Relics

This was outside Padua railway station. I thought it looked like the cover of a science fiction book.

We went to Padua (Padova) one day and visited the Basilica of St Anthony (San Antonio... ok, I will cease with the translations now). It was built in the mid 1200s, specifically to house the mortal remains of the saint, but from the outside looks as though it was built (of brick and stone) about 50 years ago.

St Anthony has a huge and highly decorated marble sarcophagus which attracts many pilgrims who ask him to intercede with God on their behalf. At the rear of his tomb people gather and pray, many with their hand held against the back of it so they can get as close to him as possible. A nun coughed loudly in my direction because I had my hands in my pockets. They can spot an Anglican from a mile off.

Most of his body is in the marble tomb, but bits of him have been detached and cut away to be put into crystal and gold jars and display cases in a different section of the church. This place is called the Reliquary and is packed with items associated with the saint from floor to ceiling.

His jaw bone and lower teeth are set in a large crystal bowl in the rough shape of a head with a hat, and this arrangement was donated by a Cardinal who pledged to have it made in gratitude for St Anthony saving him from the Black Death.

Beneath his lower mandible is a crystal sphere containing two gold swans holding up his desiccated vocal cords, and close to this is his 'incorruptible' tongue. Both items are a dark red and the fact they did not rot proves the esteem in which God held him for using his voice to spread the word as an evangelist - it says here.

I missed the piece of the true cross, but it was in there somewhere, surrounded by gold and silver chalices and phials containing liquid blood from other saints. The Catholic Church in Italy loves a bit of bling. It is a case of no expense spared.

I love these displays of venerated relics. They are not always limited to Christians either. In the Topkapi you can see a hair from the beard of the Prophet Mohammed held by a single gold wire and mounted in a bejewelled, gold and crystal display stand. Interestingly, they also have an arm of John the Baptist wrapped in gold nearby. There are bits of John the Baptist all over the world, so he may have had more than two arms.

I asked St Anthony to help in any way he could, but we still missed the high-speed train back to Venice.