Chapel of Santa Apolonia

Please note that Apollonia is misspelled ... an "l" is missing...

Apollonia of Alexandria was an Egyptian saint and martyr. She is the patron saint of dentists and dental technicians.

According to tradition, his mother got it after a fervent prayer to Mary, she lived in the 3rd century and was captured in 249 in the persecution of Christians by the pagans at the time of the Roman soldier Emperor Decius, because he did not want to renounce his faith.

He must have been about 50 years old at the time. This year marked the millennium of the Roman Empire and brought with it a revival of the cult of the Roman gods. Christians stayed away, leading to riots, riots and persecution. She was tortured horribly and Bishop Dion claimed that she had all her teeth pulled and her jaw crushed . Afterward, she was supposed to be burned alive, but when her guards weren't careful, she threw herself into the fire.

Saint Apollonia is often depicted with pincers in one hand and a palm branch of the martyrs in the other . Forceps often contain a tooth or a molar. So also here in the picture of the chapel.

Willem Vandenameele