The Crown of Thorns

The soldiers laughed at him. He was stripped, beaten, and now they readied their last mockery, the crown of thorns.

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In the gospels, we read that Roman soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus after Pontius Pilate called him King of the Jews. With a purple robe, it was mockery.

Then they beat him, turning the crown into torment. Using a local thorny plant, the soldiers twisted a circlet to tear his scalp. Not just a prop, it was crafted to hurt. A vicious jab at royalty amid his execution. It was both pain and humiliation.

Now scholars suggest that the plant used to shape the crown of thorns was the Ziziphus spina-christi, a plant very common in Judea in those days. Its inch long, curved thorns are very sharp, ideal for a crude, cutting crown that clung and wounded with every head movement. Think about those branches. Tough, spiky, and hooking in tight. Woven into a ring, they would make every flinch excruciating, a perfect fit for the soldiers' brutal intent.

The crown of thorns was one of many ways that Jesus Christ suffered during his passion. And after his death and resurrection, the crown of thorns became a sacred relic. Tradition holds that it survived and was guarded by early Christians, with the precious blood of Jesus still on the crown. The oldest known mention of it as a relic in writing comes from Paulinus of Nola around April. He was a bishop, and he wrote of it being venerated in Jerusalem.

Now by the sixth century, the thorns from the crown of thorns began to be split off as relics. Emperor Justinian gave one to Saint Germain of Paris. Later, around the year August, empress Irene reportedly sent several to Charlemagne, dispersing its pieces across Europe. And the core itself of the crown shifted over time from Jerusalem to Constantinople, and it ended up being a Byzantine treasure by the seventh century. But that wasn't his final stop.

By the thirteenth century, the emperor at the time sold what remained of the crown of thorns to raise money. This is where king Louis the ninth of France enters the picture. In the year December, driven by his unshakable faith, he bought the remnant of the crown of thorns and commissioned the building of the breathtaking Holy Chapel in Paris, the Saint Chapelle, a very beautiful gothic marvel of soaring stained glass. It was consecrated in the year December as a shrine to this sacred relic. But its journey didn't stop there.

During the French Revolution, chaos swept France. And in 1789, the Holy Chapel was ravaged. The relic faced danger. Faithful custodians spirited the crown away for safe keeping, shielding it from revolutionary destruction. It ended up in the hands of the government.

But in 1801, it was returned to the church, and by 1806 found a new home in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Time marched on, and the crown would fall into danger again during the 02/2019 fire that partially destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral. But once again, the faithful custodians rescued the crown and saved it from destruction. Its thorns may have been scattered throughout history and lost, but King Louis the ninth, the only French monarch to ever be declared a saint, preserved the core of the crown of thorns out of his reverence for his lord and savior Jesus Christ. History reveres the crown of thorns as a sacred relic, but let's remember its original intent was evil and to inflict suffering.

And never forget what Jesus Christ was willing to endure for you. Let's honor those who work to preserve this sacred relic throughout history, and resolve ourselves to more prayer, fasting, and alms giving as we continue to proceed through Lent. This is the Catholic Frequency podcast. Sign up for our free devotional newsletter on our website at catholicfrequency.com. You can also follow this show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.