List of Holy Relics kept at Reading Abbey in Berkshire

R E A D I N G
R E L I C S


Medieval Veneration at the Abbey

Relics relating to Our Lord:

• A Cross, from Constantinople, gilt with gold, offered to Christ.
• His foreskin, which Emperor Constantine is stated to have sent to King Henry I.
• A piece of Our Lord's shoe.
• Blood & water from his side.
• Several stones, pieces of rock & earth from Bethlehem & other places.

Relics relating to the Virgin Mary:

• Some of her hair, "as it is thought".
• Parts of her garments, of her bed and of her tomb.

Relics relating to the Patriachs & Prophets:

• Parts of the rods of Moses & Aaron.
• Part of the rock which Moses struck.
• Manna from Mount Sinai.
• Three teeth & bones of St. Simeon.

Relics of the Apostles:

• The hand of St. James & the cloth in which it is wrapped.
• The robe of St. Thomas.
• A tooth of St. Luke the Evangelist.

Relics of the Martyrs, Confessors & Virgins:

• The bones, the teeth, the hair, the arms, the fingers (eg the finger of St. Andrew), and the heads of many of them.

An Inventory of the said relics:

• St. James' hand.
• St. Philip's skull.
• A bone of St. Mary Magdalen & more.
• St. Anastasia's hand & more.
• A piece of St. Pancras' arm.
• A bone of St. Quinton's arm.
• A bone of St. David's arm.
• A bone of St. Mary Salome's arm.
• A bone of St. Edward the Martyr's arm.
• A bone of St. Jerome & more.
• Bones of St. Stephen & more.
• A bone of St. Blaise & more.
• A bone of St. Osmund & more.
• A piece of St. Ursula's stole.
• A jawbone of St. Aethelwold.
• Bones of St. Leodegarius & of St. Herefrith.
• Bones of St. Margaret.
• Bones of St. Arnulf.
• A bone of St. Agnes & more.
• A bone of St. Andrew & two pieces of his cross.
• A bone of St. Frideswide.
• A bone of St. Anne.
• With Many Others.