RELIGIOUS
762
RELIQUARIES
Supplement. — Perfection of the Different Reli-
gious Institutes. — If we wish to compare the differ-
ent religious institutes from the point of view of
their relative perfection, the excellence of the object
gives the first rank to the mixed institutions, and to
the contemplative institutes priority over the active.
Perfection depends upon the harmonious combination
of the means employed towards the end, the quaUty
of the works to which the institute is devoted, and
even the number of its means of action. The strict-
ness of the observance, by putting further away the
occasions of sin, is another reason of superiority, and
above all, the strictness of obedience, which is now
considered as the principal obligation of religious Ufe.
However, by canon law, respect is paid rather to the
outward austerity of the Ufe, and the Carthusians are
considered the most perfect from that point of \'iew.
Institutes consisting of clerics and those with solemn
vows have for this reason a certain superiority over
lay institutes and those with simple vows.
Vermeersch. De religiosis institutis et persotiis, I (ed. 2. 1907); II (ed. 4, 1909); Idem, Periodica (from 1905); Heimbvcher, Die Orden und Kongregaiionen der katholischen Kirehe (Paderborn, 1907-08); Bastien. Direct, canon, d Vusage des congreg. a vasux simples (Maredsous, 1911); Molitor, Religiosi juris capita selecta (Ratisbon. 1907). A. VerMEERSCH.
Religious Orders. See Religious Life. Religious Peace of Augsburg. See Reforma-
TIO-\-.
Reliquaries. — It would follow of necessity from the data given in the article Relics that rehquaries — by which we understand in the wider sense any box, cas- ket, or .shrine destined for the reception of relics — must have existed in some shape or form almost from the be- ginning of Christianity. With regard, however, to their construc- tion, material etc. in the early centuries, nothing can be said positively. Even the names by which they were known {capsa, capsella, theca, pyxis, area etc.) are quite general in character, and it seems certain that the same names also designated receptacles for the Blessed Eucharist, the holy oils, and other pious objects. Thus it becomes difficult to de- cide in the case of certain circular ivory pyxes, of which one in the Berlin ^luseum is the best known and the earliest in date, whether they were or were not used as reliquaries. Most of them show nothing but scenes or figures from the Gospel in the carvings with which they are abundantly dec- orated, but as there is one which depicts the martyrdom and ex- altation of the popular Egj'ptian martjT St. Menas, it seems likel>- that this at least was a reliquary, intended possibly to contain the oil from his shrine. This oil was more commonly preserved in clay flasks, of which many still sur- vive in various European col- lections. Passing over the phials attached to the loculi in the cata- combs and supposed to contain blood, upon which disputed prob- lem sufficient has been said in the article .\mpull.«, the earliest known reliquaries are probably certain silver boxes, two of which (one circular, the other oval in shape) were discovered at CJrado in 1871 (see De Rossi in "Bull, di arch, crist.", 1872, p. \h^). Both of these, along with various Christian emblems, bear inscriptions giving the names of saints, while
Reliquary
French, XIII C
other details confirm the view that they must have
been intended for relics. A very similar box, but with-
out inscription, was afterwards found in Numidia, and
is now in the Vatican Museum. It was assigned with
confidence by De
Rossi to the fifth
century (BuUet-
tino, 1887, p. 119).
Still another speci-
men, beyond all
question intended
for relics, has come
to light in the treas-
ury of the Sancta
Sanctorum at the
Lateran ( G r i s a r,
"Die romische Ka-
pelle", 108-10).
These were no doubt
the kind of capsellw
argenteo! which Jus-
tinian in .519 wished
to send to Rome in
hopes of obtaining
from Pope Hor-
misdas relics of St. Reliquary
Lawrence and other German, XV Century
Roman saints (P. L., LXIII, 474). Of somewhat later date are the pewter flasks and a little golden cross, or encolpion, still preserved in the treasury of Monza, and identified with much probability as presents sent by Gregory the Great to Queen TheodoUnda. The pewter flasks contained oil, very probably only that of the lamps which burned before certain relics or in certain churches of the Holy Land. The encolpion, which is a remarkable little piece of jewellery, 3 inches in height by 2} 2 in breadth, has figures and inscriptions in niello and is believed to contain a fragment of the True Cross. St. Gregory in his letter describes it as a " phylacterium " or "crucem cum ligno sancta; crucis Domini". Other small encolpia in the form of crosses, belonging ap- proximately to the same period, are also preserved.
Of larger reliquaries, or shrines, our oldest surviving specimens probably date back to the seventh or eighth eentun,'. Among the remarkable objects preserved in the treasurj' of St. Maurice in the Valais is a gabled shrine about 7}.i inches long, 2^2 broad, and 5}i high. It is studded with stones, and has a large cameo in the centre, while on a plate of gold at the back particulars are given regarding its construction in honour of St. Maurice. Tliis form of gabled shrine, which is often suggestive of a child's "Noah's Ark", remained the favourite t>-pe for reliquaries of importance during all the early KlidtUe Ages. Perhaps the most magnificent specimen preserved is that known as the Shrine of the Three Kings in the treasury of Cologne Cathedral. After the storming of Milan (1162) the supposed relics of the Magi were carried off and brought to Cologne, where a magnificent silver casket, nearly 6 feet long, and 4 ' 2 feet high, was constructed for them. This superb piece of silversmith's work resembles in out- ward form a church with a nave and two aisles. Of much earlier date but hardly less magnificent, owing to the profuse employment of enamel and gems, is the Marienschrein at ,\achen connected by tradition with the name of Charlemagne. The Ursula Shrine at St. John's Hospital in Bruges ;d,so retains the same general form, but here the ornament is supplied by the beautiful paintings of ILins Memling. Quite difl'erent in type are the reliquary crosses mentioned by (iregory the Great, the use of which may be traced hlick to the fifth century, though they belong to all periods and have never completely gone out of fashion. The most venerable existing speciinen is undoubtedly the enamelled cross jireserved in the Sancta Sanctorum of the Lateran and recently de-
