Religious Relics of Venice

 

What is a Relic?

Throughout the ages, the remains and intimate possessions of religious figures have been recovered, preserved and venerated by their followers. Such items, known as "relics," are particularly important in Catholicism. After Constantine facilitated the establishment of Christianity as the predominant religion of the Roman Empire in AD 312, consecrating new churches by securing and sometimes displaying the relics of saints became standard practice.
Over the centuries, as cathedrals and basilicas were built and rebuilt across Europe, the relics associated with them often dictated their political, as well as spiritual, importance.
Relics were kept in a cavity inside the alter (sepulchre) of a church or in a container (reliquary) or, more often, were simply buried so they would become, literally and figuratively, part of the church's foundation. Often a relic consisted of partial remains, sometimes a single finger or a lock of hair. Sometimes it was an item a saint had habitually worn or touched - clothes, jewelry, even dishware. It was (and still is) not uncommon for the relics of a single saint to be in several different churches on several different continents.
The bodies of some saints seemed miraculously immune to decomposition. These "incorruptibles" can still be seen in churches throughout Europe, lying in state in glass sepulchres, their natural appearance belying the fact that they died centuries earlier. What follows is a survey of the relics that can be found in modern day Venice. About some of them; much is known; about most of them, little is known. The history of many of them is a frustrating mishmash of fact and fancy. But none of the relics ended up where they are by accident. Someone, some time, believed they were sacred, and went to great lengths to preserve them against the unrelenting onslaught of time and human forgetfulness.

 

The Relics of Saint Mark

Not surprisingly, the remains of St. Mark the Evangelist are buried in Saint Mark's Basilica. Famous for writing the earliest of the four Gospels of the New Testament, Mark spread the gospel as well, traveling great distances to preach, eventually founding a church in Alexandria, Egypt. When he died, his remains were enshrined at the church he had founded. The city of Venice, at that time, did not exist.
But by 828, Venice not only existed, it was looking for a way to demonstrate its independence from both Rome and Byzantium, and to be recognized as the major commercial and cultural center it was well on its way to becoming. Consequently, a group of Venetian merchants obtained the body of St. Mark, moving ("translating") it from Alexandria to the chapel of the Doge, the secular ruler of Venice. Some accounts say the merchants purchased the remains, but it's far more likely they stole them.
The city rationalized its actions by recounting a story in which St. Mark, while sailing to a town nearby, was forced to wait out a storm in the lagoon which would later give rise to Venice. An angel reportedly appeared to him and said, "Be at peace here," as in, "Don't be afraid of the storm." The Venetians, however, claimed the angel meant, "Rest here," as in "Be buried and reat eternally here." In honor of his city's new patron saint, the Doge rebuilt and expanded his chapel, which eventually became the grand basilica it is today, and the city of Venice basked in its newfound status as the guardian and protector of one of the greatest figures in the history of Christianity.

 

The Relics of Saint Theodore

Two tall columns, built in the 12th century, flank the Piazetta of the Piazza San Marco. Atop one is a winged lion, symbol of St. Mark the Evangelist. Atop the other is a man standing on a crocoldile, symbol of Egypt. This is St. Theodore of Amasea, the original patron saint of Venice.
As Christianity spread throughout Europe and the Middle East following the edict of Constantine, it was common for cities to obtain the relics of a particular saint, then dedicate the city to their protection. In return, that saint would guard the city. For their patron saint, the Byzantine officials who founded Venice chose St. Theodore, a young soldier who was martyred for his Christian beliefs in AD 306 in Amasea, a city in what is now Turkey.
By the ninth century, however, Venetian officials considered Theodore to be an "Eastern" saint, one more closely associated with Byzantium than Rome and lacking in "starpower." And so, when St. Mark's relics were translated to Venice in 828, the relics of St. Theodore were quietly removed from the Doge's chapel and forgotten. His body is said to have been translated to the church which bears his name in Constantinople, while his head is in Gaeta, Italy, but it is unclear whether these are the same relics that were once enshrined in Venice.

 

The Chalice of Saint Geruase

Gervase and his twin brother Protase were the sons of two Christian martyrs in Milan. They, too, were martyred for their faith, probably when Marcus Aurelius was the Roman emperor (161-180). Little else is known about their lives. It is the way in which their relics were discovered that made them truly remarkable.
In 386, St. Ambrose needed relics in order to consecrate his new basilica in Milan. Heeding what he had seen in a dream, he started digging in a cemetery outside the city, and there found the remains of St. Gervase and St. Protase. The relics were moved to his basilica and buried there, and the twins became the patron saints of Milan. But the story wasn't over.
In the grave with St. Gervase was the cup he and his brother had presumably shared while growing up. Undoubtedly placed in the grave by a friend or relative, the cup was quite plain, most likely made of tin, with the letter P awkwardly scratched into the metal on one side, and the letter G on the other. At least, that's what the cup looked like when it was removed form the grave. Legend has it that, upon exposure to the sun, the cup was miraculously transformed into a majestic, solid gold, jewel encrusted chalice. The twins' initials were still on it, only now they were precisely drawn patterns of gleaming precious stones.
There is no record that the chalice of St. Gervase was ever placed on display in the Basilica Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, which means it was either given away or, more likely, stolen soon after its discovery. More than a thousand years later, the chalice surfaced in Assisi when it was used to pay off a debt. It eventually fell into the hands of a priest who realized what it was and, in 1708, presented it to the Convent of St. Gervase in Venice. For three hundred years, the nuns there have watched over their beloved relic. While the convent is closed to the public, it's possible (though extremely difficult) for people who have a demonstrable interest in art or history to arrange for a private viewing of the chalice.