This article and the one on St. Tatiana demonstrate the importance of "rescuing" relics. They concern two reliquaries which were cast in Genoa in 1840. Their relics were placed in the reliquaries on the same day by the same man. For 181 years, they have travelled their separate journeys. After having been cherished in some of the greatest churches in Europe, they have now been reunited at The Shrine of All Saints. The alternative was for them to disappear into auction houses and, ultimately, into private hands.
St. Pantaleon (In Greek, it is Panteleimon = “all-compassionate”) was a young physician – known as one of the “unmercenaries” (saintly physicians who gave their services to the poor free of charge). He was denounced as a Christian, underwent several tortures, and was finally crucified in Nicomedia, in Bithynia, during the persecution of Diocletian in 305.
By the Middle Ages, he was numbered among the 14 Holy Helpers – 14 saints who were patrons of many various aspects of healing. He is patron of physicians, apothecaries, druggists, midwives, protector of domestic animals and livestock, and even trousers (pantaloons = pants). He is invoked against headaches, cancer, tuberculosis, locusts, witchcraft, accidents, and loneliness. He is the helper of crying children. And, believe it or not, for many centuries, Christians have being praying to him to help them win the lottery. So he is patron of the lottery, lottery tickets, and lottery winners. It seems that the custom began long ago in Naples. (He apparently responds to some of their prayers by appearing to them in dreams. Good luck with this…)
For the relics in our shrine, it is important, if possible, to know the provenance (i.e. where they have been and who took care of them). St. Pantaleon’s relics were moved from the city of this death to Constantinople. During the Crusades, many were brought to Italy. Our reliquary was made in 1840 in the city of Genoa, Italy. It was kept in the vault of Bishop Pietro Luigi Scarabelli of Luni, Sarzana, and Brognato until his death in 1843. On May 8th of that year, the relic of St. Pantaleon was placed in the reliquary and sealed by the Carmelite Cardinal Placido Maria Tadini of Genoa, whose titular church in Rome was the Carmelite church of Santa Maria in Transpontina. He sent it to this church. There it remained until 1914, when it was moved by another cardinal whose titular Roman church was the same Santa Maria in Transpontina. This was Cardinal Jose Maria Martin de Herrera y de la Iglesia, who was archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.
St. Pantaleon (In Greek, it is Panteleimon = “all-compassionate”) was a young physician – known as one of the “unmercenaries” (saintly physicians who gave their services to the poor free of charge). He was denounced as a Christian, underwent several tortures, and was finally crucified in Nicomedia, in Bithynia, during the persecution of Diocletian in 305.
By the Middle Ages, he was numbered among the 14 Holy Helpers – 14 saints who were patrons of many various aspects of healing. He is patron of physicians, apothecaries, druggists, midwives, protector of domestic animals and livestock, and even trousers (pantaloons = pants). He is invoked against headaches, cancer, tuberculosis, locusts, witchcraft, accidents, and loneliness. He is the helper of crying children. And, believe it or not, for many centuries, Christians have being praying to him to help them win the lottery. So he is patron of the lottery, lottery tickets, and lottery winners. It seems that the custom began long ago in Naples. (He apparently responds to some of their prayers by appearing to them in dreams. Good luck with this…)
For the relics in our shrine, it is important, if possible, to know the provenance (i.e. where they have been and who took care of them). St. Pantaleon’s relics were moved from the city of this death to Constantinople. During the Crusades, many were brought to Italy. Our reliquary was made in 1840 in the city of Genoa, Italy. It was kept in the vault of Bishop Pietro Luigi Scarabelli of Luni, Sarzana, and Brognato until his death in 1843. On May 8th of that year, the relic of St. Pantaleon was placed in the reliquary and sealed by the Carmelite Cardinal Placido Maria Tadini of Genoa, whose titular church in Rome was the Carmelite church of Santa Maria in Transpontina. He sent it to this church. There it remained until 1914, when it was moved by another cardinal whose titular Roman church was the same Santa Maria in Transpontina. This was Cardinal Jose Maria Martin de Herrera y de la Iglesia, who was archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.
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