​Written by  Fr. Dennis O'Neill

In the year 976, Doge Peter IV Candiano of Venice was murdered in a riot occasioned by his attempt to make himself a monarch. During the same riot, the Doge’s Palace and the first church of San Marco were both burned to the ground. The next doge was a relative of the murdered ruler. Peter I Orseolo succeeded him the same year and became the 23rd doge of Venice. During his brief time as leader, he rebuilt the palace and began the building of the present basilica of San Marco. He also obtained for the church a great treasure from the Emperor of Constantinople – the original centerpiece panel of the “Pala D’Oro” – the great golden, jeweled, and enameled reredos currently behind the high altar in San Marco. After two years, in 978, in the middle of the night, Peter Orseolo slipped away, resigned, and become a monk in the recently founded Camoldolese Benedictine order. He spent the rest of his life in austerity and holiness and died on January 10, 987. Our relic is part of a shin bone. It was certified by Cardinal Federico Maria Giovanelli, the Republic’s last patriarch, on June 4, 1799. It comes to us from the chapel of the DottI family in Padua. (Actress Audrey Hepburn’s second husband, Andrea, was a member of this family.) 

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