THE HOLY FOOT

by Robert Romanis ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 22, 1954

An attractive little tale of how, several hundred years ago, a small Italian village got its second holy shrine. Sant' Antonio got its name and first shrine when a monk gave his life to protect (and hide) his monastery's holy relic, the foot of St. Stephen. Two centuries later, a laborer uncovers a marble foot and the town, including the parish priest, feels that they have recovered the long lost relic. Everyone gives thanks for its recovery and the miracle it performs and engages in building a shrine, when a young friar from the village returns from Sicily to declare that the foot is only a fragment of a pagan statue and that its worship is sinful. The conflict is joined and only ended when the friar is killed by the townspeople and the rest of the statue is found, a Mercury and pagan indeed. The shrine is finished to honor the town's new martyr...All this is told with humor, with irony, and with a pervasive understanding of the frailties of men- and provides a pleasant parable. The audience of Don Camillo may be a possible designation here.

Pub Date: March 22, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1954

Categories: FICTION