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THE MONASTERY OF
ST ANTÓN. THE MYSTERIOUS ORDER OF ST ANTONIO (ST ANTHONY)
Nordic and Central-European citizens, suffering from the
cruel and endemic St Anthony's fire or ergot poisoning,
made mass pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. Along the
way, the pilgrims would ask the monks of St Anthony to
alleviate the pains in their gangrened limbs by touching
them with the tip of their tau-shaped staffs. The sick
pilgrims were given small scapularies called Taus, in
addition to bread and wine blessed by certain rituals
using the abbot's staff (naturally tau-shaped). Pilgrims
were also given, although less frequently, blessed
bells of the saint, bearing the cross of St
Anthony. In this way the disease gradually improved until,
once at Santiago, they were completely cured. However,
some years after returning to their country of origin, the
disease would reappear (no doubt as a punishment for some
new sin committed) and they would need to make a further
pilgrimage to guarantee another infallible cure.
This confirms the
miracle performing powers of the apostle in the West and
those of the mysterious order of St Anthony.
Centuries after the
disappearance of the Order of St Anthony, medical science
has discovered that St Anthony's fire is in fact a
vascular disease, which is now called ergotism and
which is caused by the continuous ingestion of rye bread
infected by the Claviceps
purpurea fungus.
In this
way, the
inhabitants of the colder areas of Europe, who were
regular consumers of rye bread, became ill as a result of
the vasoconstriction produced by the fungus. When they
changed their diet, during their walk through the southern
regions of Europe, which are wheat producing areas and
consumers of white bread, the pilgrims gradually became
better.
From the book
"Curiosidades del Camino de Santiago". by Juan Ramón
Corpas Mauleon. Published by Edilesa
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