Throughout my travels, I am always on the lookout for great religious relics. It may be a bit morbid, but there is something fascinating about the reverence of human remains that absolutely fascinates me and ignites my imagination. Relics can range from shriveled fingers mounted in egg-shaped glass domes, to jewel-encrusted skulls set on a bed of red silk, to the full bodies of long dead and venerated saints. Not surprisingly, Roman Catholic Italy houses some of the most awe-inspiring relics. By far the most wonderful relic I discovered was Saint Catherine of Bologna.

The grate is above an alter and in a gated-off area, making it hard to get a good look. But gaze long enough and you will discover a dark face staring back at you. For peering out through the grated opening is the relic of St. Catherine of Bologna. She has been waiting for you, sitting on her golden throne, for over 500 years.Having viewed St. Catherine through the rather far away porthole, D and I wandered the church. On our way out we came upon a large wooden door, with a small doorbell next to it. Wishing to be thorough explorers, we hesitantly pushed the ringer. To our surprise we were buzzed in. As we crept along the dark hallway, we found ourselves in the tiny room with St. Catherine, in all her mummified glory. We entered the room and sat. Abruptly a sliding door in the side-wall opened. In stark contrast to the mummified relic before us, a living nun peered out. She murmured something in Italian, disappeared, and returned with two small pamphlets about St. Catherine, which she handed to us through the grate covering the window, before sliding the wooden door shut again.

We knelt in front of Catherine, so close to her black waxen hands we could reach out and touch them. The walls around Catherine were well-adorned. Her beloved violin hung beside her, and tiny finger and toes bones and a skull crowned in flowers are framed at her sides. While most of the incorruptibles we viewed in Italy were set back against the church walls, away from the reach of viewers, here was Catherine, her nearly featureless black face (said to have been blacked from candles) close enough to touch. We had stumbled into a room of deep religious intensity.

For the strange life story of the woman who became a beloved relic, please visit Small Miracles at Curious Expeditions.

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