Seamless robe of Jesus

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.

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. A distinction is made in the New Testament Greek between the "himatia" (literally “over-garments”) and the seamless robe, which is "chiton", (literally “tunic” or “coat”).

:“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments ("ta himatia") and divided them into four parts, to every soldier a part, and the coat ("kai ton chitona"). Now the coat was without seam, woven whole from the top down. Therefore, they said among themselves, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it will become. Thus the saying in Scripture was fulfilled: they divided My raiment ("ta imatia") among them, and upon My vesture ("epi ton himatismon") did they cast lots” (John 19:23-24; quoting the Septuagint version of Psalm 21 [22] :18-19).

Western tradition

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, although the stigmatist Therese Neumann of Konnersreuth, declared that it was authentic [Albert P Schimberg. "The Story of Therese Neumann". Bruce Publishing Co, Milwaukee, WI, 1947. p.14] .

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 1844 exhibition of the relic, on the instructions of Wilhelm Arnoldi, Bishop of Trier, led to the formation of the German Catholics (Deutschkatholiken), a schismatic sect formed in December of that year under the leadership of Johannes von Ronge. 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 have made 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 portion of the “Holy Tunic” is kept in the basilica of Argenteuil, in France.

Eastern tradition

The Eastern Orthodox Church has also preserved a tradition regarding the clothing of Jesus which was divided among the soldiers after the crucifixion.

According to the tradition of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the chiton was acquired by a Jewish Rabbi from Georgia named Elioz (Elias), who was present in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion and bought the robe from a soldier. He brought it with him when he returned to his native town of Mtskheta, Georgia, where it is preserved to this day beneath a crypt in the Patriarchal Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. The feast day in honor of the “Chiton of the Lord” is celebrated on October 1.

A portion of the himation was also brought to Georgia, but it was placed in the treasury of the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, where it remained until the seventeenth century. Then the Persian Shah Abbas I, when he invaded Georgia, carried off the robe. In order to ingratiate himself with Tsar Michael Feodorovich, the Shah sent the robe as a gift to Patriarch Philaret (1619-1633) and Tsar Michael in 1625. The authenticity of the robe was attested by Nectarius, Archbishop of Vologda, by Patriarch Theophanes of Jerusalem and by Joannicius the Greek. Reports also circulated at that time of miraculous signs being worked through the relic.

Later, two portions of the robe were taken to Saint Peterburg (the capital of the Russian Empire at the time): one in the cathedral at the Winter Palace, and the other in Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. A portion of the Robe was also preserved at the Cathedral of the Dormition in Moscow, and small portions at Kiev’s Sophia Cathedral, at the Ipatiev monastery near Kostroma and at certain other old temples.

The Russian Orthodox Church commemorates the Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord at Moscow on July 10 (July 25 N.S.). At Moscow annually on that day, the robe is solemnly brought out of the chapel of the Apostles Peter and Paul at the Dormition cathedral, and it is placed on a stand for veneration by the faithful during the divine services. After the Divine Liturgy the robe is returned to its former place. Traditionally, on this day the propers chanted are of “the Life-Creating Cross”, since the day on which the relic was actually placed was the Sunday of the Cross, during Great Lent of 1625.

ee also

* The Robe — a novel by Lloyd C. Douglas (from which was adapted the screenplay for the 1953 motion picture [IMDB.com: [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046247/ "The Robe"] at the Internet Movie Database; Retrieved on November 20, 2006.] of the same name)
* Seamless garment, a term used by pro-life supporters who at the same time oppose the death penalty

Notes

External links

* [http://www.bistum-trier.de/goto/?31 Der Heilige Rock (German)]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07400b.htm Holy Coat] - Catholic Encyclopedia article
* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101993 The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord at Moscow] Orthodox synaxarion