After Father de Britto's death the executioner drove a stake into the ground, on which he impaled the body; and having cut off the hands and feet, he hung them, along with the head, from the waist. The faithful tried hard to obtain possession of the relics, but in vain; they were too well guarded by the soldiers. His crucifix the martyr had given to a faithful convert, who transmitted it to Father Laine, and from his hands it reached his house of profession in Paris. And all that could be collected of the clothing, writing, objects of devotion, and instruments of penance were forwarded to the same father, by whom they were laid up in the Jesuit Church at Pondicherry, and thence they found their way to Goa. But it was some time before any fragments of the body fell into the hands of the Christians. The soldiers kept guard over the body while it remained impaled on the stake; but at last a violent storm came on, and the cord which supported the head and hands broke; the head rolled into the river, and was saved; but wild beasts preyed upon the body. When the soldiers had retired, the catechists came and gathered up all they could find of the body. In the river they discovered the head; they bought the stake, on which his limbs had been impaled, of the soldiers, and the scymitar of the executioner; this scymitar Father John de Corte brought with him to Europe a few years afterwards, and presented it to the king of Portugal, Pedro II. And these are all the relics that remain of the blessed Father John de Britto.
[12] 'Annales Archeologiques,' Tom. xxiii. p. 232.
[13] "Vie des Saints" Tom. ix. p. 22.
[14] Elmasini 'Hist. Sarac.' Lugd. Batav. 1625, p. 267.
[15] This article is condensed from an article by the Author in the Quarterly Review for October, 1867, on "Portraits of Christ."
[16] For information on this Order, see Jan. 15, S. Alexander.
[17] See for more information on the Iconoclastic heresy the life of S. Tarasius, Feb. 25th.
[18] This very term "Symbol of Christ," as applied to the Holy Eucharist, is indication of heretical views on the Presence.
[19] Gofredus in Vita S. Bernardi.
[20] Eugenius III.