Treasure trove of over 300 ancient relics – said to include bones from the 12 Apostles, Mary Magdalene, and Francis of Assisi – discovered in tiny Polish village
Incredible haul exhibited in local church after being found in town of Lubomierz in western Poland
A TREASURE trove of more than 300 ancient relics said to include bones from the 12 Apostles, Mary Magdalene, and Francis of Assisi have been discovered in a small town.
A few of the items were initially found in the Church of Assumption of Mary and Saint Maternus in Lubomierz, western Poland, but the majority were found later in a trunk in an abandoned house.
The incredible discovery was made by accident while nuns were routinely cleaning the church.
Initially, about 30 relics inscribed in Latin were discovered and caught the attention of the local priest.
And in December 2015, a nun who used to live in Lubomierz told the priest that there might be a lot more relics hidden in the town.
A few days later, they uncovered an old trunk full of priceless relics in the attic of an abandoned house.
Although some of the relics date back to the early years of Christianity, they have been incredibly well preserved over the centuries, thanks to local nuns.
Local resident and history buff Zbigniew Rotkiewicz, 48, told Polish media: "For more than 700 years, sisters of various orders lived in Lubomierz. The collection is their work."
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The conservation and restoration of the relics took nine months and now they are being exhibited in the church.
Without a doubt, one of the most valuable exhibits is a reliquary – a container for holy relics.
A hand-written list of 62 relics was also found.
Among those are said to be the relics of seven of the Holy Apostles: Peter, Philip, James, Bartholomew, Thaddeus, Matthew and Matthias - who replaced Judas Iscariot.
The remains of Mary Magdalene, Benedict, Scholastica, Boniface and Erasmus are also reported to be among the collection.
Other, smaller relics are wrapped in richly decorated material with the names of saints on it.
These are said to include relics of St Francis of Assisi, St Ursula, and St Barbara, as well as the oil of St Nicholas and the blood of St Maurice.
Rotkiewicz added: "Nuns have lived here since the 13th century so I think that there are more mysteries left uncovered."
The priest, Erwin Jaworski, 43, explained: "The relics were brought here to emphasise the importance of the church or to be saved from areas in conflict."
The Catholic Church in Poland has deemed the collection priceless – a huge honour for the local parish as it is extremely rare for such a hoard to be found in one place.
The church in Lubomierz has the latest items to the existing relics of Saints Benignus and Victorinus that were brought there in 1776 from Rome and are now exhibited there in glass coffins.
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