Relic claimed to be bone from St Clement rescued from the bin

The Guardian ^ | 05-01-2018 | Maev Kennedy

[NRx]

A small leather case containing a fragment of bone claimed to be a relic of St Clement, a pope who was martyred almost 2,000 years ago, has been found in rubbish collected from central London.

The waste disposal firm is now appealing for suggestions from the public for a more suitable final resting place for a saint than a bin.

The box, originally sealed with red wax and tied with crimson cords, contained a scrap of bone under a glass dome, with a faded strip of paper labelling it “Oss. S Clementis” – bone of St Clement.

St Clement is a somewhat obscure figure, and details of his life are hazy and contradictory. However, he is said to have been martyred around the year 100 – just short of his own centenary – by the Roman emperor Trajan, by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea off the Crimea: his fate made him a patron saint of mariners.

He was an early Roman convert to Christianity, said to have been made a bishop by St Paul himself and in time became bishop of Rome, which made him the third pope after the martyrdom of the saints Peter and Linus. He is said to have written important letters of spiritual guidance to the Corinthians who gave St Paul so much trouble.

The little box ended up in the hands of the Enviro Waste firm, which collects both commercial and domestic waste. The case was found after a run that included several different sites in central London, and so the firm cannot pinpoint where the relic came from. It was spotted when employees were sorting through the load to separate out anything that could be recycled.

[NRx]

IMHO it should be turned over to the Roman Catholic Church or alternatively to one of the local Orthodox parishes although I think the Catholics have a stronger claim.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

It should be buried after all these years.

[DannyTN]

Same thing happened to me yesterday.
...No wait....that was a chicken bone.
And it fell out of the bin and I put it back in.

[skr]

Not very respectful to parcel out someone’s remains and for what?

[Celtic Conservative]

Or the university that displays Jeremy Bentham...all of him, sitting in a chair?

[fishtank]

“dried up, seahorse looking thing”.

[dhs12345]

Agreed. Lol. I'd hate to be deemed a Saint because someone will very likely dig me up and make jewelry out of my bones.

[fishtank]

More examples of primitivism....

[Celtic Conservative]

Touche’ !

CC

[Salvation]

I heard this on EWTN radio this morning.

[PeterPrinciple]

The cult of relics, and the flourishing medieval trade in fakes, was one of the abuses which led to the Reformation, but genuine relics, often believed by the faithful to be miracle working, were cherished and passed on for centuries.

---

so is it real or is it memorex

[Salvation]

It appears that a lot of people don't know about relics. Here are some links for their education:

The Ancient, Biblical Christian Practice of Venerating Relics
[CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS] Relics

Symbols in Christian Art and Architecture (Variations of Crosses)
Lessons In Iconography : The Chi Rho - Christ
The Holy Cross
Pope Benedict explains veneration of images before heading to Holy Land (CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS)
Liturgical Vestments (and prayers the priest says while vesting for Mass)
Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus}
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Scapulars [Ecumenical]
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, The Miraculous Medal [Ecumenical]
'Holy Things To The Holy': Sacred Things, Places, and Times [Ecumenical]
Purification of Sacred Vessels in U.S. (and more on the Purification of our Lord)

Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Relics and the Incorruptibles
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Ashes
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Palm Branches
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Incense
Why We Need Sacred Art
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Sacred Images: Statues and Other Icons
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Crucifixes and Crosses
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, [New] Fire, Paschal Candle
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Holy Oils
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, [Holy] Water Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Relics and the Incorruptibles

[Governor Dinwiddie]

#3: "What’s with the obsessive collecting of dead people’s body parts?"

That was the very gripe which Martin Luther had which helped trigger the Reformation. At that time there was a pretty lucrative trade in buying and selling body parts of "saints" in order to achieve a "blessing".
 

[a fool in paradise]

Ping

[CondorFlight]

I agree. Send it to Rome; after all, if genuine, he was the third Pope.

[PAR35]

There have probably been enough pieces of the ‘true cross’ to build a full size replica of Noah’s Ark.

[wmileo]

So any ideals how the bone of the third pope got to London? That would be a great story.