BRANDEA. - By this term the ancient Christians designated those small cloths or veils which, having been applied directly to the bodies or tombs of saints, were subsequently regarded as so many relics. Brandea therefore form a category of representative relics and constitute a special kind among the eulogia (v.).
The use of brandea certainly dates back to the age of the persecutions (Prudenzio, Peristephanon, V: CSEL, 61, p. 346). The psychological basis of such a practice must be sought in the common conviction that the miraculous power of the bodies of saints is communicated also to objects that have come into contact with them, whether directly or indirectly. The antecedents of this attitude may be seen in the desire of the crowds to draw near enough to Jesus merely to touch his garments; or in the thronging of the first Christians to touch the garments or shadows of the Apostles, in order to feel themselves strengthened in spirit and often healed in body (Mc. 5, 28; 6, 56; Act. 5, 15; 19, 11).
After the age of the persecutions, small cloths were lowered into the confessiones of the martyrs through the appropriate fenestella, and became imbued with their healing power (Gregorio di Tours, Liber Miraculorum, I, 27). These brandea were held in such honour and esteem that, in the absence of authentic relics, they were very frequently used even for those strictly liturgical purposes that required their employment (Gregorio Magno, Reg. Ep., IV, 50). The use and veneration of brandea were known and practised everywhere, although they were given different names in different places, namely palliola, sanctuaria, etc.