Seton Hall University Home Page
Archives and Special Collections

Artifacts Index:

 
University Libraries
Religious Artifacts Collection

Introduction

The good news of God's revelation comes to us through Scripture and the Tradition of the Catholic Church. In our attempt to understand God's revelation, believers through the centuries have attempted to give form to their beliefs in great literature and theological systems; in magnificent works of art and in music and in other human artistic creations. An important documentation of the human effort to understand God appears in the form of ceremonial vessels and related artifacts ranging from abrasax to zucchettos. These vessels and artifacts play an essential role in our ceremonies of worship and prayer. Their design and crafting, embedded with symbols of a culture's way of worship, tell stories of people and their relationship with their God.

From the very founding of the Archdiocese of Newark in 1853, a vast array of objects have been used in the celebration of Holy Mass, in devotional exercises and in the many other ways the people in the Archdiocese worship God. The images in this database present the sacred vessels used by priests and parishioners for the past 150 years in the churches of the Archdiocese. The images tell the story of America, of Catholic America. They show through their design and detail the story of the role of faith in life in the new land. Most of the artifacts shown in this database are from the Msgr. William Noe Field Archives and Special Collections Center at Seton Hall University. This project is a collaboration between the University Libraries and the Teaching Learning and Technology Center at Seton Hall University.

Gateways to specific items can be found elsewhere on this page and in an exhibit entitled "People of Newark". This exhibit was created to mark the Sesquicentennial of the founding of the Archdiocese of Newark in 2003.The exhibit provides insight about the traditions of the laity, bishops, priests and religious who made valuable contributions to the development of the first Catholic See of New Jersey. For more specific information about the objects viewed here and within the broader realm of Catholic ritualism, definitions have been provided from the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia. The links to the encyclopedia are listed below.

Welcome to our homepage and I hope you enjoy your introduction to the religious treasures of Seton Hall University and the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey!

 

TLTC