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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture "Faith like that seems to me to be built on rather shaky foundations!" Consider the 20th century faith of the Russians. The devotion to relics there is as strong today as it ever was centuries ago. Now Russia has a massive "crop" of new relics - the remains of the 20 million Christians martyred during the Communist period. The faith of these contemporary martyrs (all of whom were relic venerators) as they faced gruesome torture and death surely cannot be said to be "built on rather shaky foundations." What man dies for "shaky foundations"? The antimension on which we celebrate Liturgy in our parish church contains the relics of one such modern martyr, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth (Princess Alexandra Luise Alice of Hesse) granddaughter of Queen Victoria who become a nun and founded a Moscow convent after the assassination of her Russian husband . She was martyred by the Bolsheviks. Victoria, who had raised her in England, had her relics removed from the Soviet Union and transported to Jerusalem where they are now venerated in the church of Saint Mary Magdalene in the Garden of Gethsemane. She is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs from across the world who are depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London. http://feck.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/london-westminster-statue.jpg http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/01newstucture/images/London/London13.jpg Hieromonk Ambrose --- --Original Message Text--- From: Revd Gordon Plumb medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture I don't know if I am alone in this, but I am heartily sick of the Shroud of Turin - genuine or fake. The use of relics to bolster faith is a bit like attempts by some conservative Christians ( I will not use the "F" word!) to seize upon "evidence" from archaeology to "prove" the truth of the Bible. Faith like that seems to me to be built on rather shaky foundations! Gordon Plumb. ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html