Holy Sponge

The Holy Sponge is one of the Instruments of the Passion of Jesus Christ. It was dipped in vinegar (or in some translations sour wine), most likely posca, a favorite beverage of Roman soldiers, and offered to Christ to drink during the Crucifixion, according to Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36; and John 19:29. An object that was identified as the Holy Sponge was later identified and venerated in Palestine, in the Upper Room of the Constantinian Basilica, where St. Sophronius spoke of it, c. 600 AD:

Though a piece of the Holy Sponge, brown with blood, is preserved in Rome in the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, and held in great veneration, this should not be confused with the sponge of Saint Praxedis, which is not the Holy Sponge. When 23 Christians were discovered in the home of St. Praxedis, they were martyred before her very eyes. She had the presence of mind to collect their blood with a sponge and placed it in a well, where she herself was later buried, marked by the disk in the Basilica's floor. The Holy Sponge itself is in the Chapel of the Relics at Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.

Of all the churches in Rome, Santa Croce has one of the richest collections of relics. A special chapel was therefore built for them in 1930. A staircase to the left of the choir leads to this chapel, where one can see three pieces of the True Cross, one of its nails, a fragment of the INRI ("Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews") inscription, two thorns from Christ's crown of thorns, a piece of the sponge that was held up to him, one of the silver pieces paid to Judas, St Thomas's finger which touched the wounds of Christ, and the crossbar from the Good Thief's cross. The paving stones are said to have been laid on a substantial amount of earth from Golgotha.

Aside from the Basilica of St. John Lateran, more pieces of the Holy Sponge are preserved in Rome at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, at Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, and at St. Mary in Campitelli.

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Wikipedia