Instruments of the Passion

The Order of Saint John has long held a devotion to the Passion Symbols, as demonstrated by the Stola, or “Passion-Cord” of the Professed, which represents the cords with which Our Lord was bound at the Flagellation at the Pillar, and is decorated with images of many other symbols.

There is a long tradition in the Holy Land of producing representations of the instruments of the Passion, particularly the Crown of Thorns, plaited from the same thorn-bushes as that which Our Blessed Lord wore in His Suffering.  For the Lenten Friday devotions, on the Feast of the Crown of Thorns, one such Crown was displayed with the Relic of the True Cross. This Relic will be venerated during the Stations of the Cross and Holy Mass every Fridays in Lent, at the Church of the Assumption, Warwick Street, at 6pm.

It is fitting that devotion to these representations of the tools of our Salvation accompany our Lenten devotions.

The True Crown is, of course, held in Notre-Dame in Paris, in a beautiful glass reliquary. Before the Revolution it was housed over the High Altar of the Sainte Chapelle, which was built by Saint Louis especially to contain it, France’s most precious relic.

In the late 19th Century the Carmelites of Jerusalem produced copies of the Holy Nails, which had touched one of the true Nail relics, and were blessed and given seals of authenticity as third-class relics. Of the Holy Nails there are several relics around Europe, one in Santa Croce in Rome, where is held the major relic of the True Cross, with the Tablet with the Inscription affixed by Pilate. The Empress Helena, when she discovered the True Cross, had one of the nails made into a bridle, to give supernatural protection to her son Constantine when riding, and this is now housed in the Cathedral in Milan.

The head of the Lance which pieced our dear Saviour’s side, housed in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna, is believed by many to be the true relic.

The Shroud in which our Blessed Lord was wrapped after his death, is housed in the Cathedral in Turin. Modern photographs of it are displayed in many churches across the world.

Holy Mother Church has never formally declared the authenticity of any of these Relics, Catholics are free to hold their own beliefs, but meditating in their presence is great aid to our personal devotion and spiritual growth in drawing nearer to Our Blessed Lord in His Passion.