Rediscovery of relics

The rediscovery of relics

I lost my job and was without income a few years ago. I applied for many jobs without any success. After a while I felt as if I was sitting on rock in the middle of the ocean watching life passing by. It did not take long until I fell into a depression and things were spiraling out of control. My life was falling apart.

Belief it or not, a statue changed my life. I was walking through the city one day. It was a cold winter morning.   I was walking on the pathway my eyes on the ground. I discovered a statue, which attracted my mind like a magnetic field to the needle of a compass. I looked up and stood in front of the statue of Saint George fighting a dragon holding a shield with a red cross in his right hand. I was mesmerized by the statue of the horseman, who became the patron Saint of numerous countries and cities all over the world.

My mind was pondering on the encounter with the inspirational Saint for days to come. I was wondering why millions of people were so fascinated by the horseman. During the time of reflection, I felt a heavy burden being taken from me. I regained some of my lost courage. I gradually understood the mystical attraction to the Saint during the middle ages. Saint George was an encourager! People connected to him during their daily work and gained the confidence for new business ventures. The Archangel Michael saved his life seven times. When the strong Archangel failed, Jesus Christ had to intervene personally to get him out of trouble. His guardian angel had abandoned him because he was too scared following Saint George on his adventures. But Saint George did not take risks for his own sake. He protected children and sick people, who escaped the brutal persecution of the Romans.

Two weeks after my encounter with Saint George, I walked down the main street of my city towards Saint Mary’s cathedral. All the bells were ringing in my heart this day as I went to my first day of work at the hospital after a long time of unemployment. When I approached the main entrance of the hospital, I saw a shield with a red cross above the entrance door. I was so humbled. Tear drops rolled over my cheek, when I entered the hospital.  

I am a very pragmatic person. I look at people telling me about supernatural encounters with great suspicion. But Saint George changed my perception and introduced me to a new world. I started reading about the history of the middle ages. That time was so different from our modern time. Pilgrimages were a very important part as people only had to work 14 hours a week for a living and had lots of spare time for spiritual ventures. I remembered an old Benedictine monastery; I visited with my grandparents when I was a little child. I had read about the efficiency of monasteries, which are the envy of many modern multinational companies.

I went on a pilgrimage to the Monastery of Maria Stein. I kept on reflecting on my life when I walked up the hill to the church. The higher I climbed into the mountains, the better I felt. My soul was rising from the graveyard it had been living for the last years and I was filled with joy.

I walked through the old church on the top of the hill,  as if I was walking through a divine dream. Jesus, Mary, the disciples, the golden lions and dark dragons; the fork tongue red snakes and the sword in the right arm of Saint Michael became the actors in a sacred film, whose meaning I did not understand at the time.  The bible became alive in front of my eyes.

I was walking from the railway station to St. Mary’s cathedral on my way to work one day. The spear, I saw on a painting in the monastery of Maria Stein occurred in front of my eyes. The soldier, who was holding the spear, stood underneath the cross of the crucified Christ. It was the spear of destiny in the hands of Gaius Longinus, a roman soldier, who converted to Christianity and was beatified. The spear in his hands was later called “the lance of destiny”.  The spear was desired by Charlemagne, the kings of England, France and Austria even Napolean and Hitler were obsessed by the artifact. The King of Burgundy gave the lance to the king of the Holy Roman Empire for the city of Basel, which was one of the most important European cities at that time just to give you an idea of the importance of the Holy Lance. If the middle age was a night, then it was a night with stars.  The relics were jewels sending people on religious quests.

We all need to belief in something! But that is not the full explanation of the attraction of artifacts. It goes far deeper. Relics connect us with the spiritual world. They are keys to our unconscious helping us to unleash our full potential.

I am still exploring the mysterious world of the middle ages. I feel like a diver changing in his swim gear when I come back from work, searching the sea ground for pearls and I discover new pearl every day.

I have written a book about the Saints of the middle ages called the “Golden Legend”.