Reliquary of St. Emperor Constantine the Great, which belonged to Pope Pius XII
The figure on our reliquary appears to be more a representation of a medieval German monarch hunting than of a Roman emperor riding in state; but, considering its history, this may make some sense.
Roman Emperor Flavius Valerius Constantinus I (272-337), the son of St. Helena, was the man who, through the Edict of Milan in 313, ended the Roman persecution of Christians. He was also founder of the city of Constantinople and the builder of several of its first churches. When he died, he was buried there in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which he had designated to be the imperial mausoleum. (The church was pulled down in the 16th century and replaced with a mosque, but the basilica of San Marco in Venice is exactly modeled after it.)
On April 23, 1917, Pope Benedict XV appointed the recently-consecrated Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli to be Nuncio to Bavaria. Since there was no nuncio to Prussia at the time, Pacelli was therefore the Pope’s representative to the entire German empire. After futile attempts to get King Ludwig III of Bavaria and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia to end World War I, which was causing nothing but death and misery everywhere, the Kaiser fled to Holland, leaving Germans feeling thoroughly betrayed.
Meanwhile, in Bavaria, socialist journalist Kurt Eisner organized the Socialist Revolution that led to the resignation of Ludwig III and the overthrow of the 750 year old Wittelsbach dynasty. On November 8, 1918, Eisner became the first republican premier of Bavaria. The Kaiser abdicated the next day.
Pacelli had been dedicating his time and great ability to the Pope’s humanitarian efforts among all the suffering victims of the war; but, he was so exhausted and disconcerted by all the political upheaval that he obtained permission to take some well-earned rest at the Stella Maris retreat house in Rorshach in the Swiss Alps. During his stay there, he met and was cared for by Sister Pascalina (Josephine Lehnert, eventually, “Mother Pascalina”), who had been given her first assignment as a nun there four years previously. She helped him tremendously, both physically and emotionally. They became lifelong friends, and she was allowed to serve him as his nurse, housekeeper, and chief of staff for most of the rest of his life.
During that same period, Kurt Eisner gave Pacelli the gift of the St. Constantine reliquary. Pacelli entrusted its care to Pascalina. Kurt Eisner was assassinated on February 21, 1919, by Count Anton von Arco auf Valley, a resentful and anti-Semitic aristocrat. After the assassination, Pacelli bought Sister Pascalina (and the reliquary) with him back to the Nunciature in Munich. It later came with them to Berlin, when Pacelli became nuncio to Germany, and to Rome when he became the Pope’s secretary of state. When Pacelli was elected Pope Pius XII on March 2, 1939, they moved the reliquary to his study at the Papal summer palace at Castel Gandalfo, where it stayed until he died on October 9, 1958. At the time of his death, Mother Pascalina was quickly moved out of the Vatican, and the reliquary was sent to the Vatican’s vault.
In 1986, it was bought by a German entrepreneur and added to his private collection. After his death in 2008, the reliquary was auctioned and moved to Switzerland, after which it was moved to Bitonto, in southern Italy. There, it was auctioned again in 2017. After passing through two more entrepreneurs, it has arrived at its new home in our Shrine of All Saints, where, God willing, it will stay.
The figure on our reliquary appears to be more a representation of a medieval German monarch hunting than of a Roman emperor riding in state; but, considering its history, this may make some sense.
Roman Emperor Flavius Valerius Constantinus I (272-337), the son of St. Helena, was the man who, through the Edict of Milan in 313, ended the Roman persecution of Christians. He was also founder of the city of Constantinople and the builder of several of its first churches. When he died, he was buried there in the Church of the Holy Apostles, which he had designated to be the imperial mausoleum. (The church was pulled down in the 16th century and replaced with a mosque, but the basilica of San Marco in Venice is exactly modeled after it.)
On April 23, 1917, Pope Benedict XV appointed the recently-consecrated Archbishop Eugenio Pacelli to be Nuncio to Bavaria. Since there was no nuncio to Prussia at the time, Pacelli was therefore the Pope’s representative to the entire German empire. After futile attempts to get King Ludwig III of Bavaria and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia to end World War I, which was causing nothing but death and misery everywhere, the Kaiser fled to Holland, leaving Germans feeling thoroughly betrayed.
Meanwhile, in Bavaria, socialist journalist Kurt Eisner organized the Socialist Revolution that led to the resignation of Ludwig III and the overthrow of the 750 year old Wittelsbach dynasty. On November 8, 1918, Eisner became the first republican premier of Bavaria. The Kaiser abdicated the next day.
Pacelli had been dedicating his time and great ability to the Pope’s humanitarian efforts among all the suffering victims of the war; but, he was so exhausted and disconcerted by all the political upheaval that he obtained permission to take some well-earned rest at the Stella Maris retreat house in Rorshach in the Swiss Alps. During his stay there, he met and was cared for by Sister Pascalina (Josephine Lehnert, eventually, “Mother Pascalina”), who had been given her first assignment as a nun there four years previously. She helped him tremendously, both physically and emotionally. They became lifelong friends, and she was allowed to serve him as his nurse, housekeeper, and chief of staff for most of the rest of his life.
During that same period, Kurt Eisner gave Pacelli the gift of the St. Constantine reliquary. Pacelli entrusted its care to Pascalina. Kurt Eisner was assassinated on February 21, 1919, by Count Anton von Arco auf Valley, a resentful and anti-Semitic aristocrat. After the assassination, Pacelli bought Sister Pascalina (and the reliquary) with him back to the Nunciature in Munich. It later came with them to Berlin, when Pacelli became nuncio to Germany, and to Rome when he became the Pope’s secretary of state. When Pacelli was elected Pope Pius XII on March 2, 1939, they moved the reliquary to his study at the Papal summer palace at Castel Gandalfo, where it stayed until he died on October 9, 1958. At the time of his death, Mother Pascalina was quickly moved out of the Vatican, and the reliquary was sent to the Vatican’s vault.
In 1986, it was bought by a German entrepreneur and added to his private collection. After his death in 2008, the reliquary was auctioned and moved to Switzerland, after which it was moved to Bitonto, in southern Italy. There, it was auctioned again in 2017. After passing through two more entrepreneurs, it has arrived at its new home in our Shrine of All Saints, where, God willing, it will stay.
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