Timon's Treasure: The Forgotten Reliquary of St. Joseph's Cathedral

About This Essay

Published in the Winter 2017 issue of Western New York Heritage Magazine, "Timon's Treasure" tells the story of a remarkable nineteenth-century reliquary housed at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Buffalo, New York. Dr. Lubienecki discovered the reliquary through archival research while serving as cathedral archivist, and this essay documents both its history and his account of the discovery.

The reliquary was a gift from Pope Pius IX to Bishop John Timon, the first Bishop of Buffalo, during Timon's visit to Rome in the 1850s. It contains relics of several saints and is an example of the elaborate devotional material culture that characterized mid-nineteenth-century Catholicism. Over the decades, it had been moved, stored, and largely forgotten. Dr. Lubienecki's archival work identified it, established its provenance, and brought it to the attention of cathedral leadership. It is now on permanent display.

Publication Details

Publication: Western New York Heritage Magazine Issue: Winter 2017 Read online: WNY Heritage

Context

John Timon was a towering figure in nineteenth-century American Catholicism. He served as Bishop of Buffalo from 1847 until his death in 1867 and presided over the rapid growth of the diocese during a period of massive Catholic immigration. Dr. Lubienecki's scholarship on Timon spans multiple works, including his peer-reviewed article on Timon and the assimilation of Buffalo Catholicism and his conference presentation at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association in 2012.

Read the Timon peer-reviewed article View all public history writing