Own Relic of St Xavier for Rs 60,000, courtesy ebay

[First appeared in Herald - 15 November 2014]

MELVYN MISQUITA
15 NOV 2014
PANJIM
 

A reliquary containing a Relic of St Francis Xavier and
an original document by a Vatican official dating back
to 1892 is up for sale on ebay in the USA.

While millions are expected to venerate the sealed Relics of St Francis Xavier during the forthcoming XVII Exposition in Old Goa, devotees have the opportunity to get a step closer and be the proud owner of a prized Relic of the Goemcho Saib.

The requirement: An amount of about Rs 60,000 ($990) and the services of a relative or friend in the USA.

A reliquary containing a Relic of St Francis Xavier and an original document by a Vatican official dating back to 1892, which purports to authenticate the Relic, is now up for sale on ebay in the USA.

According to the description offered by the seller, simply identified as ‘liturgy’, the reliquary “stands 7 1/4" tall and comes with the original matching document dated c.1892.”

The seller goes on to add, “The relic is a piece of wood from the coffin of Francis Xavier.”

The Relic is also secured with a sealing wax to make it tamper-proof.

The document, which is included along with the Relic, is reported to have been authenticated on May 24, 1892 by the Italian Cardinal Lucido Maria Parocchi (13 August 1833-15 January 1903), who served as Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office.

Incidentally, the document authenticated by Cardinal Parocchi in Rome, clearly refrains people from selling or exchanging the Relic for any commercial value.

The document in Latin, when roughly translated into English, reads as follows: “Lucido Maria Parocchi, by the Mercy of God, Bishop of Albano, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church and Vicar General of His Holiness: ‘To all and everyone who will see the present letters we certify and testify that we collected, for the greater glory of Almighty God and for the veneration of His Saints, a sacred particle from the area of the tomb of St Francis Xavier, which we reverently placed in a round-shaped silver pyx with a glass face, having fastened it up and tied with a red silk thread, and endorsed it with our seal.

We present it with the faculty of preserving it, circulating it through the City and exposing it for the public veneration of the faithful. We however exhort those in whose hands this sacred relic may reach now or in the future that they should in no way sell it or exchange it for any object of commercial value. In proof whereof these testimonial letters are issued under our hand and seal and dispatched through our Custodian of Sacred Relics’.”

Aware that the Relic has sacred value, the seller advises the prospective buyer: “Please bid only if you intend to gift this item to the church for public veneration or will use it for its intended purpose. This is a rare holy devotional item, please respect and preserve it properly.”

Stating that the mode of payment would be through “credit card payments by phone”, with an additional Rs 1,000 ($16) as shipping and handling, the seller has ruled out international shipping of the Relic. Hence, a prospective Goan or Indian buyer would need the assistance of a relative or friend in the USA to purchase the product and having it transferred to India.

Relics of St Francis Xavier have been prized possessions for the past five centuries. The servant who was sent to exhume the body from the desolate coast of Sancian is reported to have cut off a piece of flesh, a finger's length, from the left knee of the body of Francis Xavier.

A Portuguese lady is reported to have bitten off a toe of the body as early as 1554, in a desperate bid to have a relic of the saint. Since then, various Relics of the saint have been distributed and venerated in different parts of the world.

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