Fountain and the Myth of the Holy Tooth
In the locality of Borges, being a parish of Aboim da Nóbrega, where still today there is a fountain with shrines, adjoining a House (Holy Tooth Fountain), there lived a man named Manuel António Martins (1920), who owned a tooth of St. Frutuoso – abbot of Constantim (Vila Real) who had exceptional powers to cure dog bites. This Tooth had been referred to already in the 17th century and tradition says that the tooth had more than 800 years.
Manuel António belonged to the family of "Os do Feitor" (Persons of Creator), or "Dentes-Santo” (Holy Teeth), who had received a tooth of a bachelor nobleman, who at the time of his death then gave it to a servant. The Holy Tooth or Tooth of São Frutuoso, had also been offered directly by the Saint to the nobleman, before he died, telling him: whoever possesses this tooth will not be rich, but will be well-off, and will not have the need of going through needs. Can only be possessed by a male. The tooth was therefore being passed on from generation to generation.
It is said that many people would come to Borges, searching after blessings of the Holy-Tooth, and that nobody of this place had died with the disease of “fury”. The blessing of the tooth was made (as a pendant on a silver chain) complemented by the following prayer: "In the name of the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit / and St. Frutuoso l/ I thee bless / and touched by me you will never become raging”.
Location: Vila Verde
In the locality of Borges, being a parish of Aboim da Nóbrega, where still today there is a fountain with shrines, adjoining a House (Holy Tooth Fountain), there lived a man named Manuel António Martins (1920), who owned a tooth of St. Frutuoso – abbot of Constantim (Vila Real) who had exceptional powers to cure dog bites. This Tooth had been referred to already in the 17th century and tradition says that the tooth had more than 800 years.
Manuel António belonged to the family of "Os do Feitor" (Persons of Creator), or "Dentes-Santo” (Holy Teeth), who had received a tooth of a bachelor nobleman, who at the time of his death then gave it to a servant. The Holy Tooth or Tooth of São Frutuoso, had also been offered directly by the Saint to the nobleman, before he died, telling him: whoever possesses this tooth will not be rich, but will be well-off, and will not have the need of going through needs. Can only be possessed by a male. The tooth was therefore being passed on from generation to generation.
It is said that many people would come to Borges, searching after blessings of the Holy-Tooth, and that nobody of this place had died with the disease of “fury”. The blessing of the tooth was made (as a pendant on a silver chain) complemented by the following prayer: "In the name of the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit / and St. Frutuoso l/ I thee bless / and touched by me you will never become raging”.
Location: Vila Verde
