Our Lady of Oviedo

https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-oviedo.html 

May 2: Our Lady of Oviedo, Spain (711)

The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Our Lady of Oviedo, Spain, where they possess some of Blessed Virgin’s hair.”

The Cathedral of Oviedo was founded in 781 AD, & enlarged by Alfonso the Chaste, who made Oviedo capital of Kingdom of Asturias.
The chapel was once called the Sancta Ovetensis, owing to quantity & quality of relics contained in Camara Santa (Holy Chamber).

“There is in city of Oviedo a Holy Chest that contains many & varied relics.
It rests in town where King Alfonso II, the Chaste, built a shrine to house it, & there it can be seen even today as it was well over a millennium ago.
Like the Arc of the Covenant, or the Holy Grail, it is a singular thing the like of which is almost utterly unknown in entire history of mankind.

This Holy Chest is made of oak & was skillfully constructed without use of any nails.
It measures roughly 4 feet by 3 feet by 2 feet, & has been venerated by faithful Catholics since apostolic times.
Indeed, it is believed to have been fashioned by devoted disciples of the 12 apostles.

Many men & woman throughout history have given their entire lives in service to holy relics contained therein, or to save chest from pagans who sought its destruction.

The chest originated in Holy City of Jerusalem.
When Persain’s attacked & conquered Jerusalem in 614, many priceless relics from region were gathered & placed in it for protection, as Persians sought relics to destroy them.
The chest was taken for safekeeping to a small community of Catholics in Alexandria, Egypt.

A short time later, Alexandria was also sacked by Muslims, & chest was taken across Mediterranean Sea to Spain, where St. Isidore kept it in Seville.
Upon St. Isidore’s death, chest was transferred to city of Toledo, which was then becoming an important center in Spain.
When wave of Muslim aggression reached even Toledo in 711, Holy Chest was taken to Asturias & hidden in a well in Pelayo’s mountain.

The chest has a lock & key, but by time of 11th century it hadn't been opened for hundreds of years.
The last time it was known to have been opened was when it was done by a living saint, St. Ildephonsus, for in it he'd placed a chasuble that the Mother of God herself had given him during an apparition.

By year 1030, exact contents of Holy Chest were no longer known. Bishop Ponce of Oviedo, & with him many clerics, determined to examine chest to unlock its secrets.
As soon as lid was raised only slightest bit, “there burst forth so stupendous a light that terrified clerics, some of them stricken stone-blind, dropped lid & fled, leaving mystery unsolved.”

After Mass, on Friday, March 13, 1075, the key was again placed in lock.
On this occasion, God was pleased to reveal contents of the Holy Chest.
The chest contained the Sudarium, mentioned by St. John the Evangelist in his Gospel as cloth that covered face of Christ after the crucifixion.
On it can be seen bloodstains of Our Lord that evidence his passion & death.
It alone is a treasure without reckoning…

The chest also contained a piece of the True Cross of Our Lord, a small stone of sepulcher in which He was buried, some of cloths in which He was wrapped in the manger, several thorns from Crucifixion, a piece of earth of Mount Olivet touched by His feet when He ascended into heaven, one of 30 coins given to Judas, the chasuble given by Virgin Mary to Saint Ildephonsus, a chest of gold & precious stones containing forehead of St. John the Baptist & his hair, & a host of other relics from many saints & prophets, including St. Stephen, first martyr, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Peter the Apostle, St. Vincent, & the rod of Moses which parted Red Sea & manna supplied from heaven during Exodus from Egypt, & many other priceless relics.

King Alfonso VI commissioned a silversmith to sheath the Holy Chest in gilded silver, adoring it with figures of Our Lord & His angels & saints.
It can still be seen even today.”

*from El Cid, God’s Own Champion, by James Fitzhenry