This is what the parade is all about - the relic of Saint Dévote. In the year 304, when the boat containing the body of the martyred body was washed up on the shore of Monaco, some fishermen stole a substantial fragment of bone. An angry mob burnt the thieves’ vessel, and ever since, a fishing boat has been symbolically burnt in memory not just of the saint but of the recovery of her remains.
Look carefully and you will see the relic of bone in the golden casket.
Relics, mmmh ?
ReplyDeleteWhenever the Catholic religion didn't manage to eradicate ancient pagan beliefs and behaviors, it incorporated them.
That is a magnificent casket! Thank you very much for showing us pictures of this very special day in Monaco. Of course, I had to look up Sainte Dévote since I've never heard of her before. What an awful way to die.
ReplyDeleteI have always found these relics and such a little creepy. I guess it's a nice looking bone fragment.
ReplyDeleteColorful and dynamic... pity it's all about a piece of dead body.
ReplyDeleteNever really was into relics. But the whole mystique around their adoration is quite intriguing-
Have you ever heard of the miracle of San Gennaro's blood in Napoli?
Creepy but fun.
Oh it was a martyred Lady Saints body. is the little bit of bone all that is left of her?
ReplyDeleteEleonora, just I have heard of it and it's amazing.
ReplyDeleteGlennis, yes that's all that is left but seeing as, according to legend, goes back to the year 304, perhaps it's not surprising.
The most holy site in Costa RIca is the Our Lady of the Angels cathedral in Cartago, but rather than a relic of a real person, the sacred object is a little statue called la Negrita, a small doll of a dark skinned virgin Mary that miraculously re-appeared on a rock in 1635 after being discovered by a peasant girl. They parade la Negrita through the town once a year.
ReplyDelete