The sad detachment
In 1040, after two centuries of Arab domination, the Byzantines under General Giorgio Maniace attempted to recapture Sicily. Their victory was only temporary, partly because Stephen, in charge of the Byzantine fleet, made the grave mistake of letting the most important prisoner of war, the Arab military leader Abdullah, escape. For this reason General Maniace inflicted a severe punishment on Stephen, unaware that the admiral was a member of the imperial house of Constantinople. In order to heal the diplomatic incident and recover the esteem of the sovereigns who had already ordered him to return home, Giorgio Maniace decided to donate to the ruling house the precious relics of Saint Agatha of Catania and Saint Lucia of Syracuse, already known and venerated throughout the Mediterranean. Tradition tells us that a fortunal event prevented the ship from leaving for three days, as if Saint Agatha did not want to leave the city in which she was born and had suffered martyrdom. In the end, the Catanese, pained and helpless in the face of the conqueror’s decision, saw the precious relics of their patroness leave aboard a Byzantine ship. A fountain with an effigy of Saint Agatha looking east, located in front of the marina, recalls the point from which the people of Catania in tears watched helplessly this theft.
The return
It took 86 years before the relics of Saint Agatha returned home. It is said that it was the same saint who wanted it, requesting it expressly to two soldiers devoted to her, the Provençal Gisliberto and the Apulian Goselmo. Several times the saint appeared to them in a dream, until one night the two decided to steal the sacred remains from the church of Constantinople where they were venerated. To escape the controls more easily they had to dissect the body of the saint in five parts, and then hide them inside the quivers in which the arrows normally rested. It is said that they then covered them with fragrant rose petals. The two soldiers took a ship and went to Sicily, but before they stopped in Puglia, region where Goselmo was born, and at his wish they left a precious relic, a breast, still venerated in the church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in Egypt, in Galatina (Lecce). When they arrived in Messina, the two soldiers warned the bishop of Catania, Maurice, that the relics of Saint Agatha had finally reached the city. the bishop, who in those days was in the summer residence in Acicastello, was enormously happy, but out of prudence, before spreading the news in the city, wanted to make sure that the two told the truth and that the ones they had transported were really the remains of the saint. He sent to Messina two very trusted monks, Oldmanno and Luca, for recognition: the relics were compared with the reports that had been drawn up during the last surveys.
Only after the confirmation of the monks, Bishop Maurizio gave the news to the people of Catania. It was August 17, 1126. The people, awakened during the night by a peal at party, did not waste time to change their clothes and poured into the street as it was, even barefoot and in nightgown, to receive as soon as possible the relics finally recovered. The historic meeting of the inhabitants of Catania with the remains of Saint Agatha took place in the district of Ognina, where a church was later erected which in 1381 surrounded the lava without destroying it, but which was more recently abandoned and finally left to go into ruins. Despite the exceptional nature of that event in 1126, the historical documents record a miracle that took place that same night. A woman, blind and paralyzed from birth, regained sight and use of her legs in the act of prostrating herself before the sacred treasure. The people of Catania were so grateful to the two soldiers who elected them honorary citizens and wanted them to be the eternal guardians of the relics of the saint: the bull remains rest in the cathedral, in a wall of the chapel of the Madonna, next to that of Saint Agatha, even if the exact spot is not indicated.
The bust
Since 1376 the head and thorax of Saint Agatha have been kept in a precious silver reliquary finely embossed and decorated with chisels and enamel. It has the appearance of a half-bust statue, with the complexion of the face in fine enamel and the blond hair in gold, in reality, however, it is a refined chest, hollow inside, in which are kept the relics of the head, the side and some internal organs. The then bishop of Catania, a French Benedictine from Limoges, had commissioned it in France, in 1373, to the Sienese goldsmith Giovanni Di Bartolo. The devotion of the faithful continuously enriches the fine net that covers the bust with jewels, gold and precious stones. Among the more than 250 pieces that cover the reliquary in several layers, some are gifts of particular value. The crown, a jewel of 1370 grams studded with precious stones, was, according to an unconfirmed tradition, a gift of Richard I of England called "Lionheart", who arrived in Sicily in 1190, during a crusade. Queen Margherita of Savoy, in 1881, offered a precious ring, while Viceroy Ferdinando Acugna offered a massive 15th century necklace. Vincenzo Bellini gave the patron saint of his city a recognition that had been given to him: the knight’s cross of the Legion of Honour. Even popes, bishops and cardinals over the years have enriched the treasure of Saint Agatha with necklaces and pectoral crosses, precious objects that are added to the many ex voto that the people of Catania continue to offer to Saint Lucia. On the same date that the bust was made, the goldsmiths of Limoges also made reliquaries for the limbs: one for each femur, one for each arm, one for each leg
Reliquaries for the breast and veil were made later, in 1628. Through the glass of the cases, which protects but does not hide, during the feast of Saint Agatha you can see the miraculous veil, a strip of dark red silk, 4 meters long and 50 cm high, which the reconnaissance still guarantees soft, as if it had been woven recently. Through the reliquary of the right hand and the right foot you can see the tissues of the body of the saint still miraculously intact.
The box
The relics of the body, which for centuries were kept in a wooden chest (now kept in the church of Sant'Agata la Vetere), from 1576 are located in a rectangular silver casket 85 cm high, one meter long and 48, 56 wide. The lid is divided into 14 panels depicting as many saints who honor Agatha, the first virgin martyr of the church. Inside there are also two historical documents: the papal bull of Urbano Il that solemnly confirms that Saint Agatha was born in Catania and not in Palermo, as another tradition wanted, and a parchment of 1666 that proclaims Saint Agatha perpetual protector of Messina.
The relic of the breast
Among all the Italian cities of which Saint Agatha is the patron saint, Gallipoli and Galatina, in Puglia, are involved in a singular contest that sees as the protagonist a relic of Saint Agatha, the breast. A legend spread in Puglia would explain with a miracle the presence of the relic in Gallipoli. It is said that on 8 August 1126 Saint Agatha appeared in a dream to a woman and warned her that her child was holding something between his lips. The woman woke up and confirmed it, but could not convince him to open his mouth. He tried for a long time: then, in desperation, he turned to the bishop. The prelate recited a litany invoking all the saints, and only when he pronounced the name of Agatha the child opened his mouth. From it came out a breast, evidently that of Saint Agatha. The relic remained in Gallipoli, in the basilica dedicated to the saint, from 1126 to 1389, when Prince Del Balzo Orsini moved it to Galatina, where he built the church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria of Egypt, in which the relic is still kept today, at a convent of Capuchin friars. In Palermo, in the Royal Chapel, there are relics of the ulna and the radius of an arm. In Messina, in the monastery of SS. Salvatore, an arm bone. In Ali, in the province of Messina, part of an arm bone. In Rome, fragments of the veil are preserved in several churches. In Sant'Agata dei Goti, in the province of Benevento, there is a finger. Other small relics can be found in Sant'Agata di Bianco, Capua, Capri, Siponto, Foggia, Florence, Pistoia, Radicofani, Udine, Venalzio and Ferrara. Also abroad are kept small relics of St. Agatha in Spain: in Palencia, in Oviedo and in Barcelona. In France: in Cambrai, Hanan, Breau Preau and Douai. In Belgium: in Brussels, in Thienen, in Laar; in Antwerp. In Luxembourg, the Czech Republic (Prague) and Germany (Cologne).