A German cathedral has dug out from a treasure chamber its collection of remains of St. Corona, the little-known Christian martyr who has been purported to be the patron saint of resisting epidemics.
The Aachen Cathedral had already been planning before the coronavirus outbreak to showcase the remains and an elaborate shrine to the saint as part of an exhibit of gold craftsmanship, according to Reuters.
But it has now accelerated its plans after the pandemic began sweeping across the globe — though it remains unclear when people will be able to visit the display amid strict restrictions on public gatherings.
“We have brought the shrine out a bit earlier than planned and now we expect more interest due to the virus,” cathedral spokeswoman Daniela Loevenich told Reuters.
Corona is thought to have been only about 16 years old when the Romans killed her, probably in Syria, about 1,800 years ago in an excruciating fashion for professing her Christian faith, according to legend.
In 997 AD, King Otto III brought her remains to Aachen, where they have been kept in a tomb until 1911-12, when they were placed in the gold, bronze and ivory shrine.
Experts have been painstakingly polishing the shrine, which has been hidden from public view for the last 25 years, in preparation for when it can be put on display.
The girl was said to have been tied to two bent palm trees and torn apart when the trunks were released.
“That is a very gruesome story and led to her becoming the patron of lumberjacks,” said Brigitte Falk, head of Aachen Cathedral Treasure Chamber, adding that it was purely coincidental that she also became a patron saint for resisting epidemics.
“Like many other saints, Saint Corona may be a source of hope in these difficult times,” Falk said.
The National Catholic Reporter — in a piece titled “Is St. Corona the patron saint of pandemics?” — quoted the website of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing, Michigan.
“It’s incredible but it’s seemingly true — there is a Saint Corona and she is one of the patrons of pandemics,” it said.
As its source for the claims about St. Corona, the diocese cited Gloria.tv, a website for Catholic news. St. Corona’s purported patronage also has been pointed out on popular Catholic website Aleteia, the Reporter points out.
But Candida Moss, a professor of theology at the University of Birmingham in the UK, said not so fast.
“You have people praying to the patron saint of treasure hunters, which seems to be against CDC guidelines,” Moss told Religion News Service.
She said there is, in fact, a St. Corona whose remains are in a town in northern Italy — but there also is reason to believe she may have been invented.
But St. Corona may yet make a name for herself during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I prefer they didn’t, but if enough people decided St. Corona was the patron saint of the coronavirus, she’s just going to become that,” Moss told the Catholic site.