The relics

In 1242 the monk Fra Leonardo da Latisana, visiting the Monastery, probably while renovation work was in progress in the church of San Giovanni and in the Temple, under the Abbess Gisla del Pertica, noticed a box in the altar of the oratory of Santa Maria in Valle and discovered that it contained relics of the saints Anastasia, Agape, Chionia, and Irene, and of the Saints Chrysogonus and Zoilus. The tale of the discovery was then shrouded in the miraculous, for afterwards it was said that, after they had opened the casket with a knife and removed the pallium that covered the relics from under the dust, a fragrance arose in the air which spread throughout the town, bringing all the citizens to the monastery, so that the nuns were forced to close it for safety's sake. Numerous miracles followed which led the Patriarch to acknowledge that something divine was involved and to allow the granting of indulgences.
The income helped raise the fortunes of the Monastery.