Reliquary with Relics of Saints Mary of Egypt, Tarasius of Constantinople, and Andrew of Crete

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Reliquary with Relics of Saints Mary of Egypt, Tarasius of Constantinople, and Andrew of Crete

Belgium, 1868
Gilded bronze Gothic-style reliquary with original episcopal document

A magnificent early 19th-century gilded bronze reliquary in the form of a miniature Gothic chapel, surmounted by a cross and glazed on all sides, containing significant first-class relics (ex ossibus) of three highly venerated early Christian saints:

St. Mary of Egypt (Sancta Maria Aegyptiaca) – The great penitent and hermitess of the 5th–6th century, renowned for her extraordinary conversion from a life of sin to one of severe asceticism in the desert beyond the Jordan. Her life was recorded by St. Sophronius of Jerusalem, and she remains one of the most beloved figures of repentance in both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. Feast: April 1 (Western), Fifth Sunday of Lent (Eastern).

St. Tarasius of Constantinople (Sanctus Tarasius Constantinopolitanus) – Patriarch of Constantinople (784–806), a defender of the veneration of holy icons during the period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. Presiding over the Second Council of Nicaea (787), he restored the legitimacy of sacred images in Christian worship. Venerated as a confessor and saint. Feast: February 25.

St. Andrew of Crete (Sanctus Andreas Cretensis) – Bishop, theologian, and hymnographer (c. 660–740), one of the greatest liturgical writers of the Eastern Church, author of the Great Canon of Repentance still sung in Orthodox Lent. Remembered for his profound theological works and sanctity. Feast: July 4.

The relics are identified by original handwritten labels:

• ex oss. S. Mariae Aegyptiacae
• ex oss. S. Tarasii Constantinopolitani
• ex oss. S. Andreae Cretensis

They are secured with gilded threads inside the reliquary, which is lined in red and purple silk embroidered with silver motifs. The reliquary retains its original episcopal seals and is accompanied by a Latin authentica, an official ecclesiastical document certifying the relics, issued by Victor Augustus Isidorus (Cardinal Deschamps), Primate of Belgium and Archbishop of Mechelen, dated 1868.

  Dimensions:

• Height: 41 cm
• Length: 30 cm
• Width: 20 cm

  Materials:

Gilded bronze, glass, silk, bone relics, handwritten identification papers, episcopal wax seals.

  Provenance:

Archdiocese of Mechelen (Belgium).
Authenticated and sealed under Cardinal Victor-Auguste-Isidore Deschamps, 1868.

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