Saint Anthony of Padua: Patron Saint of Lost Things

02 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Reliquarian in Glass Reliquary

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Germany, incorrupt, Italy, Maryland, Michael Wolgemut, Padua, relic, reliquary, Rottweil, Saint Anthony, Saint Bartholomew, Saint Francis, Saint Nicolaus, Veit Stoss

Reliquary of Saint Anthony, the Shrine of Saint Anthony, Ellicott City, Maryland, USA. Photo by Reliquarian.

Discovering Saint Anthony

We stopped in Rottweil, Germany, on a whim, drawn by its distinctive name and apparent connection to the Rottweiler, a famous breed of dog. We spent the morning in leisurely exploration before we eventually found our way to the Church of the Holy Cross (Heilig Kreuz Münster) near the commercial center of Rottweil. Built in 1230-1534, the church features a triple nave, intricate network vaults, and very fine examples of late Gothic wood carving, including an altar of Saint Bartholomew by Michael Wolgemut and a crucifix attributed to Veit Stoss. In the south transept of the church, an altar steeped in late morning light drew our attention. Stoical saints bearing burnished objects — a golden chalice here, a large knife there — beckoned us to peer closer, to gaze, to contemplate.

Altar with Saints, Church of the Holy Cross, Rottweil, Germany. Photo by Reliquarian.

Meanwhile, several yards away, tucked in a dim corner by an exit, stood a modest sculpture: the humble figure of a friar in Franciscan robes. We initially overlooked the statue amidst the many carvings and altars of the church, but once we noticed it, something about the image’s unassuming bearing invited us to linger.

“What did you lose?” An older gentleman suddenly asked as he edged by us and dropped a few coins in a collection box near the statue.

“Nothing,” we answered hesitatingly. “Why do you ask?”

“You were staring at Saint Anthony, so I thought you must have lost something.” he replied. “I lost my glasses this morning, and I looked everywhere for them, but I couldn’t find them. So I prayed to Saint Anthony, and I found them!” At this, he raised a pair of spectacles as if in a triumphant toast. “I came here to thank the saint with an offering. If you’ve lost something, you should pray to Saint Anthony!”

Altar of Saint Bartolomen, Michael Wolgemut, Church of the Holy Cross, Rottweil, Germany

Altar of Saint Nicolaus, Church of the Holy Cross, Rottweil, Germany. Photo by Reliquarian.

Patron Saint of Lost Things

It is unclear how Saint Anthony became a patron saint of lost items or lost things. The Lives of the Saints suggests his patronage may be traced to a miracle recounted in the Chronica XXIV Generalium (No. 21).[1] The Lives of the Saints sums up the story as follows: “A novice ran away and carried off a valuable psalter St Antony was using. He prayed for its recovery and the novice was compelled by an alarming apparition to come back and return it.”[2]

As the gentleman we encountered in Rottweil demonstrated, the saint’s reputation as a finder of lost or stolen things has only grown since the incident of the lost psalter. Writing in Saint Anthony of Padua: His Life, Legends, and Devotions, Norman Perry explains, “Nearly everywhere, Anthony is asked to intercede with God for the return of things lost or stolen.”[3] Perry notes that “[t]hose who feel very familiar with him might pray, ‘Tony, Tony, turn around. Something’s lost and must be found.’”[4] A number of other prayers for the recovery of lost objects are also popular — for those on less familiar terms with the saint.

Church of the Holy Cross, Rottweil, Germany. A carved crucifix attributed to Veit Stoss is visible at the center of the photograph, behind the main altar. Photo by Reliquarian.

The Sermon to the Fishes

During his lifetime, Saint Anthony was famous for his preaching. As The Lives of the Saints explains, he had all the requisite qualifications of a great preacher: “learning, eloquence, great power of persuasion, a burning zeal for souls and a sonorous voice which carried far.”[5] His talent for preaching, however, was discovered by accident. According to legend, he was called to deliver a sermon at the last minute during a ceremony attended by a number of Dominican and Franciscan friars. “Through some misunderstanding none of the Dominicans had come prepared to deliver the customary address at the ceremony, and as no one among the Franciscans seemed capable of filling the breach St Antony, who was present, was told to come forward and speak whatever the Holy Ghost should put into his mouth.”[6] Saint Anthony dazzled the crowd with his knowledge and eloquence, and he was subsequently assigned to preach throughout Lombardy and northern Italy.

As talented an orator as he was, however, Saint Anthony did not always immediately succeed in his mission. In the ancient city of Rimini on the Adriatic, for example, Saint Anthony struggled to convert the city’s recalcitrant, unsympathetic population. “He preached unto them for many days and disputed with them of the faith of Christ and of the Holy Scriptures; but they as men hard of heart and obstinate, would not even listen to him.”[7] Undeterred, Saint Anthony chose to deliver a sermon nearby, to a different, though somewhat untraditional, audience. Standing on the bank of a river near the sea, Saint Anthony began to “speak unto the fishes, as a preacher sent unto them of God.”[8]

Miraculous Draught of Fishes (detail), Jacopo Bassano, oil on canvas (1545), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Although this painting does not depict Saint Anthony’s Sermon to the Fishes, I imagine the fish peeking their heads out of the water as in this painting of the miraculous catch of fish. Photo by Reliquarian.

“Hear the word of God, ye fishes of the sea and of the river, since the infidel heretics refuse to hear it,” he declared. Soon thereafter, “there came to him to the bank so vast a multitude of fishes, big, little and of middling size, that never in that sea or in that river had there been so great a multitude.”[9] All of them “held their heads out of the water” and all “gazed attentively on the face of St. Antony, abiding there in very great peace and gentleness and order.”[10] As Saint Anthony spoke, the fish opened their mouthes, bowed their heads, and made other signs of reverence. As Saint Anthony continued to preach, even more fish began to arrive.[11]

This unusual sermon did not go unnoticed. “To see this miracle the people of the city began to run thither, and among them came also the heretics aforesaid; who, beholding so marvelous and clear a miracle, were pricked in the hearts, and all cast themselves at the feet of St. Antony to hear his words.”[12] While Saint Francis is often remembered for preaching to the birds, Saint Anthony is frequently remembered for this miracle, his incredible Sermon to the Fishes. Perhaps he had a burning zeal for sole as well as souls!

The Shrine of Saint Anthony

The Shrine of Saint Anthony rests atop a modest hill, surrounded by bucolic farms and woodland, in rural Howard County, Maryland, USA. Modeled after the Sacro Convento in Assisi, Italy, the shrine at first seems out of place in the American countryside. Something about the shrine’s monasterial silhouette, however, can feel familiar in the heat of a midsummer afternoon, against an azure sky.

Courtyard of the Shrine of Saint Anthony, Ellicott City, Maryland, USA. Photo by Reliquarian.

Construction of the Shrine of Saint Anthony began in 1930 and was completed a year later, in 1931. Built on land once owned by Charles Carroll, the only Catholic signer of the American Declaration of Independence, the shrine features over 200 acres of grounds and walking trails. The shrine also houses a first class relic of Saint Anthony: a small piece of skin donated to the shrine by the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua in 1995.[13]

Chapel of the Relic of Saint Anthony

The chapel containing the relic of Saint Anthony is located at the rear of the shrine, near a side parking lot. The relic itself is stored in a small reliquary that has, in turn, been incorporated into a golden statue of Saint Anthony. The statue depicts the saint from the waist up against a background of leaping flames. His right hand is raised in blessing, and his left hand grasps a book, a common attribute of the saint, which he holds horizontally. More flames spring from the book, and at the center of the fire rests a modest reliquary containing a small sample of Saint Anthony’s skin.

Reliquary of Saint Anthony, close-up of relic, the Shrine of Saint Anthony, Ellicott City, Maryland, USA. Photo by Reliquarian.

The reliquary appears to be identical to another reliquary containing the saint’s skin that I once examined in Krakow, Poland. Located at the Archdiocesan Museum in Krakow, that reliquary was not incorporated into a larger display but was, rather, exhibited along with other reliquaries in a simple, museum-style glass case. Presumably, that relic was also a gift of the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, which probably uses identical casings to house relics given as devotional gifts to other institutions.

Relic of Saint Antoni Padewski (Saint Anthony of Padua), silver and gold plate, Archdiocesan Museum, Krakow, Poland. Photo by Reliquarian.

Saint Anthony in Art

In art, Saint Anthony is most commonly portrayed as a Franciscan friar carrying either a book, a white lily, the baby Jesus, fire, or a burning heart.[14] He may also be shown with a flowered cross, a book pierced by a sword, a fish (evoking his Sermon to the Fishes), or a kneeling donkey or mule.[15] The symbol of the donkey derives from a story concerning a heretic from Toulouse (sometimes the city is Rimini) who refused to acknowledge Christ’s presence in the Eucharist unless he witnessed his donkey kneel before the Sacrament.[16] In one version of the story, as Saint Anthony was delivering the Eucharist to a dying man elsewhere in the city, he encountered the man’s donkey on the street. The donkey dutifully bowed its head and knelt before the Eucharist for everyone to see.[17]

Miracle of the Mule, Shrine of Saint Anthony, Ellicott City, Maryland, USA. This statue group is located on the grounds of the Shrine of Saint Anthony. A mule or donkey kneels before the Eucharist, held aloft by Saint Anthony in a monstrance. Photo by Reliquarian.

White lilies signify Saint Anthony’s purity, and in many parts of the world, lilies are blessed on the Feast of Saint Anthony, the 13th of June. Meanwhile, the image of Saint Anthony with the Christ child has apparently evolved over time. In earlier depictions of Saint Anthony with the Christ child, Jesus may be shown on the pages of a book, rising out of a book, or standing directly on a book in Saint Anthony’s hands. During the 17th century, artists began to portray the Christ child as fully emerged from the book and often placed him physically in the saint’s arms.[18] The image of the Christ child in or on a book (usually the Bible) likely represents the incarnation of the word of God, and Saint Anthony’s association with the visual metaphor is not surprising. Saint Anthony often preached about the Incarnation and helped spread the Incarnate Word of God in his celebrated sermons.[19]

Today, Saint Anthony continues to be remembered for his great learning and his prodigious talent as a preacher. In 1946, Pope Pius XII declared the saint a doctor of the church — officially, a “Doctor of the Gospel.”[20] Meanwhile, his incorrupt tongue is kept in a crystal urn in the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua (Basilica Pontificia di Sant’Antonio di Padova) in Padua, Italy.

Saint Anthony of Padua, Vincenzo Foppa, oil (?) on panel (1495/1500). Here, Saint Anthony carries two of his common attributes: a white lily and a book.

Saint Anthony of Padua, Vincenzo Foppa, oil (?) on panel (1495/1500), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Here, Saint Anthony carries two of his common attributes: a white lily and a book. Photo by Reliquarian.

[1] 3 Butler’s Lives of the Saints 536 (Herbert J. Thurston, S.J. & Donald Attwater eds., 2d ed. 1956).

[2] Id.

[3] Saint Anthony of Padua: His Life, Legends, and Devotions 64 (Jack Wintz ed., 2012).

[4] Id.

[5] Butler’s Lives of the Saints, supra note 1, at 535.

[6] Id.

[7] The Little Flowers of St. Francis 101 (W. Heywood trans., 1906).

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Id. at 102.

[12] Id. at 103.

[13] The Shrine of St. Anthony: A Ministry of the Conventual Franciscan Friars (n.d.).

[14] Rosa Giorgi, Saints in Art 38 (Stefano Zuffi ed. & Thomas Michael Hartmann trans., 2002).

[15] George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art 105 (1954).

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18] Jack Wintz, “Why St. Anthony Holds the Child Jesus,” in Saint Anthony of Padua: His Life, Legends, and Devotions 36 (2012).

[19] Id. at 38-39.

[20] Wintz, supra note 18, at 38.

Saint Matthias: The Thirteenth Apostle

11 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by Reliquarian in Altarpiece, Stone Reliquary

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altarpiece, basilica, Germany, Krakow, Poland, reliquary, Saint Helena, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Matthias, Saint Peter, Trier, Veit Stoss

Veit Stoss, Saint Mary’s Altar (detail with Saint Matthias), Saint Mary’s Basilica, Krakow, Poland

The Kiss of Judas

Judas Iscariot, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus, infamously betrayed Christ with a kiss in exchange for thirty pieces of silver. Following the Last Supper, Judas led the priests and Temple guards of the Sanhedrin to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he identified Jesus to the gathering crowd with a kiss. His treachery set in motion the events leading to the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus.

Giotto Scrovegni, Kiss of Judas (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Giotto, The Kiss of Judas (1304-06), Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy (courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Upon learning that Jesus had been sentenced to death, Judas repented. According to the Gospel of Saint Matthew, “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.”[1] Judas’s plea fell on deaf ears. “What is that to us?” the chief priests and elders responded.[2] Judas then “cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”[3] In a conflicting account, retold in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter states that Judas “purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.”[4]

Whatever the manner of his death, Judas’s betrayal opened a void in the ranks of the Apostles. At a gathering of Jesus’ followers, which met shortly after the Ascension, Peter proposed that the vacancy in the Apostolate be filled. Two disciples were nominated: Joseph, who was known as Barsabas, and Matthias.

Once Barsabas and Matthias had been singled out, the group prayed for guidance. “Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”[5] They then drew lots to select Judas’s replacement. The lot fell on Matthias, “and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”[6]

Not much is known of Matthias’s life following his election to the Apostolate.[7] Some sources claim he preached first in Judea and then Ethiopia before he was eventually crucified for his faith.[8] Others state he traveled to Ethiopia, where he preached near the sea of Hyssus, and died at Sebastopolis.[9] Still others declare he was stoned and then beheaded in Jerusalem.[10]

Reliquary of Saint Matthias, Trier, Germany

Ultimately, Saint Matthias’s relics were purportedly brought to Rome by Saint Helena – although some speculate that the relics in Rome are those of a different Matthias: Saint Matthias, Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 120.[11] Some of Saint Matthias the Apostle’s relics were also translated to Trier, where they are currently kept in the crypt of the abbey church of Saint Matthias.

Abbey Church of Saint Matthias, Trier, Germany, prior to Mass

Depictions In Art

Compared with the other Apostles, including Judas, Saint Matthias is infrequently portrayed in works of art. His iconography is also less well-defined. For example, while keys are a sign of Saint Peter and seashells are a common attribute of Saint James, no single symbol has come to distinguish Saint Matthias in the visual shorthand of Christian art.

Veit Stoss and Saint Mary’s Altar

Veit Stoss’s magnificent Saint Mary’s Altar, located at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Krakow, Poland, includes one of the few depictions of Saint Matthias I’ve encountered. Carved in the late 15^th century, Saint Mary’s Altar is the largest gothic altar in the world, measuring approximately 11 m (36 ft) long and 13 m (42.65 ft) high.[12] The altar, or retable, is constructed as a pentaptych consisting of a large central cabinet and two pairs of wings: an inner pair that is hinged and can be used to close the cabinet, and an outer pair that is fixed.[13] The altar is further supported by a predella and is surmounted by a finial of carved baldachins spread between thinly carved pillars.[14]

Veit Stoss, Saint Mary’s Altar, Saint Mary’s Basilica, Krakow, Poland

According to multiple sources, the doors of the altar are ordinarily kept closed during the liturgical year and are only opened for important feasts.[15] On several recent visits to Krakow, however, I noted that the doors were generally opened for a few hours each day to allow visitor’s to view the central scene of Stoss’s masterpiece. The central scene of the open retable depicts two important events in the life of Mary – the Death of the Virgin (or Dormition) and the Assumption – while a variety of Biblical episodes are represented on the wings of the altar.[16]

The Dormition depicts a youthful Mary falling to her knees at the moment of her passing.[17] Unlike more traditional depictions of Mary’s passing (such as the one pictured below), Stoss’s Dormition purposely omits references to death or dying to emphasize the extraordinary nature of Mary’s passage from earthly life.[18] There is no deathbed in Stoss’s scene, although Mary continues to be surrounded by Apostles, including Saint Peter and Saint John.[19]

A traditional depiction of the Death of the Virgin (detail), Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

Joos van Cleve, The Death of the Virgin (detail) (1520), Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

In my opinion, in addition to Mary herself, three figures in particular stand out in Stoss’s portrayal of the Dormition. The first is Saint James.[20] Because of his central position and his dark, generous beard, the eye is naturally drawn to James, who stands above Mary, supporting her as she sinks to her knees. He is also one of the few figures that stares out towards to the viewer, seemingly making contact with the world outside the altar. The second is Saint John (pictured below), who stands to the right of Saint James, behind Mary.[21] John is holding a blue cloak or cape, which he is raising in an enigmatic gesture. Some suggest he is lifting it to his face to dry a tear while others argue he is extending it to Mary.[22] The third figure that stands out is purportedly Saint Matthias, whose unusual pose is noteworthy.[23]

Saint John (detail), from Saint Mary’s Altar

Like the representation of Saint James, the figure of Saint Matthias is also centrally located in the scene, although he is arranged even closer to the center of the composition. His position serves as a visual link between Mary and the saints of the Dormition, and the Assumption, which takes place in the sky above his head.[24] Matthias holds his hands outspread, his fingers interlaced, just above Mary’s head in a gesture some have described as one of protection.[25] To me, however, Matthias’s interlaced fingers are reminiscent of a crown, and his gesture is suggestive of a coronation. Matthias almost appears ready to place a crown on the kneeling Mary’s head. Could the arrangement have been intended to evoke Mary’s imminent coronation as Queen of Heaven?

It is interesting to speculate why Veit Stoss might have chosen to place Saint Matthias in so prominent a position on Saint Mary’s Altar. Alternatively, Saint Matthias may be the Apostle whose face, carved in profile, is just visible at the left of the composition. All twelve Apostles are present for Stoss’s Dormition, so Saint Matthias must be among them. In the absence of a clear pictorial tradition, however, identifying Matthias from among Stoss’s crowd of carved Apostles must remain a matter of conjecture. Nevertheless, as Rainer Kahsnitz notes in Carved Splendor: Late Gothic Altarpieces in Southern Germany, Austria, and South Tirol, “Presenting twelve apostles in a single scene—one or two of them young, the rest old and with flowing beards, was a notoriously difficult task for a Late Gothic artist. Only a very few carvers and painters proved themselves up to it.”[26] Of those, Veit Stoss may have been the best.

Interior of Saint Mary’s Basilica, Krakow, Poland, with Veit Stoss’s Saint Mary’s Altar in background

[1] Matthew 27:3 (King James Bible).

[2] Matthew 27:4.

[3] Matthew 27:5.

[4] Acts 1:18 (King James Bible).

[5] Acts 1:24-25.

[6] Acts 1:26.

[7] See “St. Matthias,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, available at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10066a.htm (providing a general overview of sources describing the ministry of Saint Matthias).

[8] Id. (citing Nicephorus, 2 Church History 40, in 1 Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (Philip Schaff ed., Arthur Cushman McGiffert trans, 1890)).

[9] Id. (citing the The Synopsis of Dorotheus).

[10] Id. (citing Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, 1 Mémoire pour servir à l’histoire ecclésiastique des six premiers siècle 406-7).

[11] Id. (citing Jean Bolland, Acta Sanctorum, Maii, III (1680)).

[12] Krzysztof Czyzewski, Veit Stoss: Mary’s Altar 10 (Aleksander Ptak et. al, trans. 2007).

[13] See id. at 10-11.

[14] Id. at 11.

[15] See, e.g., Czyzewski, supra note 12, at 11; Teresa Czerniewicz-Umer, Eyewitness Travel: Cracow 96 (2010).

[16] The following scenes are depicted on the internal wings of the altar and are visible when the doors are open: the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost. The following scenes are visible when the doors of the altar are closed: the Meeting of Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, the Birth of the Virgin, the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Christ Among the Doctors, the Capture of Christ, the Crucifixion, the Lamentation, the Entombment, Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene (Noli me tangere), the Three Marys at the Sepulcher, and the Descent into Hell.

[17] Czyzewski, supra note 12, at 12. In her travel guide to Krakow, Teresa Czerniewicz-Umer opines that the “figure of the youthful Mary is one of the greatest sculptures ever made in Poland.” Czerniewicz-Umer, supra note 15, at 97.

[18] Czyzewski, supra note 12, at 12. In Carved Splendor: Late Gothic Altarpieces in Southern Germany, Austria, and South Tirol, Rainer Kahsnitz states, “In accordance with legendary tradition going back more than five hundred years—the Gospels say nothing about the death of the Virgin—the standard Dormition shows the apostles, miraculously transported from their far-flung missions, convened around Mary’s deathbed . . . .” Rainer Kahsnitz, Carved Splendor: Late Gothic Altarpieces in Southern Germany, Austria, and South Tirol 137 (2006).

[19] Rainer notes that portrayals of Mary kneeling in prayer before her death was a form that “spread from Bohemia to southeast Germany, Austria, and adjacent territories in the late fourteenth century.” Rainer, supra note 19, at 137.

[20] Rainer identifies this figure as possibly being Saint Paul rather than Saint James. Id. at 139.

[21] Rainer identifies this figure as possibly being Saint Philip rather than Saint John. Id. at 140.

[22] See, e.g., Czyzewski, supra note 12, at 29 (featuring a caption reading “St. John raises the rim of his coat to dry a tear,” which accompanies a detail of The Dormition); Czerniewicz-Umer, supra note 15, at 97 (featuring a caption beneath a detail of Saint John stating “the saint is about to put a cape on the fainting Mary”).

[23] Rainer identifies this figure as possibly being Saint John rather than Saint Matthias. Rainer, supra note 19, at 139.

[24] In the Assumption, Christ and Mary are being raised to heaven by angels.

[25] Czyzewski, supra note 12, at 12 (noting that one of the Apostles “protects” Mary with his “hands above Her”).

[26] Rainer, supra note 19, at 140.