Description: The display that the clay replica tokens of the true cross and the Alpha Omega are placed into is a floating frame that is made of a thick acrylic. There is a soft film over the tokens that allows you to feel them through the film. This measures 1" by 1" and has the removable foot stand. Please Note: The original Pilgrim token shown is info only this is for the replica made from my original token that is in the glass reliquary. The replica was touched to the original. These original pilgrim tokens are very rare and almost impossible to find for sale now. Most of them have been sold years ago into private collections. I purchased mine in the 1990s.This clay token was made from an original True Cross Clay Pilgrim token dating (Holy Land circa 630 A.D.) that I own, which is said to contain the ashes from the Cross of Jesus as a portion had broken off during the journey back to its final resting place at Jerusalem after it was recaptured by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius 610-641 A.D. I have posted a photo of how I made the replica from my original. I created it by taking my original token and pressing it into clay to create a mold. Then I used that mold once hardened and pressed clay into it and then I painted it using gold/copper metallic liquid paints. The info card shown with the token will come with the order.The history behind these tokens is as follows.The Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610 - 641A.D.) dedicated his life to the recovery of the cross. He amassed a large, powerful army with the primary goals of liberating Jerusalem and recovering the True Cross of Christ. Heraclius succeeded and the cross was recovered and taken to Constantinople and then across Asia Minor, back to its final resting place at Jerusalem. As the cross was being taken back to Jerusalem, entire villages of people would line the streets as the cross continued it's journey back to Jerusalem. A piece of the cross, which had broken off during the journey, was burned to fine ash and mixed with clay and impressed into molds to create special sacred clay medallions for pilgrims commemorating the return of the True Cross to Jerusalem.The tokens were discovered buried in clay jars several years ago in Turkey and made available to private collectors and some were donated to various museums which is how I acquired mine back in the 1990's.You can look up Dr. Michael Mitchiner a well know British Numismatic he dedicates an entire page to these tokens in his book on "Medieval Pilgrim & Secular Badges".You can do a web search to learn more about these tokens by typing "true cross pilgrim tokens" and it will take you to several web pages that talk about these tokens.Please note: This listings is not the original token but one made in clay from a mold from the original that I own in my private collection. I wanted to share this with others and thought of this as a way of spreading the True Cross to all who wish to have something that was touched to it. The fact that these were buried and lost in time for so many many years dating back to 630 A.D leads me to believe that they are the real thing a truly MAJOR discovery.I personally believe that these tokens found do in fact contain the ashes of our Lord's Cross making them 1st class relics of Jesus. Which would make the clay tokens I make from one a 2nd class relic. It is of course a matter of faith.More Background History:Socrates Scholasticus (born c. 380 A.D.), in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a full description of the discovery of the True Cross of Christ. In it, he describes how Empress Helena (later Saint Helena), mother of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Emperor of Rome, travelled to the Holy Land, dated by modern historians in 326-28, on a quest to find the True Cross of Christ.It is reported that she discovered the hiding place of three crosses, believed to be used at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the two thieves. In Socrates's version of the story, the Romans had the three crosses placed in turn on a deathly ill woman. This woman recovered at the touch of the third cross, which was taken as a sign that this was the True Cross of Christ.Saint Helena brought the cross to Jerusalem, where it stayed for three centuries. However, during the war between the Byzantine and Sassanian Empires in the 7th century A.D., The Sassanian king, Khsru II, sacked Jerusalem and carried off the True Cross as spoils of war.The Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610 - 641A.D.) dedicated his life to the recovery of the cross. He amassed a large, powerful army with the primary goals of liberating Jerusalem and recovering the True Cross of Christ.Heraclius succeeded and the cross was recovered and taken to Constantinople and then across Asia Minor, back to its final resting place at Jerusalem.
Price: 24.95 USD
Location: Kemp, Texas
End Time: 2024-03-12T15:13:16.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Religion: Christianity
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Handmade: Yes