Seamless robe of Jesus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Seamless Robe of Jesus (or Holy Tunic, Holy Coat of Trier, Holy Coat of Trèves) is the robe said to have been worn by Jesus during (or shortly before) his crucifixion.

Holy Tunic, Stamp 1959

According to the Gospel of John, the soldiers who crucified Jesus did not divide his tunic after crucifying him, but cast lots to determine who would keep it because it was woven in one piece, without seam.

The tradition of the Roman Catholic Church holds that the robe is now housed in the Cathedral of Trier, Germany. The historical record supporting the identification of this relic as genuine is not proven.

The history of the seamless robe is certain only from the 12th century. On May 1, 1196, Archbishop Johann I of Trier consecrated an altar in which the seamless robe was contained. It is no longer possible to determine the exact historical path that the robe took to arrive there, so that many hold it to be a medieval forgery. The tradition holds that Helena, mother of Constantine the Great discovered the relic in the Holy Land and had it sent to the city of Trier, where Constantine had lived for some years before becoming emperor. (The monk Altmann of Hautvillers wrote in the 9th century that Helena was born in that city, though this report is strongly disputed by most modern historians.)

The relic is normally kept folded in a reliquary and cannot be directly viewed by the faithful. In 1512 Archbishop Richard von Greiffenklau opened the altar that had enshrined the tunic since the building of the Dome in the presence of Emperor Maximilian I and exhibited it. Subsequently pilgrimages took place at irregular intervals to view the garment: 1513, 1514, 1515, 1516, 1517, 1524, 1531, 1538, 1545, 1655, 1810, 1844, 1891, 1933, 1959, 1996. The last exhibition of the tunic in 1996 was seen by over one million pilgrims and visitors.

The various attempts at preservation and restoration through the centuries makes it difficult to determine how much of the relic (if genuine) actually stems from the time of Jesus. A scientific examination of the specimen has not been conducted.

Annually the Bishopric of Trier conducts the "Heilig-Rock-Tage", a ten-day religious festival.

Another "Holy Tunic" is kept in the basilica of Argenteuil, in France.

[edit] See also

The Robe — a novel by Lloyd C. Douglas (from which was adapted the screenplay for the 1953 motion picture^[1] of the same name) based on the legend of the robe