A lot of my research involves examining relics from Jesus’s final days. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with some of the custodians of the sacred objects at Notre Dame.
Five years after the devastating fire of April 15 2019, I’m looking forward to participating in the ceremony staged to commemorate the return of the relic of the Crown of Thorns to the cathedral on December 13.
The crown is one of many objects associated with the passion of Christ (the story of Jesus’s arrest, trial and crucifixion). The Gospels state that a group of Roman soldiers wrapped Christ in a purple (or scarlet) robe, forced a reed sceptre in his hand and placed a Crown of Thorns on his head, mocking him as the “king of the Jews”. The Crown of Thorns relic, believed by many to be the real crown worn by Jesus Christ, was brought to France from the Holy Land by Louis IX in the 13th century.
