St. Varus was a young Christian Roman soldier, born in the city of Tyana in Cappadocia. He was stationed in Egypt and tasked with the job of guarding seven monks who had been condemned to die for their Christian faith. When the eldest of the monks died in confinement, Varus asked to take his place. So he was tortured and killed along with the others in 307.
Someone who witnessed this was a Christian widow named Cleopatra, who obtained the body of Varus and buried him inside her house. She had a young son John. When she decided she wanted to return to her home in Palestine close to Mount Tabor, she exhumed the remains of Varus and brought them with her, claiming she was transporting the remains of her late husband. There, she built a church dedicated to St. Varus and placed his bones under the altar. She considered him her special protector and intercessor. When her young son John suddenly died, leaving her prostrate with grief, Varus appeared to her in a dream, accompanied by John, who appeared to be radiant and joyful. From then on, she was content that her son was happy in a very good place. It is for this reason that, in Russian Orthodoxy, St. Varus is regarded as the special protector of sick children, as well as of any people who die unbaptized. His feast day is October 19th.
When Prince Dimitry, the youngest son of Czar Ivan IV Vasilyevich (the Terrible), was born on this day, the Czar ordered the construction of a special chapel dedicated to St. Varus added to the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin. At that time, St. Hermogenes, the Patriarch of Moscow blessed the commemoration of St. Varus as an occasion for praying to ease the fate of the children who were dying without baptism.
In February of 1581, a messenger was sent from the Vatican Secretariate of State to Ivan the Terrible. This was considered an amazing event, because the relationship between the Vatican and Moscow had been bad for decades. But Ivan wanted something. He had asked Pope Gregory XIII for assistance in concluding a peace treaty with the Polish King Stephen Batory and in deepening their relationship. In particular, he expressed the desire for a joint confrontation of Christian sovereigns against the Turks. Pope Gregory considered this request an opportunity to increase the role of the Papacy in the international arena and to introduce the Moscow state to Catholicism. In this regard, a special commission of cardinals was immediately convened, the details of which are almost totally unknown. However, some documents reveal that one of the many pretexts for normalizing relations was a gift that was going to be given to Ivan in the form of a relic of St. Varus - a particular favorite of Ivan’s - for his new chapel.
The Vatican’s legate to Moscow was the Jesuit Cardinal Legate Antonio Possevinno (1533-1611). He travelled to Moscow in 1582 and successfully helped to negotiate the Treaty of Jan Zapolski between Stephen Batory and Ivan the Terrible that same year. He also left a valuable account of his experience of the Czardom of Muscovy. However, after this treaty was signed, Ivan rejected its proposals, as a result of which Possevinno returned to Rome with the relic of St. Varus. He placed it in the Basilica of St. Clement, residence of the Dominican fathers; and it remained there until 1870.
During the shelling of Rome in the collapse of the Papal States in that year, many relics in St. Clement were taken out and hidden or transferred to trusted people for their safe-keeping. However, the reliquary of St. Varus was severely damaged anyway. It is mentioned in 1876 in a census of relics made by Cardinal Luigi Maria Bilio, who was appointed Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics that year. Subsequently, the relic was placed in a newly carved elaborate reliquary and documented and sealed by the Dominican Tomasso Michele Salzano, who was Archbishop of Edessa and an Auxiliary Bishop of Naples on December 10, 1880.
In 1948, the relic was given by Pope Pius XII to Julius Depfner, who had just been appointed Bishop of Wurzburg, for deposit in the Cathedral of Erfurt. However, even though Erfurt had not been too badly damaged during World War II, there was still a concern about keeping the relic safe. So it was decided to transfer it to the private collection of a family whose name is not specified. From 2008 to 2013, the relic was repeatedly seen in European auctions. In 2017, it was part of a closed auction in Berlin, where it was bought by private collector and transferred back to Rome. In December of 2021, it arrived at the Shrine of All Saints from Krasnodar, Russia.
Someone who witnessed this was a Christian widow named Cleopatra, who obtained the body of Varus and buried him inside her house. She had a young son John. When she decided she wanted to return to her home in Palestine close to Mount Tabor, she exhumed the remains of Varus and brought them with her, claiming she was transporting the remains of her late husband. There, she built a church dedicated to St. Varus and placed his bones under the altar. She considered him her special protector and intercessor. When her young son John suddenly died, leaving her prostrate with grief, Varus appeared to her in a dream, accompanied by John, who appeared to be radiant and joyful. From then on, she was content that her son was happy in a very good place. It is for this reason that, in Russian Orthodoxy, St. Varus is regarded as the special protector of sick children, as well as of any people who die unbaptized. His feast day is October 19th.
When Prince Dimitry, the youngest son of Czar Ivan IV Vasilyevich (the Terrible), was born on this day, the Czar ordered the construction of a special chapel dedicated to St. Varus added to the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin. At that time, St. Hermogenes, the Patriarch of Moscow blessed the commemoration of St. Varus as an occasion for praying to ease the fate of the children who were dying without baptism.
In February of 1581, a messenger was sent from the Vatican Secretariate of State to Ivan the Terrible. This was considered an amazing event, because the relationship between the Vatican and Moscow had been bad for decades. But Ivan wanted something. He had asked Pope Gregory XIII for assistance in concluding a peace treaty with the Polish King Stephen Batory and in deepening their relationship. In particular, he expressed the desire for a joint confrontation of Christian sovereigns against the Turks. Pope Gregory considered this request an opportunity to increase the role of the Papacy in the international arena and to introduce the Moscow state to Catholicism. In this regard, a special commission of cardinals was immediately convened, the details of which are almost totally unknown. However, some documents reveal that one of the many pretexts for normalizing relations was a gift that was going to be given to Ivan in the form of a relic of St. Varus - a particular favorite of Ivan’s - for his new chapel.
The Vatican’s legate to Moscow was the Jesuit Cardinal Legate Antonio Possevinno (1533-1611). He travelled to Moscow in 1582 and successfully helped to negotiate the Treaty of Jan Zapolski between Stephen Batory and Ivan the Terrible that same year. He also left a valuable account of his experience of the Czardom of Muscovy. However, after this treaty was signed, Ivan rejected its proposals, as a result of which Possevinno returned to Rome with the relic of St. Varus. He placed it in the Basilica of St. Clement, residence of the Dominican fathers; and it remained there until 1870.
During the shelling of Rome in the collapse of the Papal States in that year, many relics in St. Clement were taken out and hidden or transferred to trusted people for their safe-keeping. However, the reliquary of St. Varus was severely damaged anyway. It is mentioned in 1876 in a census of relics made by Cardinal Luigi Maria Bilio, who was appointed Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics that year. Subsequently, the relic was placed in a newly carved elaborate reliquary and documented and sealed by the Dominican Tomasso Michele Salzano, who was Archbishop of Edessa and an Auxiliary Bishop of Naples on December 10, 1880.
In 1948, the relic was given by Pope Pius XII to Julius Depfner, who had just been appointed Bishop of Wurzburg, for deposit in the Cathedral of Erfurt. However, even though Erfurt had not been too badly damaged during World War II, there was still a concern about keeping the relic safe. So it was decided to transfer it to the private collection of a family whose name is not specified. From 2008 to 2013, the relic was repeatedly seen in European auctions. In 2017, it was part of a closed auction in Berlin, where it was bought by private collector and transferred back to Rome. In December of 2021, it arrived at the Shrine of All Saints from Krasnodar, Russia.
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