Arles-sur-Tech is placed under the protection of Saints Abdon and Sennen, two Christian martyrs of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
They are celebrated on 30 July.
The relics of these two saints would be at the origin of the mystery of the tomb of Arles-sur-Tech.
The Holy Tomb of Arles-sur-Tech is a sarcophagus dating from the 4th century placed in the abbey, whose particularity is to continuously produce pure water, supposedly miraculous.
This tomb is made of blue marble from Céret, carved and sculpted.
The story begins when Arles-sur-Tech was plagued by plague, natural disasters and ferocious animals.
These animals were probably represented on either side of the archivolt of the portal of the abbey church of Arles.
To ward off these disasters, Abbot Arnulphe decided to leave for Rome to ask the Pope for his help.
Arnulphe explains to the Holy Father the misery of his fellow citizens and presents him with his request.
The Pope heard the plea and allowed him to choose from among the relics kept in Rome.
Father Arnulphe returns to the Catalan country with the remains of Abdon and Sennen in a barrel filled with water.
The water is decanted into the ancient sarcophagus. Normally this water, by evaporation, should disappear, but we see that it is constantly renewed, without any rational explanation being found. According to many believers the water in the sarcophagus has miraculous virtues.
Many scientists, scholars and amateurs have studied the phenomenon.
Each one came up with his own explanation, but none of them became the official truth.
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