The Catholic saint for all with toothache

Apollonia lost her teeth in Egypt. In England her teeth in their thousands were distributed and sold to mint money.

She died in 248 A.D in Alexandria in Egypt.  No one is sure when she was canonized, and what process of beautification she went through. But Roman Catholic legends say there were a popular acclamation around 300 A.D.

 Apollonia of Alexandria was not canonized. She was declared a saint before the official canonization process was instituted. She would have been proclaimed a saint by popular acclamation based on her life and merits, probably to a local bishop.

Source: Wikianswers:

When you read the fine print in Wikipedia, you will see that the teeth of this lady were scattered over many nations. In Roman Catholic England her teeth were distributed in thousands to mint money. Her head, body parts and bones were also cut off the skeleton, and scattered.

 William S. Walsh noted that, though the major part of her relics were preserved in the former church of St. Apollonia at Rome,

her head at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere,

her arms at the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura,

parts of her jaw in St. Basil’s,

and other relics are in the Jesuit church at Antwerp, in St. Augustine’s at Brussels, in the Jesuit church at Mechlin, in St. Cross at Liege, in the treasury of the cathedral of Porto, and in several churches at Cologne.

These relics consist in some cases of a solitary tooth or a splinter of bone. In the Middle Ages, objects claimed to be her teeth were sold as toothache cures.

During the reign of Henry VI of England, several tons of these purported teeth were collected in an effort to stop the scam.

Source: Wikipedia

Saint Apollonia was one of a group of virgin martyrs who suffered in Alexandria during a local uprising against the Christians prior to the persecution of Decius. According to legend, her torture included having all of her teeth violently pulled out or shattered. For this reason, she is popularly regarded as the patroness of dentistry and those suffering from toothache or other dental problems.

My comment:

It is disturbing to have tooth ache.  The Pope have a saint for everything, so why not for all who have costumed to much sweets or skipped the tooth paste.

Since some Roman Catholics do not trust Wikipedia, let me also quote the Catholic Encyclopedia

  The Roman Church celebrates her memory on 9 February, and she is popularly invoked against the toothache because of the torments she had to endure. She is represented in art with pincers in which a tooth is held. There was a church dedicated to her at Rome but it no longer exists. The little square, however, in which it stood is still called “Piazza Sant’ Apollonia”.

 Source: Catholic Encyclopedia.

Since it is possible to fool religious people and loot them of all their money, a “Holy tooth scam” seems to be an act of genius corruptible priests.

To prove the origin of a teeth is hardly possible without DNA samples or X-ray’s. In particular a teeth from a person who died 1400 years before King Henry VI brought an end to the religious scam of the Papists.

Do people get fooled today?

In the Cathedral of Porto in Portugal the ‘Holy tooth” is placed in a monstrance. The tooth is preserved together with a “Holy plyer”.  If the lady lost here teeth during torture:  Why is she presented holding the plyer and her own teeth?

 2 Corinthians 2:17
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.

This makes sense. When people have tooth ache, just use a plyer and pull the tooth out. No more pain. No dental bill to be paid.

Written by Ivar