Opportuna lived and died in the 8th century, and she was one of those saints whose dead body ended up disassembled, with pieces of it sent to multiple churches to “bless” the people at each of those parishes and those people who would make pilgrimages to touch the remnants of her carcass to get some kind of break in the miserable situations they were facing (short- or long-term).
So Opportuna’s right arm ended up in Paris. A large part of her head (but not all of it) went to Moussy. Next, Opportuna’s left arm and part of her skull were sent to Almenesches (don’t worry about the geography–it’s mainly all France). It doesn’t stop there! One part of her jaw was sent to the priory at St. Chrodegang. Also one of Opportuna’s ribs then rejoined her right arm back in Paris.
OK, well the closest way I have to relate to this whole thing is a tradition that my Grandma Koch and I had between the two of us. She hosted two family holiday dinner each year–Thanksgiving (a big and great affair) and New Year’s Day (just her and my immediate family, and we’d have sauerkraut and pork to ensure a good year coming up). Like many Americans, we had a turkey for the main course of our Thanksgiving meal. Grandma would remove the wishbone from the turkey, clean it of any meat remnants, and place it in the freezer (wrapped, of course, in wax paper).
Then, on New Year’s Day, after our Good Luck Dinner, she would get the wishbone out of the freezer and unwrap it. We’d each choose an end and pull (the idea being that whoever got the bigger section of the broken wishbone would get her or his wish, made at the time of the pulling).
On one hand, this comparison makes light of the religious veneration of relics. On the other hand–please tell me what the difference is between making a wish on a broken turkey bone that’s been preserved and doing so on Opportuna’s broken-off jawbone? Is it because Opportuna was a good woman (good enough to be canonized) and the turkey amoral? Or, instead, does does the difference come down to how much a person believes in the power of the relic (woman’s rib or turkey’s wishbone)–i.e., a placebo effect? Or do the actual bones of holy people truly radiate some kind of miracle-making power?
Why do we make wishes on things, anyhow? You know–birthday candles? pennies thrown into wells or fountains? falling stars? Opportuna’s right arm?
For me, it is not about the wish, but the ritual. I still like to make wishes on dandelions. Wishing for more bees probably doesn’t work, but the idea that my breath scattering the seeds might help makes me feel at least as important as a breeze.
I want bees to be happy. Some bee people on NPR said that the one thing Americans can do to help the bee population the most is to mow their lawns just a little less frequently. Done!