Relics: A Study in Touch

How would you feel if someone told you they'd touched the hand of a saint?


Source: bristolnews.blogspot.com

That's a question you might have been able to answer if you lived in medieval Europe. Medieval history has always fascinated me, and religion was obviously a huge component of the medieval lifestyle--particularly, of course, in terms of the rise of Christianity. In those days, the foundations of that religion were just beginning to come together, and thus, it would have been easy enough to preserve the finger bone of a deceased martyr or saint--for these martyrs and saints lived and died during the time period.

Relics in Christianity are essentially a representation, a remaining figment, of a holy person's body that illustrates how the body is irrevocably connected to the soul in the Christian faith. If a holy person died, preserving their body was extremely important because they would need it when Judgment Day occurred and souls were reunited with their bodies. This day hasn't happened yet, so in their waiting time faithful Christians would make pilgrimages to Churches that had relics of saints, martyrs, popes, bishops--even of Christ himself. Other examples of relics include: nails, hair follicles, clothing, jewelry--even whole hands and feet.

So, preserving relics was kind of like owning a hair follicle or an item of jewelry belonging to your favorite celebrity. Creepy, but people would want to see it, right? Funnily enough, the pilgrimages to see relics became so popular in medieval Europe that some Churches would pretend to own relics of famous Christians, so as to fabricate more prestige for their church community. Many of these relics can still be seen today, such as the supposed tunic of Christ, or the preserved bodies of popes at the Vatican.


(A reliquary was a "container" for a relic. Source: metmuseum.com)

As Diane Ackerman notes in A Natural History of the Senses, touch is "the oldest sense, and the most urgent (80). These pilgrimages taken by medieval Christians were important to them, because they would be able to go up to, view, and physically touch someone--or part of someone--that had helped set the foundations of Christianity and a good example for following the faith. So, touching these relics/reliquaries allowed for people to become closer to holy people, and therefore, closer to God. Touching a relic made the connection between a living person God in heaven much stronger, and thus, people would travel far and wide to see and hold these relics for themselves. This emphasizes how touch is, as Ackerman says, urgent and provides a means for connection and emotion.