XIX c. Italian Reliquary with 43 important relics

Beautiful, richly decorated altar framed reliquary dating back from the early XIX Century. With many gilt filigree details, inspired in the neoclassical style of the time, resembling a roman pantheon.

At the base of the altar, we can find the Holy Relic from the grave of Virgin Mary, surrounded by leaf shape gilt decoration. Above, in the middle part, we can see a set of 40 relics, simulating the shape of a monstrance, in a vermilion background, with gilt oak leaves and acorns surrounding the relics.

In the centre of the aforementioned monstrance of relics, we can see 2 Holy Relics of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

Measurements: Size: 27cm x 21cm x 8cm 

Miraculous and outstanding condition for such delicate and aged artefact of this nature. Regardless, there is some old trace of dead wood worm, as expected. Antique wood cabinet with wear and tear consisten with its age, small accidents shown in the pictures.

• Relic from the empty tomb of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Sepulc B.M - Sepulchre of Blessed Virgin Mary 

 

Tomb of the Virgin Mary, is a Christian tomb at the foot of Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem – believed by Eastern Christians to be the burial place of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Sacred Tradition of Eastern Christianity teaches that the Virgin Mary died a natural death (the Dormition of the Theotokos, the falling asleep), like any human being; that her soul was received by Christ upon death; and that her body was resurrected on the third day after her repose, at which time she was taken up, soul and body, into heaven in anticipation of the general resurrection. Her tomb, according to this teaching, was found empty on the third day. Roman Catholic teaching holds that Mary was "assumed" into heaven in bodily form, the Assumption; the question of whether or not Mary actually underwent physical death remains open in the Catholic view. A narrative known as the Euthymiaca Historia relates how the Emperor Marcian and his wife, Pulcheria, requested the relics of the Virgin Mary from Juvenal, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. According to the account, Juvenal replied that, on the third day after her burial, Mary's tomb was discovered to be empty, only her shroud being preserved in the church of Gethsemane.

 

• Nativity Grotto of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Place of birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem

 

 

• Empty tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The four Gospels narrate how several women, including Mary Magdalene, found the tomb of Jesus to be empty when they visited his tomb to anoint his body with spices and oils. Instead, they met with an angel who told them that Jesus had been raised from the dead

 

• Saint Peter - Apostle and Pope

As written in relic: s. Petri Ap

Death: between AD 64 and 68

Patron of: Bakers, Bridge builders, Butchers, Fishermen, Harvesters, Cordwainers,   Horologists, Locksmiths, Cobblers, Net makers, Shipwrights and Stationers. Also called for aid in Frenzy, Foot problems, Fever and Longevity..

 

• Saint Andrew - Apostle and Martyr

As written in relic: s. Andreae A

Death: 62 AD 

Patron of: Places: Scotland, Barbados, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Patras, Burgundy, San Andrés (Tenerife), Diocese of Parañaque, Telhado, Sarzana, Pienza, Amalfi, Luqa (Malta) and Prussia. 

Professions: Fishermen, fishmongers and rope-makers, textile workers, singers,miners, pregnant women, butchers, farm workers, protection against sore throats.

Protection against: convulsions, protection against fever, protection against whooping cough.
 

• Saint Bartholomew - Apostle and martyr

As written in relic: s. Barthol.

Death: 1st century AD

Patron of: Armenia; bookbinders; butchers; Florentine cheese and salt merchants;  Gambatesa, Italy; Catbalogan, Samar; Magalang, Pampanga; Malabon, Metro Manila; Nagcarlan, Laguna; San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, Philippines; Għargħur, Malta and Los Cerricos (Spain).

Professions: Leather workers; neurological diseases; plasterers; shoemakers; curriers; tanners; trappers; twitching; whiteners.
 

• Saint Judas Thaddaeus - Apostle and Martyr

As written in relic: s. Thaddaei A

Death: 1st century AD
Patron of: Armenia; lost causes; desperate situations; hospitals; St.  Petersburg, Florida; Cotta; the Chicago Police Department; Clube de Regatas do Flamengo from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Lucena, Quezon, Sibalom, Antique, and Trece Mártires, Cavite, the Philippines; and Sinajana in Guam.
 

• Saint Barnabas - Apostle, Apostolic Father and Martyr

As written in relic: S. Barnab. Ap.

Death: reputedly 61 AD

Patron of: Cyprus, Antioch, against hailstorms, invoked as peacemaker.

 

•  Saint Philip the Apostle - Apostle and Martyr

As written in relic: s. Philip. Ap

Death: 80 AD

Patron of: Cape Verde; Hatters; Pastry chefs; San Felipe Pueblo; Uruguay

 

• Saint Luke - Evangelist and Apostle

As written in relic: S. Lucae Evan.

Death: March 84 AD

Patron of: Artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, doctors, glass makers, glaziers, gold workers, goldsmiths, lace makers, lace workers, notaries, painters, physicians, sculptors, surgeons, unmarried men, Worshipful Company of Butchers, Worshipful Company of Painters.

 

• Saint Mark the Evangelist - Evangelist, Martyr
  
  As written in relic: S. Marci EvaN
  Death: 25 April 68 

    Patron of: Barristers, Venice, Egypt, Mainar

 

History of the Saint:

Mark the Evangelist is the traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark. Mark is said to have founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most important episcopal sees of early Christianity. 

 

• Saint Matthew the Apostle - Apostle, Evangelist, and Martyr

As written in relic: S. Matthaei Ap. Ev. 

Death: 1st century AD

Patron of: Accountants; Salerno, Italy; bankers; tax collectors; perfumers; civil servants.

History of the Saint:
Matthew the Apostle was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. He was also one of the four Evangelists and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist.
Among the early followers and apostles of Jesus, Matthew was a publican or tax collector who, while sitting at the "receipt of custom" in Capernaum, was called to follow Jesus. 

 

• Saint James the Less - Apostle
  As written in relic: S. Jacob. min. Ap.
  Death: 62 AD
  Patron of: of Hat makers.
  
   

• Saint Matthias - Apostle
  As written in relic: S. Mathiae Ap.

Death: c. AD 80

Patron of: alcoholics; carpenters; tailors; Gary, Indiana; Great Falls-Billings, Montana; smallpox; hope; perseverance

History of the Saint:

Matthias was chosen by the apostles to replace Judas Iscariot following the latter's betrayal of Jesus and his subsequent death. His calling as an apostle is unique, in that his appointment was not made personally by Jesus, who had already ascended into heaven, and it was also made before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the early Church.

 

• Saint Thomas the Apostle - Apostle, preacher, Christian martyr
  As written in relic: S. Thomiae Ap.

Death: 3 July AD 72

Patron of: India, Saint Thomas Christians, Sri Lanka, and Pula in Croatia

 

History of the Saint:

Thomas the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus,  commonly known as "Doubting Thomas" because he doubted Jesus' resurrection when first told of it. Later, he confessed his faith, "My Lord and my God," on seeing Jesus' crucifixion wounds.

 

Thomas is believed to have travelled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, travelling as far as the Malabar Coast reaching Muziris (India). In 1258, some of the relics were brought to Ortona, in Abruzzo, Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle. He is often regarded as the patron saint of India.

 

• Saint James The Great (Apostle and Martyr)

As written in relic: S. Jacob. Maj. A.

Death: 44 AD

Patron of:
Places: Spain, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Guayaquil and some places of the Philippines and Mexico.

Professions: Veterinarians, equestrians, furriers, tanners, pharmacists, oyster fishers, woodcarvers.

History of the Saint:

James the Great was one of the first disciples to join Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels say that James and John were with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to follow him. Saint James is the patron saint of Spain and his remains are held in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
 

• Saint Paul the Apostle - Apostle to the Gentiles and Martyr

As written in relic:  S. Pauli. Ap. 

Death: c. 64 or c. 67 A

Patron of: Missionaries, theologians, evangelists, and Gentile Christians. He is also the patron of Malta.

 

History of the Saint:

Saint Paul was an apostle (although not one of the Twelve Apostles) who taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world. Paul is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age and he founded several Christian communities in Asia Minor and Europe. He took advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish and Roman audiences.

Paul persecuted some of the early disciples of Jesus, in the area of Jerusalem prior to his conversion. Then,Paul was traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus on a mission to "arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem" when the resurrected Jesus appeared to him in a great light. He was struck blind, but after three days his sight was restored by Ananias of Damascus and Paul began to preach that Jesus of Nazareth is the Jewish Messiah and the Son of God.

 

• Saint Stephen Protomartyr - Deacon and First Protomartyr of Faith

As written in relic: S. Steph. Prot. 

Death: AD 33-37 (aged 28-32)

Patron of: Altar Servers,  bricklayers, Acoma Indian Pueblo; casket makers; Cetona, Italy; deacons; headaches; horses; Kessel, Belgium; masons; Owensboro, Kentucky; Passau, Germany; Kigali, Rwanda; Dodoma, Tanzania; Serbia; Republic of Srpska; Prato, Italy; Stonemasons

 

History of the Saint

Saint Stephen was one of the first ordained deacons of the Church. He was also the first Christian martyr. was according to the Acts of the Apostles a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy at his trial, he made a speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later become a follower of Jesus and known as Paul the Apostle.


 

• Saint Alphonsus Liguori - Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian
   

As written in relic: S. Alphon. De. Lig. Ep.
Death: 1 August 1787
Patron of: Pagani, Cancello, Naples (co-patron); arthritis, lawyers, confessors, moralists, vocations
 

History of  Saint 

Bishop, Doctor of the Church, and the founder of the Redemptorist Congregation. For thirteen years Alphonsus fed the poor, instructed families, reorganized the seminary and religious houses, taught theology, and wrote. 

His austerities were rigorous, and he suffered daily the pain from rheumatism that was beginning to deform his body

 

• Paul of Thebes, commonly known as Paul the Anchorite - The First Hermit

   

As written in relic: S. Pauli. p. Er

 

The story of him is told in the book Life of Saint Paul the First Hermit, composed in Latin by Saint Jerome, probably in 375–376. Paul of Thebes was born around 227 in the Thebaid of Egypt.

 

Paul and his married sister lost their parents. In order to obtain Paul's inheritance, his  brother-in-law sought to betray him to the persecutorsAccording to Jerome, Paul fled to the Theban desert as a young man during the persecution of Decius and Valerianus.

 

He lived in the mountains of this desert in a cave near a clear spring and a palm tree, the leaves of which provided him with clothing and the fruit of which provided him with his only source of food until he was 43 years old, when a raven started bringing him half a loaf of bread daily. He would remain in that cave for the rest of his life, almost a hundred years

 

Paul of Thebes is known to posterity because around the year 342, Anthony the Great was told in a dream about the older hermit's existence, and went to find him. Anthony the Great and Paul met when the latter was aged 113. They conversed with each other for one day and one night. When Anthony next visited him, Paul was dead. Anthony clothed him in a tunic which was a present from Athanasius of Alexandria and buried him, with two lions helping to dig the grave.

 

Father Anthony returned to his monastery taking with him the robe woven with palm leaf. He honored the robe so much that he only wore it twice a year: at the Feast of Easter, and at the Pentecost.

• Benedict of Nursia - Religious, Exorcist, Mystic and Abbot Founder of the Benedictine Order
   

As written in relic: S. Benedic. Ab. 

Death: c. AD 21 March 547

Patron of: He is a patron saint of Europe. Also: Against poison, Against witchcraft, Agricultural workers ,Cavers, Civil engineers, Coppersmiths, Dying people, Erysipelas, Farmers, Fever, Gall stones, Heraldry and Officers of arms, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, Inflammatory diseases,

Italian architects, Kidney disease, Monks, Nettle rash; Norcia, Italy; People in religious orders; Schoolchildren and students; Servants who have broken their master's belongings, Speleologists, Spelunkers, Temptations.

History of the Saint

Benedict founded twelve communities for monks at Subiaco, Lazio, Italy, before moving to Monte Cassino in the mountains of southern Italy. The Order of Saint Benedict is of later origin and, moreover, not an "order" as commonly understood but merely a confederation of autonomous congregations.

 

Benedict's main achievement, his "Rule of Saint Benedict", contains a set of rules for his monks to follow. Heavily influenced by the writings of the monk John Cassian, it shows strong affinity with the Rule of the Master, but it also has a unique spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness, which persuaded most Christian religious communities founded throughout the Middle Ages to adopt it. As a result, his Rule became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom. For this reason, Giuseppe Carletti regarded Benedict as the founder of Western Christian monasticism.
 

• Saint Francis of Assisi - Founder of the Franciscan Order (also called O.F.M. - Orders of Friars Minor)
  Religious, Deacon, Confessor, Stigmatist and Religious Founder
  
  As written in relic: S. Franc. Assis.

Death: 3 October 1226
Patron of: Stowaways, Italy, Ecology, Animals

History of the Saint

Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. What led him to become one of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity.

 

Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228. Along with Saint Catherine of Siena, he was designated Patron saint of Italy. He later became associated with patronage of animals and the natural environment, and it became customary for churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on or near his feast day of 4 October. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades. By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the Order. Once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs.

Francis is also known for his love of the Eucharist. In 1223, he arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene. According to Christian tradition, in 1224 he received the stigmata during the apparition of Seraphic angels in a religious ecstasy, which would make him the second person in Christian tradition after St. Paul  to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion. He died during the evening hours of 3 October 1226, while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 142.

 

• Saint Cajetan (Confessor) - Co-founder of the Theatines (Congregation of Clerics Regular of the Divine Providence)
  
  As written in relic: S. Cajet. Th. C.
  Death: 7 August 1547
  Patron of: Bankers; unemployed people; workers; gamers; gamblers; document controllers; job seekers; ; Albania; Italy; Ħamrun (Malta); Argentina; Brazil; El Salvador; Guatemala; Labo, Camarines Norte, Philippines

History of the Saint

 

Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene, Known as Saint Cajetan, was an Italian Catholic priest and religious reformer, co-founder of the Theatines. 

 

St. Cajetan was born in the territory of Vicenza, north Italy. In 1506 he worked as a diplomat for Pope Julius II, with whom he helped reconcile the Republic of Venice. But he was not ordained a priest until the year 1516.

 

With the death of Pope Julius II in 1513, Cajetan withdrew from the papal court. Recalled to Vicenza and founded in 1522 a hospital for incurables there.By 1523 he had established a hospital in Venice, as well. His interests were as much or more devoted to spiritual healing than the physical kind, and he joined a confraternity in Rome called the "Oratory of Divine Love". He intended to form a group that would combine the spirit of monasticism with the exercises of the active ministry.

A new congregation was canonically erected by Pope Clement VII in the year 1524, the Theatines. The order grew at a fairly slow pace: there were only twelve Theatines during the sack of Rome in 1527, during which Cajetan was tortured by the Spanish soldiers of Charles V who had mutinied. The Theatines managed to escape to Venice.There Cajetan met Jerome Emiliani, whom he assisted in the establishment of his Congregation of Clerks Regular. In 1533 he founded a house in Naples. The year 1540 found him in Venice again and from there he extended his work to Verona He founded a bank to help the poor and offer an alternative to usurers (who charged high interest rates). It later became the Banco di Napoli.
 

• Saint Ignatius of Loyola - Co-Founder of the Society of Jesus (S.J.) & Priest
  
  As written in Relic: S. Ignat. Lojo.

Death: 31 July 1556

Patron of:  Dioceses of San Sebastián and Bilbao, Biscay and Gipuzkoa; Basque Country; Military Ordinariate of the Philippines; Society of Jesus; Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Archdiocese of Baltimore; and Antwerp, Belgium.

 

History of the Saint 

Ignatius of Loyola (23 October 1491 – 31 July 1556) was a Spanish Basque Catholic priest and theologian, who co-founded the religious order called the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and became its first Superior General at Paris in 1541. The Jesuit order served the Pope as missionaries, and they were bound by a vow of special obedience to the sovereign pontiff in regard to the missions. They therefore emerged as an important force during the time of the Counter-Reformation.

 

Ignatius was beatified in 1609, and then canonized, receiving the title of Saint on 12 March 1622. His feast day is celebrated on 31 July. He is the patron saint of the Basque provinces of Gipuzkoa and Biscay as well as the Society of Jesus, and was declared patron saint of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. Ignatius is also a foremost patron saint of soldiers.
 

 

• Saint Francis of Paola - O.M.  (Hermit of St. Francis)
   

As written in relic: S. Franc.de Pa.

Death: 2 April 1507

Patron: Patron saint of Calabria; Amato; La Chorrera, Panama; boatmen, mariners, and naval officers

History of the Saint

 

Saint Francis of Paola, O.M. (The Minims Order) was an Italian mendicant friar and the founder of the Roman Catholic Order of Minims. 

 

Francis was born in the town of Paola, southern Italy. In his youth he was educated by the Franciscan friars in Paola. His parents, having remained childless for some years after their marriage, had recourse to prayer and especially commended themselves to the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, after whom they named their first-born son. 

 

At the age of 13, being admonished by a vision of a Franciscan friar, he entered a friary of the Franciscan Order to fulfill the vow made by his parents. Later on he found a secluded cave on the sea coast and remained alone for about six years, giving himself to prayer and mortification.

In 1435 two companions joined him in his retreat, and to accommodate them Francis caused three cells and a chapel to be built: in this way the new order was begun. By 1436, he and two followers began a movement that would become the foundation of the Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi, which would later be renamed as the Minim friars. Their name refers to their role as the "least of all the faithful". Abstinence from meat and other animal products became a "fourth vow" of his religious order, along with the traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The rule of life adopted by Francis and his religion was one of extraordinary severity. He felt that heroic mortification was necessary as a means for spiritual growth. 

 

• Saint Philip Neri - Confessor and Founder of Congregation of the Oratory.
  
  As written in relic: S. Philip. Ner.

Death: 25 May 1595