The oldest of the Portuguese saints is S. Teotoniu, friend and advisor to D. Afonso Henriques. He was born in Ganfey, in the town of Tardinhade, which today everyone calls “the place of the saint”, in 1082. A chapel in his honor was erected over the place of his birth, guarded by his family, which 900 years later still manage to maintain the family, which has kept a relic with a part of his hand since 1620. Next to the chapel is the Torninho fountain, where S. Teotoniu brought water as a child, which, according to his devotion, has miraculous properties.

Saint Teotoniu was the son of the nobility, and it is believed that he was baptized in the Benedictine monastery of Ganfei. Today the Romanesque church still keeps the same baptismal font in the castle in the same place where San Teotonio was baptized, and it was there that the last member of the family was recently baptized. Saint, says Father Gonzalo, a local parish priest who admires the history and spirituality of San Teotonio. The rest of the monastery is closed, in ruins, awaiting a sale to turn it into a golf club, but the church there remains under recent cover, which has given it a lot of support, but still shows a few footprints. original Romanesque.

Often depicted with a miter at his feet and a staff in hand, he renounced episcopal ordination after several years as a priest in Viseu, and “fled” on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Then he distinguished himself by caring for the poorest and the way he evangelized the simplest people. He will take over the functions of prior at the convent of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, which he founded together with 11 other priests, while making a long friendship with D. Afonso Henriques, who greatly admired his “pastoral zeal” as the late D. Ildio Leandro , Bishop of Viseu, a diocese whose patron is precisely S. Teotoniu.

Friendly relations did not prevent him from harshly criticizing the king, who, upon returning from the conquest of the lands of Andalusia, brought with him many trophies and a large number of prisoners. “O king and all barons, children of the Church of the Holy Mother, why obey your brothers, making them your slaves and slaves? Of course, in this you sin against God, your Lord, ”said D. Afonso Henriques, who, according to legend, repented and freed all the prisoners. A moment of courage and extraordinary directness for the time in which we lived is recorded on the tiles of the church.

He died in Santa Cruz, and it is there that his grave still stands, along with the grave of his friend D. Afonso Henriques, who also wanted to be buried there. In a separate chapel, in the Hall of the Chapter, the Saint appears in a statue, but the tomb no longer contains his body. It is in a chest kept in the “Casa das Relíquias”, a room on the top floor, built in 1730 to store all the relics that exist in the monastery, many unknown saints. There are 870 relics of 589 saints, including 6 apostles (St. Peter, St. Paul), 46 popes, 20 canonized kings and queens, 54 bishops, 15 abbots, 231 martyrs and 57 virgins, the most “famous” of which is S Theotónio and the Holy Martyrs of Morocco.

The most famous relic of Saint Teotoniou, his skull, is in the relic room next to the Martyrs of Morocco, which can be visited after entering the sacristy.

Places worth visiting and getting to know San Teotonio better:
Torninho chapel and fountain: Lugar de Tardinhade Ganfey, 4930-371
Benedictine Monastery: Ganfei 4930
Monastery of Santa Cruz: Praça 8 de Maio, Apartado 6024, 3001-801 Coimbra.
Se de Viseu: Adro Se, 3500-195 Viseu

Text and photos: Ricardo Perna.

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