Posted on 10/12/2015 1:16:55 PM PDT by NYer
In honor of the Year of Mercy decreed by Pope Francis — which begins on December 8, 2015 — Stanislas LaLanne, Bishop of Pontoise and “Guardian of the Holy Tunic” has announced that the Holy Tunic of Argenteuil – purported to be the seamless garment worn by Christ on Calvary – will be exhibited to the public for a very brief time: from March 25 to April 10, 2016.
This tunic was originally documented as being seamless and of-a-piece, fitting the description found in the Gospel according to John (Jn 19:23-24):
“When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled [that says]: ‘They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.’ This is what the soldiers did.”
The relic is known to have arrived in France in the year 800, when the Empress Irene of Constantinople — hoping to marry Charlemagne, and thus unite their empires — presented the garment to him as a coronation gift. The marriage never happened, as Irene was soon dethroned, and Charlemagne entrusted the tunic’s safe-keeping to his daughter, Théodrade, then Abbess of the Monastery of the Humility of Our Lady of Argenteuil.
During the Norman invasion, the nuns sealed the tunic behind a wall, where it remained until the middle of the twelfth century. By then, the monastery had come under the ownership of the Benedictines of St. Denis, who, in 1131, held a solemn viewing for King Louis VII. Saint Louis also venerated the relic, twice, in 1255 and 1260. In 1544 Francis I had the village of Argenteuil fortified to protect the tunic from theft.
During the French Revolution, the integrity of the Z-twist-patterned woven tunic was lost as the parish priest of Argenteuil — hoping to protect the unique garment from confiscation by the government — cut it into several pieces, burying some, and entrusting other pieces to parishioners. The priest, jailed for two years, attempted to patch the relic back together, but some parts of the tunic were never found.
While minimal testing has been done on the cloth, it has been determined that the blood stains found within its fibers are type AB, as with the Shroud of Turin, and that the two relics share similar pollens.
In the modern era, the tunic has been displayed every fifty years, so this exception for the Year of Mercy is noteworthy. The tunic — having been stolen in 1983, and then recovered — was last given exposition in 1984, drawing at that time approximately 80,000 pilgrims. As the 2016 display will occur during the 150th anniversary of the Basilica of Saint Denis, and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diocese of Pontoise, Father Guy-Emmanuel, rector of the basilica, is expecting more than twice as many pilgrims to venerate the relic.
Translated from the French, with additional research added.
If you’re worried about idolatry in the XXI Century, “relics” aren’t where you’re going to find a problem. Wealth, power, public opinion, political ideology, celebrities, science, psychotherapy, sports, peer approval ... these are today’s idols. One’s own opinion is often the worst idol of all
Trying to give me a headache?
And how are you and the family? Excellent, I hope!
You can double a mobius once but not twice.
Any way I’m more inclined to the Holy Hand granade of Antioch.
I don’t disagree that the items you listed can be idols, but anything that takes the attention from God himself can be an idol, as this tunic has become.
Best.
Good. That means you're awake.
but anything that takes the attention from God himself can be an idol,
An idol is a substitute for God. I think we're not really in disagreement here.
as this tunic has become.
That claim assumes facts not in evidence. Quite the contrary, in fact.
If this item is genuinely associated with Jesus, then it’s Epically Cool Old Stuff. If it’s just something that was cooked up in the Middle Ages, then it’s Pretty Cool Old Stuff.
Personally, I would not make a special trip to see it - it’s not the Bayeaux Tapestry - but if I came across it in a museum or visiting an old church, I’d say, “Wow, cool!”
Thanks for posting.
It’s a shame that the late Cardinal Bernadin used the term “seamless garment” for his evil purposes.
” That claim assumes facts not in evidence. Quite the contrary, in fact. “
When people idolize something, it is an idol, no matter how else it is referred to...
In this instance, the garment is being idolized.
I will never understand the non-Catholic aversion to this nor the Shroud. If they are the real McCoys, why wouldn’t any follower of Christ be in awe of the fact that this was the tunic worn by our Lord (or this was the shroud our Lord was wrapped in in the case of the Shroud)! No one is worshipping these items.
No, it isn't.
Fabulous, I have never heard of this garment!
“...weaving an everyday garment like that...”
I guess the garment type is everyday, but iirc the tunic, being without a seam, was a pretty rare thing that only the very wealthy could afford. I think the speculation is that a wealthy follower thought it would be a garment fit for a king.
Although I seem to recall goofy articles about Jesus being related to the King of England and going there and having all sorts of gold and stuff.
Sloppy. Catholics do not worship or idolize relics. Neither do we kneel before relics in and of themselves, but in reverence of God who graciously condescends to work through the object.
Numbers 21:9 relates that Moses made a bronze snake, elevated it upon a staff, and that anyone who looked upon it was healed of snakes bites (and it important to note in 2 Kings 18:4 that when the Israelites came to believe that the snake held in and of itself, it was destroyed. The Catholic Church has always stressed that relics hold no power inherently).
In 2 Kings 2:13, Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak and took it away with him after the latter had been taken up, and God permitted a miracle to occur through the cloak.
In 2 Kings 13:21, God performed a miracle through the bones of Elisha.
Acts 19:12 states that God performed miracles through cloaks and handkerchiefs that had been touched to Paul's person.
"Post verses that say this is normative for believers in the Christian assembly."
Is this your way of dismissing Scriptural examples as one-offs?
I used to have round knitting needles, no seams, also crochet.
Cool, an XXXL T-shirt.
I’m going to go venerate a sandwich.
I am not a Catholic and I have no aversion to the Shroud. I hope it is the real thing and I am thrilled that such an ancient artifact has been saved, even if it belonged to someone else. In no way do I think it should be worshiped.
True, but the Gospel text says “woven.”
Maybe they didn’t have another word for crochet.
The possession of the seamless garment of Christ (Gr. chiton arraphos; Latin tunica inconsultilis, John 19:23), for which the soldiers cast lots at the Crucifixion, is claimed by the cathedral of Trier and by the parish church of Argenteuil. The Trier tradition affirms that this relic was sent to that city by the Empress St. Helena. For some time the holders of this opinion based their claim on a document in the ancient archives of the city, the "Sylvester Diploma", sent by Pope Sylvester to the Church of Trier, but this cannot, at least in its present form, be considered genuine. Read More
why wouldn’t any follower of Christ be in awe of the fact that this was the tunic worn by our Lord (or this was the shroud our Lord was wrapped in in the case of the Shroud)! No one is worshipping these items.
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