This is a old reliquary with relic from John de Britto and Andrew Bobola. Diameter is 1.5 inch. Relic's, waxseal and thread correct in place. Shipping with registered priority is 15$. I want to thank the writer of Patron saints Index.

Saint John de Brito

Also known as

Apostle of Madura

Memorial

4 February

Profile

Portugese nobility, and a favourite of Don Pedro, king of Portugal Son of the governor of Brazil. Jesuit at age 15. Studied at the University of Coimbra. Priest.

Against the strenuous objections of his family, he volunteered for the missions in India in 1673, and was sent to Madura. There he studied the complex Indian caste system, and found that most converts belonged to the lowest caste. He realized that for Christianity to have a lasting influence in India, higher caste members must also convert. Worked at Malabar, Tanjore, Marava, and Madura. He established himself as an Indian ascetic, a Pandara Suami, lived as they lived, dressed in saffron cloak and turban, and held retreats in the wilderness in southern India where interested Indians could visit him.

In time he was accepted as a Suami, his reputation grew, and though the locals would sometimes torture him, he converted as many as 10,000. Appointed superior of the mission in 1685 Among them was a prince whom he told to give up his wives. One of the wives, the niece of the rajah, had John imprisoned and tortured for a month, but being a religious man was no crime, so he was released.

His success in converting Indians to Christianity brought on the ire of the Brahmins, the highest Indian caste, and they decided to kill him. John and his catechists were imprisoned, tortured, and ordered to leave the country. When he refused, the rajah ordered John executed. At the execution site, he knelt in prayer, and the rajah's order was read. The executioner hesitated; John told him, "My friend, I have prayed to God. On my part, I have done what I should do. Now do your part." He did.

Born

1 March 1647 at Lisbon, Portugal

Died

dismembered and beheaded 11 February 1693 at Oreiour, India

Name Meaning

God is gracious; gift of God (John)

Beatified

21 August 1853 by Pope Pius IX

Canonized

1947 by Pope Pius XII

Patronage

Portugal Sivagangai, India, diocese of

Saint Andrew Bobola

Also known as

Andrzej Bobola

Memorial

16 May
21 February in Poland

Profile

Polishnobility. Studied at the Jesuit school at Sandomir. Entered the Jesuits on 31 July 1611 at Vilna, Lithuania. Studied and taught philosophy. Ordained on 12 March 1622. Parish priest at Vilna in 1625. Superior of the Jesuit community at Bobrinks in 1630. Worked with the sick during a plague outbreak.

Successful missionary to the Orthodox from 1636 to 1656, preaching along the roads, bringing whole villages back to Catholicism. In 1652 Prince Radziwell gave Andrew a house in Pinsk as a refuge for Jesuits hiding from the Cossacks and Tartars. Captured just after Mass on 10 May 1657 during a Cossack raid on Pinsk. He was severely beaten, dragged by horses, tortured, hacked with knives, skinned alive, and murdered for being a Christian; he never surrendered his faith. Martyr.

Born

30 November 1591 at Sandormir, Poland

Died

beheaded at Janow on 16 May 1657 at Pinsk; buried at the Jesuit school in Pinsk, but his grave was forgotten when the Jesuits were forced to abandon the town; he later appeared in visions to the rector of the school, pointing out his grave; relics translated to Polosk in 1808; body found incorrupt; later taken to Moscow by the Bolsheviks; taken to Rome in 1922; currently entombed at the Jesuit church in Cracow, Poland

Name Meaning

strong, manly (Andrew)

Beatified

30 October 1853 by Pope Pius IX

Canonized

17 April 1938 by Pope Pius XI

Patronage

Poland
Warsaw, Poland, archdiocese of