The Holy Sponge

In 600 CE, the Patriarch of Jerusalem Sophronius visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a 4th-century church in Jerusalem supposedly built on the site where Jesus was crucified. In an upper room he observed a few objects that inspired verses:

And let me go rejoicing
to the splendid sanctuary, the place
where the noble Empress Helena
found the divine Wood; 

and go up,
my heart overcome with awe,
and see the Upper Room,
the Reed, the Sponge, and the Lance.

The "divine Wood" found by the Empress Helena we know, because we've talked about the True Cross and Empress Helena's finding of it.

There were other relics there: "the Reed, the Sponge, and the Lance."

The Lance refers to the Spear of Longinus, the spear a Roman soldier jabbed into the side of the crucified Jesus mentioned only in the Gospel of John. There are, in fact, four known relics that claim to be the Spear/Lance of Longinus, in Rome, Vienna, Vagharshapat (in Armenia), and Antioch. Supposedly, one was even in the possession of the devout King Æthelstan of England.

The Reed and Sponge go together. While on the Cross, Jesus says "I am thirsty," whereupon a soldier maliciously soaks a sponge in vinegar, sticks it on the end of a reed, and golds it up to Jesus' lips. The Holy Sponge that was soaked with vinegar is what Sophronius saw.

The (a) Holy Sponge and Holy Lance were brought by Nicetas, a cousin of Eastern Emperor Heraclius (610-641), to Constantinople from Palestine in 612. Latin Emperor Baldwin II sold the (a) Sponge to King Louis IX of France. 

Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologos made a gift of a sponge to Pope Boniface IX, along with a piece of Jesus' tunic (not sure where he got that). The Basilica of Santa Croce in Jerusalem is a church in Rome, built to house relics of the Passion of Christ, such as the True Cross. In it you will find a brown sponge.

Pieces of sponge also reside at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, St. Mary in Campitelli in Rome, and the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome. The church of St. Jacques de Compiègne in France and in the cathedral in Aachen where a piece owned by Charlemagne is displayed.

The items mentioned here are part of the Arma Christi, the "Arms of Christ," the Instruments of the Passion of Christ. There are many more...many more. I'll let you know about some tomorrow.