The Holy Prepuce (or Holy Foreskin) is one of the various relics
purported to be associated with Jesus Christ. Orthodox Christian
belief has it that Jesus ascended bodily into Heaven at the end of
his earthly life. This would mean that Jesus's foreskin (removed at
his circumcision) would be one of the few physical remainders of
Jesus left behind on Earth. At various points in history, a number
of churches in Europe have claimed to possess it, sometimes
concurrently. Various miraculous powers have been ascribed to it.
The abbey of Charroux claimed to possess the Holy Foreskin during
the Middle Ages. It was said to have been presented to the monks by
none other than Charlemagne, who in turn is said to have claimed (per
the legend) that it had been brought to him by an angel. Other
claimants at various points in time have included (at least) the
Cathedral of Le Puy en Velay, Santiago de Compostela, the city of
Antwerp, and churches in Besançon, Metz, Hildesheim, and Calcata.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Prepuce
Today's selected anniversaries:
* 786 - Harun al-Rashid became the Abbasid caliph upon the death of
his brother al-Hadi.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_al-Rashid)
* 1752 - The British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar, skipping
eleven days (September 2 was followed directly by September
14 this year).
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar)
* 1812 - The Russian army set Moscow on fire to prevent Napoleon from
capturing the city.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow)
* 1901 - Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt)
* 1959 - The Soviet probe Luna 2 crashed onto and became the first
man-made object to reach the Moon.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_2)
* 1960 - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
was founded by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC)
Wikiquote of the day:
"He, who will not reason, is a bigot; he, who cannot, is a fool; and
he, who dares not, is a slave." ~ William Drummond
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Drummond)