386: A Memorable Fancy LVI: “All the sad relics”
22 July, 2012
“Saint Anthony’s tongue,” the priest said; “there it is preserved behind the altar, under glass. At the moment the saint died, they say, he opened his mouth to speak, but too late. Several of us have examined the tongue’s configuration to divine God’s holy message, measured its width, its curvature, its weight both in the humid season and in the dry. We have published papers and given scholarly talks; we have uttered brilliant profundities; we have prayed. And now, finally, we have understood the saint’s message. Even so, there are those who speak against us.”
[title from Piero Camporesi] The tongue actually exists; it is displayed in the basilica at Padua, and may be spoken of in that place.
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