The Hair of Our Lady is the most rare and desirable of all holy relics and the only first class relic we have of the Most Holy Mother of God. Since the Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed into Heaven with body and soul, no physical relics of Her exist.
The sole exception is that of Her hair, which had been preserved and venerated since antiquity in the Holy House of Nazareth. The Holy relic was initially kept by the Patriarchs of Jerusalem until the fifth century when it was ordered by the Byzantine Empress Pulcheria for the Holy relics of the Virgin's Veil and Hair to be translated to Constantinople. For almost 700 years Marian relics together with the Wood from the True Cross of Jesus were considered the "Palladium of the City" until the Crusaders translated them to Europe as a result of sacking of Constantinople in 1204.
Brought from Constantinople by the Crusaders, the Holy Relics of Virgin Mary’s hair are at the present time venerated in Rome in the churches of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Saint John in Lateran and Santa Maria in Campitelli; in Venice in the Basilica San Marco, in Santo Domenico in Bologna, and in the Church of Sant'Agostino in Licata, Sicily. It is recorded that Pope Pius VI (p. 1775-1799) and Pope Pius IX (p.1846-1878) presented several relics of Our Lady's hair to various noble families in Italy.
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