv. Ivan (St. John) island off Sozopol have found an exquisite reliquary – a relic urn – built in the altar of an ancient church bearing the name of St. John the Baptist
The reliquary has the shape of a sarcophagus and is dated end of 4th - beginning of 5th c. AD. It was discovered by the team of Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov.
The church's name, as well as the fact that it had a special emperor's statute issued, has hinted to archeologists that it might actually contain St. John's relics. The urn is expected to be opened Sunday.
St. John the Baptist - called also the Forerunner - is an imposing figure in the Christian New Testament. He was the last to prophecize the coming of Jesus Christ - and the one to baptize the young Jesus in the river Jordan. The great prophet died a martyr's death beheaded by king Herod at the request of his daughter Salome.
According to the Bible, St. John the Forerunner prophesized about Christ thus: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and fire" (Matthew 3:11).
St. John the Baptist is especially venerated by the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. Over the centuries, there have been controversies about where his relics are located.
The town of Sozopol is one of the most ancient on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, dating from the Bronze age. It was colonized by Greeks, headed by philosopher Anaximander, around 610 BC. Sozopol became an early Christian centre with its own bishop. For most of the Middle Ages, it was part of the Byzantine empire.
WOW.
Awaiting Sunday...
ping
gnip
Fascinating! Can’t wait till they open it!
If the reliquary is so significant, then why was it buried while clearly labeled.
Seems fishy.
Immersion in history ping.
Perhaps 600 years ago invading Turks didn't care much about Christian artifacts, and couldn't be bothered to read Cyrillic either (how many soldiers could read in 1396?)
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Thanks Palter for the topic, and thanks tutstar and decimon for the pings.a relic urn -- built in the altar of an ancient church bearing the name of St. John the BaptistTo all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
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This is just incredible. Wouldn’t you just love to be present for the opening of the reliquary?
With a sprinkling of legends. Probably as authentic as the "James" reliquary.
That 4th Century part smacks of the purveyors of pieces of the "True Cross".
Mind you, I'm not implying that the church authorities were involved in a fraud, but rather perhaps they were duped into buying the relics from a con man. Of course, after the passage of 17 centuries, they now really are, rather ironically, relics!
What does that mean, ‘St. John the Baptist’s relics’, ashes?
It was perhaps buried to keep it out of the hands of the Turks.
Will Geraldo be present? :-)
Guessing here: his belt, his clothing, his head--detached from his body, and maybe a staff?
Amazing of the things discoverd these day, I think a message is being sent to us.
1,000 years ago nobody would dare to sell any such thing to the Church. Things were given freely, and passed from one generation of priests to another. That's at least what I gather from reading stories of Brother Cadfael.
Besides, 1,000 or 2,000 years ago people may have been not very informed about quantum mechanics, but they were just as good at reading other people's actions and intentions as we are today. Perhaps they were even better at that, given that *all* interactions at that time were face to face. You just can't become an Abbot or other Church leader without good "people skills."
Something tells me that it wouldn't be trivial for a medieval con man to even *give* the fake relics to the Church. That time was much closer to the actual events than we are now, and the Church would be in possession of records that are now lost to us. They also took religion seriously, and wouldn't commit a sin by honoring unvetted relics. They also had lots of monks eager to hit the road, retrace the trail of relics and get confirmation of every claimed fact.
Note that the Shroud of Turin is still not accepted by the Church as genuine, just because there is no certainty in its identification. The Church typically errs on the side of caution in cases like that.
I hear the rumor is that the urn contains hair, teeth, eyes and a goat skin jock strap worn by the eremite at the time of his beheading.
Sounds emminently credible to me.
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