Friday, May 01, 2026

Relics of the Virgin Mary and St Joseph in Rome

There is a famous Italian saying about Rome, “Una vita non basta – one life is not enough”, i.e., to see everything worth seeing in the Eternal City. Today I was reminded how true this is when I saw these images shared on social media by an old friend, Mr John Sonnen, he of Orbis Catholicus fame. Despite having visited all the major churches of Rome countless times, and many of the minor ones, I never knew that the basilica of Saint Anastasia on the edge of the Palatine Hill has these relics, which are purported to be part of a veil which belonged to the Virgin Mary, and the cloak of St Joseph, brought to Rome by St Jerome in the later fourth century. My thanks to Mr Sonnen for sharing with us his pictures of the reliquary, which has been exposed for the veneration of the faithful today, the feast of St Joseph the Worker. (The cloak is in the lower part.)

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