RELIQUARY 4 RELICS OF SAINTS

Rare bronze reliquary with a glass front, the center of the reliquary has a symmetrical structure decorated with fine gilded elements in relief, representing floral and foliate motifs. The fragments of the relics are placed inside colored diamonds and surrounded by a metal filigree.

A red fabric background provides contrast and highlights the relic; this color, omnipresent in the Christian liturgy, symbolizes the blood of Christ and his redemptive sacrifice.

Four handwritten inscriptions identify the saints to whom these relics belong:

• S. Sebastiani M. → Saint Sebastian, Roman martyr
  Saint Sebastian was a Roman soldier converted to Christianity, who served in the imperial guard under the Emperor Diocletian. Denounced for his faith, he was sentenced to death and pierced with arrows, but miraculously saved by a Christian woman, Irene. However, he was arrested again and this time beaten to death. He is venerated as a patron saint against epidemics and invoked in times of plague.

• S. Elisabeth M. Pr. → Saint Elizabeth, mother of Saint John the Baptist
  Saint Elizabeth is a key figure in the New Testament. The wife of the priest Zechariah, she was old and barren when an angel announced to her that she would give birth to John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. She is also known for her encounter with the Virgin Mary at the Visitation , where she acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah while Mary is pregnant. Her name is associated with faith and the fulfillment of divine promises. She is venerated as a saint in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

• S. Catharina S. → Saint Catherine, probably Catherine of Alexandria
  Saint Catherine of Alexandria was a young Egyptian noblewoman of the 4th century, famous for her great erudition and her refusal to renounce her Christian faith. According to tradition, she engaged pagan philosophers in debate, converting them before being condemned to the wheel and then beheaded. She is the patron saint of students, philosophers, and artisans.

• S. Magdalena C. → Saint Mary Magdalene, an important biblical figure
  Saint Mary Magdalene is a major disciple of Jesus Christ, often identified as the repentant sinner who followed him to the cross and was the first to see him resurrected. She is called "the apostle of the apostles" for having announced the Resurrection to the disciples. According to tradition, she ended her life as a hermit in Provence, in the cave of Sainte-Baume.
  

The red wax seal affixed by the Church not only guarantees the authenticity of the relic, but also that the reliquary has not been opened and that the relic has not been handled since it was closed. It thus ensures its intact preservation, providing complete certainty as to its provenance and integrity.

PERIOD : 19th century
DIMENSIONS : 4.5 cm X 3 cm
SIZE : 1.8" X 1.2"