St Vitalis Again

You may remember the St Vitalis affair a few months ago.  In one post I said that God would not be mocked, well I am not proportioning any blame to divine intervention, but in today's Sunday Independent we discover that the man who bought the relic of St Vitalis, a Billy Jamieson, a Canadian TV personality (pictured above), actually died on the day the deal for the relic was closed.  Interesting.  Regardless of it all, Lord have mercy on him. 

My posts on the affair:  The Case of St Vitalis, It Gets Worse, The Whole Truth.  The head does not belong to St Vitalis of Assisi - his remains are safe in Italy. If it is authentic it is probably the skull of a martyr.

UPDATE: I see from an article in the Meath Chronicle that the auctioneer, Damien Matthews is suggesting there may be a curse on the skull - hinting that the previous owners also died in mysterious circumstances.  Is this sensationalism a prelude to another publicity stunt masquerading as an auction?  What a tangled web.....

The St Vitalis Skull: The Whole Truth!

It seems the whole St Vitalis thing has really intrigued my friends - they are all talking about the skull.  At a Consecration Mass on Tuesday evening a number were huddled around in a group pondering over my blog on an iPhone and discussing whether the skull was authentic or not.  Today another mate, a priest, has informed me that he and his school pal now living in England, have finally worked out how the skull ended up in Ireland.  It's so funny I thought I'd share it.

Young Anglo-Irish gentleman (henceforth referred to as "your boyo") is doing the grand tour thing.  Starting off with great intentions he ends up availing of the services of those whom it is not moral to avail services of, and after a number of services your boyo ends up with a rash or another such aggressive complaint that tends to come from availing too often of services that it is not moral to avail of. 

In desperation he seeks a cure of this aggressive complaint before he goes home, otherwise how could he explain how he ended up with this complaint when he was supposed to be finishing off his education?  Perhaps (it is cited by my friend and his pal) in such desperation your boyo was introduced to a foreign gentleman who informed him that there was a cure to be found in the rub of the relic of St Vitalis of Assisi, whose patronage covers such aggressive complaints.  And you would never guess, but he knows where to get the skull of this saint for the rubbing, but it will require a tidy sum and the utmost secrecy: if the priest found out there would be war.  Though it offends his respectable Protestant sensibilities, your boyo agrees, hands over the dosh (translation: money) and off goes yon foreign gentleman to raid the sacristy. 

However, the foreign gentleman does not go to the local church, for the relics of its saints and martyrs are guarded with great jealousy because there is always the threat that the crowd from the parish next door might stage a raid to grab whatever relics they can - a common pastime in Europe at the time.  He takes another turn and ends up in the local charnel house, where rifling through the various skulls of the dearly departed picks one, that of the late Signora Maria Teresa Benedetti-Morales fine upstanding mistress of the Buon Amici hostelry out the Milan road, who died at the ripe old age of 93 after burying three husbands, all rich, and finally succumbing herself following an incident with a hazelnut.*  And polishing up the skull, the foreign gentleman brings it to your boyo.  Delighted, with utmost faith in the fake, your boyo heads off back to the manoral pile in Ireland hoping this Vitalis of wherever will do the job and return him to his pristine state.  

We may never know if your boyo got the cure, but if not, the skull of the saint would be enough to distract the mater's attention.  And so it remained in the ancestral seat until one day a young little auctioneer arrived on the scene with a heap of dosh to carry off the skull to Hollywood with the promise of making it famous.  Here endeth the proposition.

The late Signora Maria Teresa Benedetti-Morales (note the resemblance to the skull)

Indeed!  I take it, then, they think it is a fake.

* That bit about Signora Benedetti-Morales is my insertion, which I do admit might not be the most inspired; call it a bit of colour, if nothing else.

Come To Visit Our Saint!

Following my earlier post today, if you read the comments in the combox you will see that Barbara from San Vitale, three kilometres from Assisi in Italy has contacted us to let us know that the skull of St Vitalis of Assisi is safe and well and jealously guarded in their local church.  Long may it continue.  It seems they love him dearly there, and thank God for it. 

So, a message to all you pilgrims, if you are going to Assisi ask your organisers to include San Vitale on the itinerary (it's only three kilometres from Assisi - you could walk it) to pay a visit to the venerated skull of the hermit Saint, another St Augustine, and yes, patron of genital diseases and STIs.  Remember all who suffer from these illnesses, pray for purity and chastity for all of us, and remember a poor auctioneer and an actor in Hollywood who think they have his head! 

I think I feel another Fraternity pilgrimage coming on .....  Pack the bags boys and girls, it will be a Rosary before the head, and coffee in the bars of San Vitale...to start with!

Guess what, just discovered, today is his feast day!!  Happy feast day!

The Case of St Vitalis: It Gets Worse

Further to my post yesterday on the sale of the skull of St Vitalis, more information is emerging, and I'm afraid it's not good.  This affair just gets seedier the more we go on.

In an interview on Irish radio yesterday the auctioneer said that the head had been bought by a Hollywood actor who wanted it for the "shock value".   This actor bought the head for €3,500, even though much higher bids were made - our bid was higher than this,  and there was another much higher again at €10,000.  The auctioneer admitted that these bids, from Irish bidders, were excluded from the auction because the owners wanted the head to go out of Ireland.  Now this is very odd given that they opted to put the head up for sale in an open auction in Ireland.  At the very least this is very strange and merits, perhaps, a more official investigation into how the auction was conducted. I am not an expert on codes of behaviour for auctioneers, but I do get a fishy smell here.

Apart from that I am deeply disturbed about the whole thing.   That the probable relic of a Saint was bought for its "shock value", the media interest, and even the auctioneer's own attitude on national radio, all of this is offensive not only to Catholics as we see the possible remains of one of our martyrs disparaged and traded as if mere consumer objects, but even on a human level that the earthly remains of a human being should become an object for such derision  is offensive.  That an actor should be the one to buy it for a lark is also sad - when I heard I was reminded why our Fraternity was founded - another actor that needs our prayers.

I suppose it must be prayers all round: the actor, the auctioneer, the family who sold it, the media leading the derision.  As a friend pointed out to me yesterday: "God will not be mocked" - and he won't.  So we will have to pray and leave things in the hands of God.

Reflecting on this whole affair, I suppose we should not be surprised that the secular world should be so callous when it comes to the most cherished treasures of the Church.  Following Vatican II thousands of relics were unceremoniously dumped, many rare ones being lost forever.  Some were buried, but others, unfortunately, were thrown into bins and rubbish skips.  I know of one situation where the sisters of a congregation had to relinquish their personal relics so they could all be disposed of.  If the Church and her representatives should treat relics with such contempt, why are we surprised when ignorant secularists do the same - at least they buy them to show them off to their friends - "shock value" is not as bad as pure contempt and embarrassment.

Thankfully in recent years, a new generation is rediscovering the significance of relics and the Church is trying to clamp down on the sale and abuse of them.  Relics, for us as Catholics, are cherished mementos of Our Lord and our saintly heroes.  They do not possess magical powers and we do not worship them: we venerate them as holy things.  We are not alone in this: the Buddhists preserve relics of Buddha and venerate them, and some Muslims honour the relics of their heroes - objects which belonged to Muhammad are held in great esteem by his followers (I wonder would the auctioneer have dealt with a relic of Muhammad in the same way as the head of St Vitalis - if he did he would now be in hiding).   Relics for us Catholics serve as reminders of the Saint or Blessed's presence.  If they are first class (pieces of the person's body or hair), we venerate the sacred remains as at their tomb, the remains of one who has become holy and who now stands in the presence of God.  They must always be treated with the utmost respect.

The sale of the skull of St Vitalis gives the impression that relics can be owned - they can't.  Those who have relics of a Saint or Blessed are no more than custodians for a time, and they have a duty to ensure that when they die, or if they give them as gifts, that they go to reliable people, or, even better, they go back to the Church, diocese or religious family from which they came.  So if you have relics you must be very careful and ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands.  By and large, to ensure this, the Church and many religious families will now only give first class relics to churches and members of the clergy.  This will also fulfil the requirement that they be used for the veneration of the faithful.  So if you have relics, make provision for them in your will.

If we learn anything from this sordid affair of the head of St Vitalis, is for us Catholics to be more protective of our holy things - how the Eucharist is treated is far worse than that dished out to relics.  We should use this situation as one which will lead us to a greater devotion, a deeper living of our faith.  And we must also learn to pray more, especially for those who make little of holy things. 

The Case of St Vitalis

Thank you for your prayers over the last few days.  It seems a number of you worked out what the situation was as some contacted me to ask if they could help.  It was all much appreciated.  We were trying to save the relic of St Vitalis which was coming up for auction in Duleek and which was sold yesterday.  Unfortunately, despite the prayers, we failed.  I do not know who bought the relic, but we can only hope it will be respected.  The modern trade in relics is positively medieval and shameful; it is also a big business and deeply offensive not only to the Church which cherishes the sacred remains of her Saints, but to every human being as human remains which should be respected are traded on the open market.  Ironic isn’t it: many reject the Church and her teachings and her Saints, but they still want her treasures, including the relics of her holy ones.

A number of us formed a consortium to see if we could save the relic.  We found ourselves in a tight spot because Canon Law forbids the sale of relics, but allows for an effort to buy them if they can be saved from desecration.   We contacted the auctioneer and made an offer, but he refused to entertain any offers – the head was going to auction regardless.  That led me, personally, to conclude that there were other issues at play here apart from selling the skull.  We could not contact the family who were selling it – their identity was protected – as it probably needed to be.   We then got some money together and tried to make some effort to buy it at auction.  With an eye to Canon Law we recognised that morally we could not fuel a frenzied competition, and so we limited the amount and left the rest in the hands of God.  We failed, but we still leave the matter in the hands of the Lord and his providence.

Were we justified in doing what we did?  Yes, we fulfilled the narrow condition laid down by Canon Law and we were trying to save it.  What really got us going, and fulfilled the criteria, was our discovering that it was being suggested on gay websites that a gay sauna buy the relic for exposition in the sauna, since this St Vitalis was being described as the patron saint of genital diseases.  I was appalled when I read this, as were others and we were determined to do something to prevent this.  If a gay group had attempted to buy the relic, I hope they failed in their bid.

All that said: who is this St Vitalis, an unknown saint who has now achieved fame, or notoriety, on the web?  There are a number of St Vitalises (?), and while we do not know which one the skull belongs to, he is not the one the auctioneer and news reports say he is.  According to the reports it was the skull of St Vitalis of Assisi (1295-1370), an Italian hermit.  He is the patron of genital diseases, but he is not a martyr – the skull, if you take a quick look is identified as being that of a martyr.  So we can take it that all the hype was for nothing.  Now how did they come to identify the skull as belonging to St Vitalis of Assisi?  Well it was either pure ignorance or by design and all possibly via an internet search and the wisdom of Wikipedia.  If by design, it might be suggested that the reference to a saint and genitals would have guaranteed a princely sum and increased interest.    Decide for yourselves.  St Vitalis of Assisi’s relics rested in the Cathedral of San Rufino in San Vitale, Italy, southeast of Assisi until 2001 when they were returned to their original resting place in Viole di Assisi. 

Church of St Vitalis of Assisi, Viole di Assisi, where the relics of the hermit saint

are now preserved and venerated

So who was this St Vitalis?  It may be that of St Vitalis the martyr.  Now there are a number of known martyrs with this name.  The most famous is St Vitalis of Milan, husband of St Valeria and father of SS Gervase and Protase, he was put to death for his faith in the 1^st or 2^nd centuries by being buried alive with a pile of stones put on his head.  I notice some news reports try to merge this martyrdom with St Vitalis of Assisi.

The martyrdom of St Vitalis of Milan,  father of SS Gervase and Protase

 

St Felicity of Rome and her seven martyred sons, one of them being
St Vitalis

Another St Vitalis is the son of St Felicity of Rome who was martyred with his mother in 165 AD.  A third is St Vitalis of Hadrumetum in Africa, who was put to death with St Honoratus and ten companions during the persecution of Diocletian in 303: he was beheaded in Vellenaio on the 29 August 303. 

Tomb of St Vitalis of Bologna, and his master, St Agricola, who were martyred in 304,

preserved in the Church of  SS Vitale e Agricola, Bologna

A fourth is St Vitalis of Bologna, a Christian slave martyred with his master in Bologna, again during the persecution of Dioceltian, this time in 304: this St Vitalis was slain in the amphitheatre.   There is also mention of a St Vitalis who was martyred in the persecution of the Emperor Decius in 250 AD.  Or it may be the relic of another Vitalis who perished in one of the persecutions.  There are numerous martyrs, many of them unknown, and even many whose names were unknown but given a name to assist devotion – for example there is a clatter of St Victorias, Martyr: we do not know these women’s names, but they are venerated for their victory for Christ.  So this Vitalis could be an unknown martyr and just given the name or, indeed, the relic could just be a fake.

So how did an Anglo-Irish family come across this relic?  It has been proposed that an ancestor picked it up when on the Grand Tour.  For those of you who do not know about the Grand Tour, it was, simply, the rambles of rich young gentlemen around Europe in the 18^th and 19^th centuries to finish off their education.  It started as a means of completing a Classical education, bringing these young aristocrats to the ancient sites of antiquity: Greece, Italy, Turkey and Egypt.  That’s how it started.  By the middle or end of the 19^th century it had become the upper crust boy’s prolonged booze-up across the flesh pots of Europe where a quick glimpse of the remains of ancient Rome led to an drink and drug fuelled evening in the arms of a lady (or lad) in a local brothel. 

On these trips the young gentlemen did pick up souvenirs, though, to be honest, the relics of a Catholic martyr would not be expected to be among the objects brought home, not for Anglo-Irish Protestants who were not too fond of things Catholic.  So how did it end up with this family?  Perhaps the ancestor was interested in things Catholic and managed to secure the skull.  Now the skull could be a fake, a quick visit to the local charnel house and a bit of DIY by a local artisan with a percentage coming his way, might have satisfied the desire. 

If it is authentic, however, there may a few explanations as to how it ended up in the luggage home to Ireland, although one may be disturbingly possible.  No Catholic church, priest or religious community would hand such a major relic over to a Protestant gentleman regardless of who he was.  The skull may have been either spirited away by a corrupt official or sacristan for a nice tidy sum, or the future owner took matters into his own hands either as part of a jape or out of avarice – either way it is possible that the relic, if authentic, was stolen from a Catholic church.  We will never know.  All we know is that it ended up in a Co. Louth house, then bunged out into a shed, and now has been sold on the open market.  Not a savoury story at all.