It was in the news the other day — how, a week ago, on the eve of the second Sunday of Lent, the canons of St. Peter’s Basilica congregated with the basilica’s archpriest and concelebrant priests for a special Mass, after which was a procession that culminates with the unveiling of a precious relic from the spear of Longinus, which pierced the side of Jesus.

There is much circumstance and pomp, as well as deep devotion. “The bells begin to ring,” reported the Catholic News Agency. “Slowly, three canons exit the chapel onto the loggia, and one with red gloves carries the relic of the lance of St. Longinus. The canon, accompanied by the other two, proceeds to show the relic in all directions for the veneration of those present while the thurifer incenses the relic from down below. The relic is shown from the center of the loggia, then to its left and its right, and back to the center to elevate the relic, especially for one last glimpse.”

Longinus is not mentioned by name in Scripture, but his name comes to us down through tradition, and he has been canonized for his key role. There is a statue of him in the basilica. Meantime, the relic at the Vatican is not the entire lance, but part of the spearhead.

Another fragment, missing from the Vatican’s relic, is found in Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, according to Rome.

It is one of a number claimed around the world.

A third, in Vienna, is displayed in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace.

And here it becomes more interesting yet, for Hofburg once had a frequent visitor named Adolf Hitler — who revered this supposed (but probably not authentic) relic and was said to have lapsed into frightening moods while standing before it.

Long, black, and tapered is this spearhead.

Which one is the authentic one; the Vatican’s; the one in Paris; the one in Vienna?

Whatever the case, staring at it, some kind of force obviously captivated that future Führer.

In its presence he fell into what can only be described as demonic ecstasy.

Standing in front of the velvet dais, his face would flush and his brooding eyes would shine with what one observer described as “an alien emanation.”

He swayed on his feet and “his whole physiognomy and stance (apparently) transformed as if some mighty spirit now inhabited his very soul,” recalled one of his few friends, August Kubizek.

Hitler knew there was some kind of great evil attached to the relic. He says as much in describing one visit to this beloved object, a visit that seems to have included the apparition of a demon at the museum. According to Hitler himself: “The air became stifling so that I could hardly breathe. The noisy scene of the Treasure House seemed to melt away before my eyes. I stood alone and trembling before the hovering form of the Superman — a spirit sublime and fearful, a countenance intrepid and cruel. In holy awe, I offered my soul as a vessel for his will.”

Was this, then, the final spark igniting one of the most brutal holocausts in recorded history?

Might Hitler have been in touch, not with Saint Longinus, but with the evil that killed Jesus — and now sought to kill other Jews, at least six million of them?

[resources: excerpted from The Final Hour]

[Footnote: On 13th October 1938, under Hitler’s orders, the lance and the other Habsburg regalia were placed on a special train and taken to Nuremberg under SS guard, a history site reminds us. There, it was housed in St. Catherine’s Church.

Seven years later, the game was up for the Nazis and the war was nearing an end. American forces located and took possession of the lance just two hours before Hitler committed suicide, on April 30, 1945.]