Saints in Coffee Jars is a fascinating exhibition that tells a most remarkable story. When you hear it, the words ‘only in New Zealand’ come to mind.  I visited the exhibition on Waitangi Day, and I found myself face to face with a fragment of the True Cross that had been hidden away and buried by a priest under a Cathedral – in a Greggs Coffee jar. Honestly.

The Catholic in me was screaming to be able to touch it, or at least kneel before it. The ‘what if it’s real?’ aspect of this relic in particular could have been overwhelming in a spiritual sense, but in a small community gallery tucked away in Christchurch Arts Centre, this sort of behaviour would have been out of place and rather silly. I thought how differently people would be behaving if it was on display in a church.

However, it is the secular setting that makes this exhibition so very important in terms of evangelisation.  What Christchurch archivist Triona Doocey and Medieval historian Dr Chris Jones have achieved is to bring Jesus, His Mother and the Saints, to the people. On that first day, 290 people walked through the door, and Triona estimated that only about half of them would have been Catholic, judging from the conversations and questions that flowed throughout the day.

I asked how we know that the relics are real, and I nodded towards the fragment of the Cross as an example. There are certificates and ledgers on display and they are impressive. We know that St Helena, mother of Emporer Constantine, collected Passion relics thanks to her wealth and connections. The fragment on display has been venerated from the mid-4th century onward as being a genuine part of Christ's Cross. However, the fact remains that the authenticity of most of these objects is entirely a matter of belief. 

What if it is real? This is the question that makes relics special, and this collection so important to our mission to evangelise the truth of Jesus. 

For further information, read this excellent article written by Oliver White for Spinoff Saints in Coffee Jars. The official website where you can view the relics is here www.relics.nz. The two videos below also tell the story.