Relics. Articles regarded as sacred in the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches, such as the "Holy Coat of Treves," said to have been worn by Christ, alleged pieces of the cross on which Christ was crucified, alleged bones of martyrs and other persons held in reverence as saints, etc. It is claimed that a bone alleged to be of St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, has effected many miraculous cures in New York city in 1903.
The Greek and other Oriental Churches, and most of the Oriental sects, agree with Roman Catholics in the practice of relic worship. On the contrary, the Reformed Churches, without exception, have rejected the usage; though non-religious relic worship is rife enough, in the form of swords of Wallace and Bruce, locks of Prince Charlie's hair, etc. The practice of relic worship forms a notable feature of the Mohammedan usage of pilgrimages, and is an even more important feature of Buddhism.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia,
1912.