No Country For Young

The relic of St. Gregory Taumaturgo maintained in the Museu de São Roque "Lisbon

Il reportage della RTP, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal.
di Domenico Condito
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Il Museu de São Roque di Lisbona conserva, all’interno di un prezioso reliquario, il cranio di San Gregorio Taumaturgo, Padre della Chiesa del III secolo. La reliquia fu venerata a Stalettì, in Calabria, fino alla seconda metà del XVI secolo, all’interno dell’antica chiesa bizantina che custodisce a tutt’oggi i resti mortali del Santo. Nel 1587, la reliquia fu donata alla Igreja de São Roque di Lisbona da Don Juan de Borja, figlio di San Francisco de Borja e ambasciatore di Filippo II a Praga, con tutta la sua ricca collezione di reliquie e reliquari. Il nobile valenciano, autore delle Empresas Morales , capolavoro della letteratura spagnola del Siglo de Oro , fu infatti uno dei massimi collezionisti di reliquie del suo tempo. Don Juan era entrato in possesso del cranio del Taumaturgo grazie al suo legame di parentela con il Principe di Squillace, Don Pietro Borgia. La reliquia era considerata la più importante dell’intera collezione e fu accolta trionfalmente nella Igreja de São Roque il 25 gennaio 1588, alla presenza del vicerè del Portogallo, il principe cardinale Alberto.
I have reconstructed the history of the relic as part of my study The cult of St. Gregory the Healer in Lisbon in the Age of Philip II presented as a preliminary to Stalybridge, in the church of San Gregorio Healer, the June 7, 2008. The work, finally being published, is based on a thorough archival research carried out mainly in the historical archives of the Lusitanian capital in collaboration with the Museu de São Roque . It was thanks to this successful collaboration, the reopening, after several centuries, the reliquary containing the skull of the Healer and the results are nothing short of amazing. The relic, in fact, has metal plates attached all around, on which are engraved written in greek-byzantine, to assure that it attributed to St. Gregory Healer. These recordings were transcribed and interpreted with the help of prof. Edward Bona, Department of Languages, Linguistics and Classical Tradition, University of Turin.
The important finding has been some interest in Portugal, after the RTP, and Rádio Televisão de Portugal , has disclosed the news with a report recorded just inside Museu de São Roque . The television, which aired last May 13, has pointed out, moreover, the unique bond historical links to the town of Stalybridge Lisbon.
I suggest watching the coverage of RTP, which in addition to the interview I recorded the speech of dr. António Meira, Senior Technician of the Museu de São Roque Lisbon.
thank RTP and the Museu de São Roque for their cooperation.