About St. Crescent

I read that there are less than ten churches in the United States which contain a saint’s body. I grew up in Galesburg, Illinois. We had St. Crescent’s body at our church, where my parents were married and I served as an altar boy. During mass, under the statue of St. Joseph (to the right of the altar), I would stare and wonder at this fair skinned child with a gash in his head, lying on a silk pillow in a gilded glass coffin.

My mother Jean A. Culver’s photograph of St. Crescent at Corpus Christi Church in Galesburg, Illinois.

Silver-gelatin print (from 120mm negative)

3.5 x 3.5 inches, Dated December, 1960

Here’s the story of St. Crescent:

Saint Crescent was 9 years old when he was martyred in Rome during Emperor Diocletian’s persecution of the Christians, sometime between 284 to 305 C.E. The boy’s body was entombed in the catacombs under the city where it remained until 1838. Saint Crescent’s body was removed for veneration being entrusted to Father Antonio Rosmini, founder of the Institute of Charity religious order, commonly known as the Rosminians. Father Rosmini placed the relic under the alter in his chapel in Stresa, Italy. In 1885, Father Joseph Costa, a Rosminian priest, purchased land for the establishment of Corpus Christi Church in Galesburg, Illinois, United States. He asked permission to move the Saint Crescent relic to the new church. He hoped the relic would help attract followers. His request was granted. Father Costa traveled to Italy in 1887 to personally handle the transportation of Saint Crescent. There were several difficulties along the way but even though the relic was enclosed in a case made of thin glass, according to a church publication “it traveled through the railroads of Italy, France, England and from New York to Galesburg without the least injury.” The little boy’s body was placed in a glass altar on the north wall of the church. The bones are encased in wax. Local legend has it that Saint Crescent has protected Galesburg from tornadoes since 1887. No one knows how this legend came about but many in the community believe it is so and in fact no tornadoes have struck the city since the saint’s arrival. Saint Crescent’s feast day is August 27, the day the relic arrived in Galesburg.

Inscription:
“Corpus S. Crescentis Pueri,” (Latin.) In English the phrase means “The Body of the boy Saint Crescent.”

♦

Visit Corpus Christi Church

♦

Articles written about St. Crescent:

The Knox Student, 2010

Galesburg Register Mail, 2006

♦

View my two artworks featuring St. Crescent

Corpus Crescentis, 1990