Holy thorn

Holy Thorn Reliquary in the British Museum

Holy thorns , which are said to come from Christ's crown of thorns , are one of the instruments of Christ's passion (also: Passion tools , Latin: Arma Christi , weapons of Christ). They are worshiped as relics in many Roman Catholic places and are usually kept in precious reliquaries (reliquary containers).

Number of thorns in the crown of thorns

Neither the type of plant of the crown of thorns nor the number of thorns has been recorded historically. In the case of thorns of roses (in roses actually thorns ; genus Rosa , family rose plants, Rosaceae ) there is an estimated thorn density of approx. 1 thorn per cm of plant branch. If a wreath of thorns is assumed to have a head circumference of approx. 60 cm and approx. 5 windings, up to 300 thorns are possible. However, the actual number of thorns may have been less.

Thorns from the crown were given out as gifts early on. Emperor Justinian (482-565) is known to have given Dorn relics to high dignitaries. The traditional form of the crown is given in the Gospels as a wreath, just as it corresponds to the relic of the crown of thorns in Notre Dame. This relic was once owned by King Ludwig IX. , "The saint", bought from Constantinople and transported to France. On the journey from Constantinople to France, around 60 thorns had loosened from the hoop. Louis the Holy had these thorns distributed to churches and cathedrals of his empire. During the French Revolution, the crown of thorns was kept in the Vatican for protection. There she was separated into two parts. While one part is still in the Vatican, the other is back in Paris. The crown of thorns there consists of a rush ring into which approx. 12 branches of a thorn bush are woven. There are different types of plants that have thorns several centimeters long, including Ziziphus vulgaris , Paliurus spina-christi Mill. Or Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf.

It is also conceivable that the shape of the crown of thorns resembled that of a hat, as the traces of injury on the Turin shroud show. In this case the number of thorns would be higher than in a wreath.

According to the Roman Catholic news agency Zenit , scientists are said to have cataloged more than 700 "holy thorns" around the world. Since many thorns have also disappeared or perished, it is assumed that many holy thorns are “third class relics” (ie thorns that have been consecrated through contact with a real “first class” fragment) or forgeries.

Places of worship (selection)

(see also the article tools of suffering )

Holy thorns are considered important relics. There are particularly many reliquaries with such relics and places of worship in Italy .

England

A famous reliquary is the Holy Thorn Reliquary from around 1370 in the British Museum in London .

Germany

Andechs Monastery : In Andechs Monastery there is a thorn branch that is said to have been brought to the monastery during the Crusades. This is described in the Andechs legends.

Bamberg Cathedral : There are two thorns in the nail chapel there. According to tradition, the mother of Emperor Constantine, Saint Helena, found the thorns in Jerusalem.

Donauwörth : see also Heilig Kreuz Monastery

Oberelchingen : In the monastery church of St. Peter and Paul there is a thorn, which was acquired in 1650 by the local brotherhood To the Seven Sorrows of Mary .

Halberstadt : In Halberstadt Cathedral , a thorn is kept under cut lead glass.
Rostock : This thorn can still be seen today in the monastery of the Holy Cross . The origin of the thorn is unclear, either the Danish Queen Margarethe brought the thorn from a pilgrimage from Rome around 1270 together with wood shavings from the Jesus cross, or the thorn came from the Schwerin Cathedral.
Trier : In the Trier Cathedral , besides other relics, e.g. B. the holy skirt , also kept a thorn.

Italy

Andria : see also Richard von Andria
San Giovanni Bianco : see also Vistallo Zignoni
Vicenza , Chiesa di Santa Corona , Chapel of the Holy Thorn (Cappella della Sacra Spina): The relic came to Vicenza in 1260 as a gift from Louis the Saint to Bishop Bartolomeo da Breganze . From 1261 the church of Santa Corona was built for them. The reliquary from the 13th century (later changed) is now kept and shown in the chapel.
Pisa , Chiesa di Santa Chiara : The relic, which has been kept in the Church of Santa Maria della Spina (Saint Mary of the Thorn) since 1333 , was transferred to Santa Chiara in the 19th century.

Austria

Türnitz

Lost or lost holy thorns

In the course of wars, revolutions or reformations, numerous relics have been destroyed or can no longer be found.

Schwerin : This thorn from Christ's crown of thorns was given to Schwerin Cathedral by King Louis the Saint of France two years before the death of Bishop Rudolf I in Paris in 1260. The thorn can no longer be found there, it is believed that it was burned by Duke Johann Albrecht around 1550 together with a relic of the holy blood. It is also possible that the thorn was brought to Rostock, about 80 km away, where a holy thorn is still located today.

Tongue thorn

In some portraits (e.g. the miraculous image with Ecce homo (Klagenfurt head)) Jesus is depicted with a thorn in his tongue, the tongue thorn. In addition, there are prayer slips describing the fact that Jesus was crucified by the tormentor Dany, who speared a thorn from his crown through his tongue. This thorn was so long that Jesus could not withdraw his tongue. Another tormentor felt this suffering too much for Jesus and he pulled the thorn out of his tongue and threw it on the ground so that it was no longer within reach.

In art

Holy Thorn Reliquary , British Museum , London
Volterrano : Pala delle Sacre Spine , 1669, oil on canvas, 250 × 160 cm, Volterra , chiesa di Sant'Agostino

literature

Marianne Stößl: The Holy Thorns of Donauwörth. A chapter from the worship of Christ in arms , in: Gebhard, Torsten: Bayerisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde 1980/81. Published by the Commission for Bavarian State History at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences - Institute for Folklore. Volkach, Hart 1982
Cölestin Königsdorfer: History of the monastery for salvation. Kreutz in Donauwörth . First volume: From the ancestors of its founders up to 1518 , Donauwörth 1819, ( e-copyE ). Second volume: from 1518 to 1648 . Donauwörth 1825 ( e-copy ). Third volume, 1st division: From 1848 to 1796 , Donauwörth 1829 ( E-Copy ). Third Volume, Division II: From 1796 until its dissolution . Donauwörth 1829 ( e-copy ).
Josef Konrad: The riddles of the New Testament: in the light of science and mysticism . 2010 ( partial online view )

Web links

References and footnotes

↑ Josef Konrad, p. 491
^ Mathias Schreiber: Holy nails and bones. In: Spiegel Geschichte, issue 6/2011, November 29, 2011.
^ Mathias Schreiber: Holy nails and bones. In: Spiegel Geschichte, issue 6/2011, November 29, 2011. - The Latin name given is no longer in use today. Ziziphus vulgaris Lam. is a synonym for Ziziphus jujuba Mill. , but this species is native to China. Whether it occurred in Judaea at the time of Christ needs to be clarified. Another Ziziphus species is possibly meant.
^ Joe Nickell: Relics of the Christ . University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 2007, ISBN 978-0-8131-2425-4 , pp. 102 (English).
↑ See crown of thorns # plant .
↑ Simon J. Joseph: The Shroud and the 'Historical Jesus'. Challenging the Disciplinary Divide. 2012 ( online )
↑ de.zenit.org: The miracle of the "holy thorns" (quote: "Scientists cataloged more than 700" holy thorns "all over the world.")
↑ cf. also the Italian article: Coronazione di spine .
↑ cf. bbc.co.uk: Holy Thorn Reliquary
↑ Allegedly as a gift from Queen Agnes , who came from the family of the Counts of Andechs: Lothar Altmann: Building and furnishing the church . In: Birgitta Klemenz (ed.): Andechs Monastery (= Great Art Guide . Volume 19 ). 2nd Edition. Verlag Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1670-1 , pp. 29–52, here p. 46 .
↑ https://bamberger-dom.de/kirchenraum/querschiffe/nagelkapelle
↑ http://oberelchingen.kirche.prozessionsweg-oe.de/?page_id=28
↑ Uta Baier: This is how magnificent the Halberstadt Cathedral Treasure is. In: Die Welt, April 12, 2008, https://www.welt.de/kultur/article1892793/So-prunkvoll-ist-der-Halberstaedter-Domschatz.html
↑ Philipp Richter: History of the Heil. unsewn skirt of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Publishing house FA Gall, Trier 1844
↑ Chiesa di Santa Corona. Musei Civici Vicenza, January 22, 2020, accessed February 21, 2020 (Italian). - Digital church guide (Italian and English), in particular information about the chapel and the reliquary .
↑ Holy Mary of the Thorn
^ Toscana (= Touring Club Italiano [Hrsg.]: Guida d'Italia ). 6th edition. Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2008, ISBN 978-88-365-3895-9 , pp. 366, 391 (Italian).
↑ Video
↑ G. Hempel: Geographical-statistical-historical handbook of the Mecklenburg country. Published by E. Frege, 1837, p. 19
↑ Christof Landmesser, Hans-Joachim Eckstein, Hermann Lichtenberger: Jesus Christ as the middle of the script: Studies on the hermeneutics of the gospel. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 1997, ISBN 978-3-11-174849-8 .

[1] Josef Konrad, p. 491

[2] Mathias Schreiber: Holy nails and bones. In: Spiegel Geschichte, issue 6/2011, November 29, 2011.

[3] Mathias Schreiber: Holy nails and bones. In: Spiegel Geschichte, issue 6/2011, November 29, 2011. - The Latin name given is no longer in use today. Ziziphus vulgaris Lam. is a synonym for Ziziphus jujuba Mill. , but this species is native to China. Whether it occurred in Judaea at the time of Christ needs to be clarified. Another Ziziphus species is possibly meant.

[4] Joe Nickell: Relics of the Christ . University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 2007, ISBN 978-0-8131-2425-4 , pp. 102 (English).

[5] See crown of thorns # plant .

[6] Simon J. Joseph: The Shroud and the 'Historical Jesus'. Challenging the Disciplinary Divide. 2012 ( online )

[7] .zenit.org: The miracle of the "holy thorns" (quote: "Scientists cataloged more than 700" holy thorns "all over the world.")

[8] . also the Italian article: Coronazione di spine .

[9] . bbc.co.uk: Holy Thorn Reliquary

[10] Allegedly as a gift from Queen Agnes , who came from the family of the Counts of Andechs: Lothar Altmann: Building and furnishing the church . In: Birgitta Klemenz (ed.): Andechs Monastery (= Great Art Guide . Volume 19 ). 2nd Edition. Verlag Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1670-1 , pp. 29–52, here p. 46 .

[11] ttps://bamberger-dom.de/kirchenraum/querschiffe/nagelkapelle

[12] ttp://oberelchingen.kirche.prozessionsweg-oe.de/?page_id=28

[13] Uta Baier: This is how magnificent the Halberstadt Cathedral Treasure is. In: Die Welt, April 12, 2008, https://www.welt.de/kultur/article1892793/So-prunkvoll-ist-der-Halberstaedter-Domschatz.html

[14] Philipp Richter: History of the Heil. unsewn skirt of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Publishing house FA Gall, Trier 1844

[15] Chiesa di Santa Corona. Musei Civici Vicenza, January 22, 2020, accessed February 21, 2020 (Italian). - Digital church guide (Italian and English), in particular information about the chapel and the reliquary .

[16] Holy Mary of the Thorn

[17] Toscana (= Touring Club Italiano [Hrsg.]: Guida d'Italia ). 6th edition. Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2008, ISBN 978-88-365-3895-9 , pp. 366, 391 (Italian).

[18] Video

[19] G. Hempel: Geographical-statistical-historical handbook of the Mecklenburg country. Published by E. Frege, 1837, p. 19

[20] Christof Landmesser, Hans-Joachim Eckstein, Hermann Lichtenberger: Jesus Christ as the middle of the script: Studies on the hermeneutics of the gospel. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 1997, ISBN 978-3-11-174849-8 .