The Basilica in Mantua

The co-cathedral Basilica of St. Andrew the Apostle in Mantua enjoys the pri­vi­le­ge of safe­gu­ar­ding the pre­cio­us relic of the Blood of Christ to this day. It is not sur­pri­sing that, due to its reli­gio­us signi­fi­can­ce, this cathe­dral has always been asso­cia­ted with the histo­ry of Mantua — the cen­ter of reli­gio­us and social life. Historically, it is noted that whe­re the present-day church desi­gned by Leon Battista Alberti stands, the­re once were two chur­ches built at dif­fe­rent times, both dedi­ca­ted to St. Andrew.

The exact date of the con­struc­tion of the first church can­not be deter­mi­ned. According to some histo­rians, it was like­ly built fol­lo­wing the first „inven­tio,” or disco­ve­ry. However, others pla­ce its con­struc­tion during the time of Charlemagne and do not asso­cia­te it with the fact of safe­gu­ar­ding relics. All other refe­ren­ces are rela­ted to the relic of the Most Precious Blood.

Cult of the Relic of the Blood of Christ in Mantua

The cult of the relics of the Blood of Christ is based on two „disco­ve­ries” that took pla­ce in 804 and 1048. The first event was recor­ded in the „Annals of the Kingdom of the Franks” by Einhard, a cour­tier and bio­gra­pher of Charlemagne. The second „disco­ve­ry” is exten­si­ve­ly descri­bed in two medie­val sour­ces: „On the Discovery of the Lord’s Blood,” writ­ten in Mantua by an unk­nown author in the late 11th cen­tu­ry, and in the „Chronicles” of the Swedish monk Herman of Reichenau. From the­se sour­ces, as well as from the enri­ched histo­ri­cal and chro­nic­le data, stems the tra­di­tion that pla­ces St. Longinus in Mantua.

St. Longinus — Roman Soldier

He was a Roman sol­dier who, at Golgotha, pier­ced Christ’s side with his own spe­ar, cau­sing water and blo­od to flow. After his conver­sion, he bro­ught soil from Calvary soaked with the Blood of Christ and the spon­ge used to moisten Jesus’ lips with sour wine to Mantua. Out of fear of dese­cra­tion, the Saint hid the relics of the Lord’s Passion in a lead box and buried it whe­re the basi­li­ca now stands, which was once loca­ted far bey­ond the city walls. Soon after, St. Longinus met a mar­ty­r’s death and was buried near the relics. Due to the tur­bu­lent events that led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, all tra­ces of the relics were lost until the time of Charlemagne.

First Discovery of the Relics

In 804, the first disco­ve­ry took pla­ce. According to tra­di­tion, St. Andrew appe­ared in a dre­am to a faith­ful man and indi­ca­ted the pla­ce whe­re the relics were loca­ted. Pope Leo III arri­ved in Mantua at the invi­ta­tion of Emperor Charlemagne and con­fir­med the authen­ti­ci­ty of the relics. It was then that the first reli­qu­ary was made to house the­se extra­or­di­na­ry relics of the Passion. A small part of them was given to Charlemagne and pla­ced in his roy­al cha­pel in Paris. In 924, in the face of the dan­ger of the Hungarian inva­sion, the relics were aga­in hidden.

Second Discovery of the Relics

In 1048, the second disco­ve­ry took pla­ce. Once aga­in, St. Andrew appe­ared in a dre­am to a bles­sed man named Wojciech — a her­mit who had once served in the Canossa fami­ly. This reve­la­tion led to the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of the resting pla­ce of both the body of St. Longinus and the mar­ble urn con­ta­ining the box with the Most Precious Blood. In 1053, Pope Leo IX arri­ved in Mantua to pay homa­ge to the pre­cio­us relic. After solemn­ly con­fir­ming its authen­ti­ci­ty, he even attemp­ted to take it with him to Rome. This spar­ked enor­mo­us oppo­si­tion, for­cing the pope to flee and seek refu­ge in the Benedictine mona­ste­ry in Polirone.

Construction of the Basilica

Around this time, a new, lar­ger tem­ple was built, equ­ip­ped with a crypt whe­re the holy relics were kept. In 1472, the first sto­ne was laid for the con­struc­tion of the cur­rent tem­ple, with the inten­tion of „having more spa­ce for the pio­us people to gather and see the Blood of Christ,” as envi­sio­ned by its archi­tect. One of the side cha­pels is dedi­ca­ted to St. Longinus. On either side of the altar are two sar­co­pha­gi — con­ta­ining the bones of St. Longinus and St. Gregory of Nazianzus. The wall fre­sco­es in this cha­pel depict the sce­ne of the „Crucifixion” with Longinus kne­eling, col­lec­ting the Blood of Christ into a cha­li­ce, and the epi­so­de of the second „disco­ve­ry.” The crypt with the relics was built in the sha­pe of a Greek cross with an octa­go­nal „church” in the mid­dle. The relics of the Blood of Christ were pla­ced in an 18th-century reli­qu­ary — the work of the Milanese gold­smith Giovanni Bellezza. They can only be vie­wed on Good Friday. Apart from that day, they are always enc­lo­sed in an urn made of gre­en mar­ble. Only a small part of the ori­gi­nal relics has survi­ved to this day. In 1848, they were pro­fa­ned by Austrian inva­ders; at that time, the spon­ge and a lar­ger por­tion of the Blood relics were lost. It was also when the first ves­sels con­ta­ining the pre­cio­us relics were destroyed.

Pilgrimage Center

Over the cen­tu­ries, the Basilica of St. Andrew, housing the Relics of the Lord’s Passion, has beco­me an incre­asin­gly popu­lar pil­gri­ma­ge cen­ter. Along the roads leading to the tem­ple, chur­ches and inns were built for the bet­ter recep­tion and appro­pria­te spi­ri­tu­al care of the arri­ving pil­grims. Presumably, fol­lo­wing the exam­ple of the Jerusalem rotun­da and the „holy sta­tions,” four cha­pels with a cir­cu­lar base were built in the ear­ly 12th cen­tu­ry. To this day, only the cha­pel of St. Lawrence has survived.

Approval of the Cult by Pope Leo IX

The cult of the Holy Relics was appro­ved by Pope Leo IX in 1053 on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. At that time, the Pope gran­ted the pri­vi­le­ge of ple­na­ry indul­gen­ce to tho­se who would visit this sanc­tu­ary. Mantua has always pri­ded itself on posses­sing such a pre­cio­us relic, which has beco­me its sym­bol. In the 15th cen­tu­ry, Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, the first Marquis of Mantua, orde­red a silver coin to be min­ted with the inscrip­tion: „Mantua, you have been exal­ted by the Most Precious Blood.”

Development of Communities Honoring the Blood of Christ

At the basi­li­ca, the­re are the Knights of the Order of Redemption, foun­ded in 1608 by Prince Vincent Gonzaga „for the honor and glo­ry of the Most Precious Blood.” Even ear­lier, the­re exi­sted the Society of the Most Precious Blood in the basi­li­ca, dating back to 1459. It con­si­sted of nobly born men who pled­ged to keep lamps con­stan­tly bur­ning befo­re the altar of the Blood of Christ. Other mem­bers devo­ted them­se­lves to acts of mer­cy. Every day, they reci­ted pray­ers han­ded down from anti­qu­ity, com­mon­ly cal­led the „Seven Pourings.” Since the 17th cen­tu­ry, a Holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours have been cele­bra­ted eve­ry March 12th in honor of the disco­ve­ry of the Blood of Christ, appro­ved by the Apostolic See.

Relic of the Blood of Christ in Częstochowa

Since 1998, a por­tion of this Relic has been loca­ted in Częstochowa with the Missionaries of the Blood of Christ. On October 21, 1999, Archbishop Stanisław Nowak erec­ted the Sanctuary of the Blood of Christ in this place.