Vatican’s secret, and deadly, project to mummify saints. Inspired by Ancient Egypt, the Vatican embarked on a 40-year quest to preserve the remains of its holy adherents — including one of its latest saints, Pope John XXIII.
The spiritual making of a saint is rooted in law, bureaucracy and, of course, faith. The physical making of a saint is something else entirely. On April 27, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II will be granted sainthood by Pope Francis. It will be a day to honor two of the Catholic Church’s most popular leaders, the “Good Pope” who served only five years, and the superstar who toured the world and spoke out against communism, becoming the second-longest-serving pope in history. It’s also an opportunity to display to the world what has become a tourist attraction under the Vatican: the body of John XXIII, perfectly preserved since his death in 1963, entombed in a glass coffin. The pope’s body is the most prominent example of a four-decade experiment by the Church to sustain its holy relics.
Saints. Saint Valentine, Patron Saint of Lovers, Bee Keepers, Plague, and Epilepsy. Saint Valentine's holy name may now be inextricably linked to pastel hearts and Hallmark cards, but he's the patron saint of much more than love. Bee keepers, plague victims, and epilepsy sufferers also fall under his posthumous jurisdiction. Despite being one of the most known saints, the exact identity of Saint Valentine is itself rather fuzzy. There was a priest named Valentine, as well as a bishop, who were both martyred in the third century by Claudius after they defended Christians. The priest was beaten to death and decapitated after being imprisoned. The multiple Valentine identities somehow merged, which accounts for the whole horde of Valentine relics, including numerous skulls.
Skull of Saint Valentine in Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome (photograph by Lawrence OP) You might notice that there's a bit of romance missing from these stories. According to Alice and Clare La Plante's Heaven Help Us: The Worrier's Guide to the Patron Saints: The Relic Crypt of St. Helena at Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles. Empress St.
Helena was directly responsible for the spread of Christianity though the Roman Empire and was the first person to bring Christian relics back to Rome, so how did a major portion of her body wind up in an often overlooked church in Paris? Helena died in Rome in 330, and you can still see her tomb there as well as her sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum. While the majority of the empress's remains are still in Rome a portion of her body is contained in the church, Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles. As history tells it, in 840 a monk from Hautvillers, France returned from a trip to Rome with a surprising souvenir. The Head of St. John the Baptist at Amiens Cathedral. France's Amiens Cathedral contains a preserved skull (facial bone sans lower jaw) which is supposedly that of famed prophet John the Baptist.
While the grim relic has said to have been lost and found a number of times throughout its centuries of history, the skull found its way to its current home after traveling from the defunct city of Constantinople. The Shrine of Saint John Neumann. Upon his canonization, Saint John Neumann was exhumed and placed on display for veneration.
First they removed some bones and cut them into small pieces to be set in very small, glass-covered containers—one of which is set in the wooden cross that the priest uses to bless the congregation during devotions. His body was then clothed with Bishop's robes and his face covered in a smooth, white mask mimicking his features. To the side of the Shrine is a small museum dedicated to the life and death of St.
John Neumann. Chapelle Notre Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse. Each year thousands of Christian worshipers from all over the world come and pray at the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal.
They come to find hope, pray for their redemption, or seek a miraculous healing. Saint Catherine of Bologna. The beautiful church of Chiesa della Santa, like many Italian churches, is filled with stunning architecture, art and decoration.
Saint Maria Adelaide. Meet Portugal’s most popular – uncanonised – saint.
Born in Porto in 1835, Maria Adelaide grew up in a local boarding school, and then in a convent in a nearby city, Vila Nova de Gaia. It was there she contracted tuberculosis, something plenty blamed on the strict closure and the very humid building, right on the riverside. Eventually, her condition became so serious that her doctors advised her to leave the convent and move back to Porto. She did so, but still the move wasn’t enough, and her condition worsened yet again.
The Holy Right : The fist of St.Stephen. It is known as “The Holy Right” and every year on August 20th, Hungary takes it out for a walk.
The occasion is Saint Stephen’s Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the founder of the Hungarian nation. Curiously, St.