Written by Fr. Dennis O'Neill
From the beginning of Christian history, we have had an innate desire to visit sacred places and to bring home sacred souvenirs. Even though we were persecuted until the year 313 and could not legally gather anywhere, we still visited the graves of our beloved dead. The persecution occasioned the death of many martyrs. While those who killed them paid no particular attention to the dates of their death, the Christians remembered. The date of a martyr’s death was the date of her or his entrance into the fullness of eternal life; and it usually became the martyr’s feast day. Everyone visited the graves of their beloved dead, so the Christians could generally blend in with everyone else when they visited the cemeteries. They particularly wanted to visit the tombs of the saints because they believe that their mortal remains still retained some of the energy of the saint. All matter is alive in one manner or another and exudes energy. Human beings are no different. When we die, not all of the energy totally detaches from the remains of what had been our own personal “temple of the Holy Spirit”. This is why it is possible for scientists to take DNA samples to date bones. Saintly energy is reflected in our custom of depicting saints with haloes around their heads. Many religions value relics for the same reason. They have the energy of the saint and are therefore especially useful channels for communication between the saint and the pilgrim. When Christians visited the graves of the saints, they felt that they were visiting the saint. As a component of their visit they often wanted to return home with some tangible reminder of the journey – something which, hopefully, would have absorbed some of the saintly energy. So they would either bring items or purchase items at the location, which they could touch to the grave of the saint, hoping that the souvenir would catch some of the saint’s energy. Then they would bring it home as a cherished sacramental. These were considered “third class” relics (1st class being a part of the saint’s body and 2nd class being a portion of some-thing owned or used by the saint). By the High Middle Ages, pilgrims were able to purchase sacred souvenirs at most pilgrimage sites, and by this time there were many sites throughout the Christian world. This is why most of these places have gift shops. The oldest were Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople. In addition to these cities, other places became famous as the tombs of some of the most widely-revered saints. e.g. Santiago de Compostela – the tomb of St. James the Greater in Spain, and Canterbury Cathedral, the tomb of the Archbishop St. Thomas a Becket. In England. (Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous “Canterbury Tales” used this pilgrimage as a setting for his stories.)
At the Shrine of All Saints, many samples of these souvenirs and “pilgrim badges” may be seen. There are a contemporary cockle shell and a tile from Compostela, imitations of medieval pilgrim badges of St. Olaf (whose tomb was in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway) and St. Hugh (whose tomb was in Lincoln Cathedral in England). There are several actual pilgrim badges, most of them fashioned around 1450. The first place to fashion pilgrim badges in England was Canterbury. The remains of several lead badges depicting St. Thomas a Becket can be seen.
From the beginning of Christian history, we have had an innate desire to visit sacred places and to bring home sacred souvenirs. Even though we were persecuted until the year 313 and could not legally gather anywhere, we still visited the graves of our beloved dead. The persecution occasioned the death of many martyrs. While those who killed them paid no particular attention to the dates of their death, the Christians remembered. The date of a martyr’s death was the date of her or his entrance into the fullness of eternal life; and it usually became the martyr’s feast day. Everyone visited the graves of their beloved dead, so the Christians could generally blend in with everyone else when they visited the cemeteries. They particularly wanted to visit the tombs of the saints because they believe that their mortal remains still retained some of the energy of the saint. All matter is alive in one manner or another and exudes energy. Human beings are no different. When we die, not all of the energy totally detaches from the remains of what had been our own personal “temple of the Holy Spirit”. This is why it is possible for scientists to take DNA samples to date bones. Saintly energy is reflected in our custom of depicting saints with haloes around their heads. Many religions value relics for the same reason. They have the energy of the saint and are therefore especially useful channels for communication between the saint and the pilgrim. When Christians visited the graves of the saints, they felt that they were visiting the saint. As a component of their visit they often wanted to return home with some tangible reminder of the journey – something which, hopefully, would have absorbed some of the saintly energy. So they would either bring items or purchase items at the location, which they could touch to the grave of the saint, hoping that the souvenir would catch some of the saint’s energy. Then they would bring it home as a cherished sacramental. These were considered “third class” relics (1st class being a part of the saint’s body and 2nd class being a portion of some-thing owned or used by the saint). By the High Middle Ages, pilgrims were able to purchase sacred souvenirs at most pilgrimage sites, and by this time there were many sites throughout the Christian world. This is why most of these places have gift shops. The oldest were Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople. In addition to these cities, other places became famous as the tombs of some of the most widely-revered saints. e.g. Santiago de Compostela – the tomb of St. James the Greater in Spain, and Canterbury Cathedral, the tomb of the Archbishop St. Thomas a Becket. In England. (Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous “Canterbury Tales” used this pilgrimage as a setting for his stories.)
At the Shrine of All Saints, many samples of these souvenirs and “pilgrim badges” may be seen. There are a contemporary cockle shell and a tile from Compostela, imitations of medieval pilgrim badges of St. Olaf (whose tomb was in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway) and St. Hugh (whose tomb was in Lincoln Cathedral in England). There are several actual pilgrim badges, most of them fashioned around 1450. The first place to fashion pilgrim badges in England was Canterbury. The remains of several lead badges depicting St. Thomas a Becket can be seen.
St. James the Greater, Apostle and Martyr, contemporary cockle shell and tile form Compostela, Spain
St. Thomas a Becket pilgrim badges from Canterbury c. 1450
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St. Olaf II Haraldson, King and Martyr. Copy of a medieval pilgrim badge from Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway
St. Edmund, King and Martyr pilgrim badge from Bury St. Edmunds, c. 1450
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St. Hugh of Lincoln, copy of a medieval pilgrim badge from Lincoln Cathedral
St. Barbara pilgrim badge c. 1450
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Saints whose bones secrets fragrant liquids – either water or oils – are called “myriblites”. St. Nicholas of Myra is one of them. From long before his bones were stolen from Myra and brought to Bari, his bones have secreted a fragrant, healing water called “manna”. It is ladled out of his tomb in Bari every year and made available for pilgrims in ornate flasks. There are some of these flasks at our shrine.
St. Nicholas of Myra, pilgrim badges from the shrine of St. Nicolas-de-Port in Lorraine, France c. 1450
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St. Nicholas of Bari – "manna"
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Our most recently obtained souvenir is brand new and comes from the gift shop at Ely Cathedral. This is the site of the famous shrine of St. Etheldreda (Audrey), Foundress of Ely and Queen of Northumbria. Until the Reformation, there was a great fair held there annually near her Feast Day June 23rd. The English adjective “tawdry” (from St. Audrey) describes the chintzier pilgrim souvenirs available for purchase – e.g. bits of lace, cheap badges, and even, our Christmas tree ornament depicting St. Audrey, which was made in China.
Our most important pilgrim souvenirs by far is also our most ancient. It is a bronze disk depicting the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (The Eastern Church celebrates the Dormition. The West celebrates the Assumption. It is the same feast. Our Lady had to die before she was assumed, or she would be greater than Jesus). The traditional icon depicting the Dormition shows our Lady at the moment of dying, with her divine Son standing behind her, holding her soul as though it were a swaddled baby. All the apostles are present, grieving. St. Paul is at her feet. St. John leans over her in the middle. St. Peter is at her head, swinging a thurible (censer). Because of the terrible eastern heresy called iconoclasm, during which, for over a hundred years, the emperors of Constantinople saw to the destruction of all religious images, except the bare cross, no image of the Dormition of the Virgin is known to have survived that devastation. So the oldest were made after the year 843. Our bronze disk was excavated by an archaeologist in 2002 from under the floor of a former Byzantine church in Madaba, Jordan. It was made in Jerusalem between 500 and 550 and was sold as a souvenir to a pilgrim visiting the church of the Dormition in Jerusalem. It is three hundred years older than the oldest known depiction of the subject and is therefore, the oldest in the world. It should also settle the dispute about whether our Lady died in Jerusalem or in Ephesus. Though the shrine in Ephesus is a very holy place, filled with the energy of our Lady, the oldest stories about Ephesus begin in the ninth century. The Jerusalem stories are much older. And the depiction has always shown Mary with all the apostles, not just St. John, who would have been alone with her if she had gone with him later in life to Ephesus.
Our most important pilgrim souvenirs by far is also our most ancient. It is a bronze disk depicting the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (The Eastern Church celebrates the Dormition. The West celebrates the Assumption. It is the same feast. Our Lady had to die before she was assumed, or she would be greater than Jesus). The traditional icon depicting the Dormition shows our Lady at the moment of dying, with her divine Son standing behind her, holding her soul as though it were a swaddled baby. All the apostles are present, grieving. St. Paul is at her feet. St. John leans over her in the middle. St. Peter is at her head, swinging a thurible (censer). Because of the terrible eastern heresy called iconoclasm, during which, for over a hundred years, the emperors of Constantinople saw to the destruction of all religious images, except the bare cross, no image of the Dormition of the Virgin is known to have survived that devastation. So the oldest were made after the year 843. Our bronze disk was excavated by an archaeologist in 2002 from under the floor of a former Byzantine church in Madaba, Jordan. It was made in Jerusalem between 500 and 550 and was sold as a souvenir to a pilgrim visiting the church of the Dormition in Jerusalem. It is three hundred years older than the oldest known depiction of the subject and is therefore, the oldest in the world. It should also settle the dispute about whether our Lady died in Jerusalem or in Ephesus. Though the shrine in Ephesus is a very holy place, filled with the energy of our Lady, the oldest stories about Ephesus begin in the ninth century. The Jerusalem stories are much older. And the depiction has always shown Mary with all the apostles, not just St. John, who would have been alone with her if she had gone with him later in life to Ephesus.
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