Written by Fr. Dennis O'Neill
Hosius was born in Cordoba in the year 256. He was made bishop of Cordoba in 296 and suffered for the faith during the persecution of Diocletian. He became the principal spiritual advisor to the Emperor Constantine I during the years from 310 to 316. Constantine formally put an end to the persecution of the Church with the Edict of Milan in 313. Hosius was the chair person for the Council of Nicaea in 325 and was the first bishop to sign the Nicene Creed. He was a staunch defender both of the Creed and of St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, who wrote the text of the creed, and he was often harassed and threatened by Arian deniers of the divinity of Christ because of it. Weakened by old age and ill treatment and under pressure, he accepted an Arian creed at Sirmium, but as soon as he was taken back to Spain, he repented of it and publicly professed his unconditional support for the Nicene Creed. He died August 27, 357. Because of hisone unfortunate lapse at Sirmium, he was never canonized.
In eighteenth century Spain, however, a firm course was taken to rehabilitate him, culminating in a book written by Miguel Jose Maceda in 1790 entitled “Hosius Vere Hosius.” It was published in Bologna in 1827. At that time, in Rome, there was a monk of the Camoldolese Benedictine order who possessed a relic of Hosius, which had been passed down to him through two generations of his ancestors. He originally kept it wrapped in a green handkerchief. He broke off a portion of the relic and had had it sealed and certified by Luigi Emanuele Nicolo Lambruschini, the Archbishop of Genoa, on May 9, 1826. At that time, the Archbishop commissioned a Ligurian carpenter to fashion a wooden casket for it. It was deliberately not meant to be a work of art, but rather a reflection of the simplicity of the Apostles. It originally had a metal plate, which since has been lost. It was covered with green velvet and sealed with the Lambruschini coat of arms. Out of respect for a fellow Camoldolese named Bartolomeo Alberto Capellari, who had been appointed a cardinal, the original owner monk gave the sealed relic to him. The cardinal, who became Pope Gregory XVI in 1831, briefly placed the relic in the church of San Callisto in Rome, but by 1829, Capellari had already returned the relic to Archbishop Lambruschini. Most of the time, the reliquary casket was kept in the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. Sometimes the Archbishop kept it in his palace.
The Genoese Annals report on a major international Financial and Economic Conference held in 1922 in the Palace of San Giorgio, which had been the home of the doges of Genoa. The relic of Hosius was there at the time. It was probably brought by Archbishop Giosue Signori. At the beginning of World War II in 1940, the casket was moved to Rome for its protection, but no further history is recorded until 2020, when it was in the hands of a private collector and put up for auction. In 2021, it became the possession of Danil Yurievich Korovyakov of Krasnodar, Russia, who sent it to our Shrine of All Saints.
In eighteenth century Spain, however, a firm course was taken to rehabilitate him, culminating in a book written by Miguel Jose Maceda in 1790 entitled “Hosius Vere Hosius.” It was published in Bologna in 1827. At that time, in Rome, there was a monk of the Camoldolese Benedictine order who possessed a relic of Hosius, which had been passed down to him through two generations of his ancestors. He originally kept it wrapped in a green handkerchief. He broke off a portion of the relic and had had it sealed and certified by Luigi Emanuele Nicolo Lambruschini, the Archbishop of Genoa, on May 9, 1826. At that time, the Archbishop commissioned a Ligurian carpenter to fashion a wooden casket for it. It was deliberately not meant to be a work of art, but rather a reflection of the simplicity of the Apostles. It originally had a metal plate, which since has been lost. It was covered with green velvet and sealed with the Lambruschini coat of arms. Out of respect for a fellow Camoldolese named Bartolomeo Alberto Capellari, who had been appointed a cardinal, the original owner monk gave the sealed relic to him. The cardinal, who became Pope Gregory XVI in 1831, briefly placed the relic in the church of San Callisto in Rome, but by 1829, Capellari had already returned the relic to Archbishop Lambruschini. Most of the time, the reliquary casket was kept in the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. Sometimes the Archbishop kept it in his palace.
The Genoese Annals report on a major international Financial and Economic Conference held in 1922 in the Palace of San Giorgio, which had been the home of the doges of Genoa. The relic of Hosius was there at the time. It was probably brought by Archbishop Giosue Signori. At the beginning of World War II in 1940, the casket was moved to Rome for its protection, but no further history is recorded until 2020, when it was in the hands of a private collector and put up for auction. In 2021, it became the possession of Danil Yurievich Korovyakov of Krasnodar, Russia, who sent it to our Shrine of All Saints.
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