cover image TREASURES OF HEAVEN: Relics from Noah's Ark to the Shroud of Turin

TREASURES OF HEAVEN: Relics from Noah's Ark to the Shroud of Turin

Steven Sora, . . Wiley, $15.95 (250pp) ISBN 978-0-471-46232-3

As Sora indicates in this unfocused book, relics have been around for centuries, and the Catholic Church has used them not only in its quest to canonize saints but also to foster private spirituality devoted to particular saints and their activities. Sora explains that not all relics are created equal, and that they are divided into three classes. A first-class relic includes any object that can be attributed to Jesus, or any bone or body part of a saint. Any item that a saint used—a Bible, a veil—is a second-class relic. Finally, an object can become a third-class relic simply by touching a higher relic: a glove that might have touched a Bible that Saint Teresa of Avila carried would become an object of devotion. Sora offers a mini-guidebook to several major relics of the Church, describing how they likely originated, where they are now and what kinds of miracles have been associated with them. He ranges over well-known relics from the Shroud of Turin and the skull of John the Baptist to Noah's Ark and the blood of the Gospel writers. While the book contains some inviting moments, Sora disappointingly provides no clues about the broader significance of relics or any reasons why he chose these over thousands of other relics that people venerate. (Feb.)