Description

Paper quilling reliquary from the Monastery of the Visitation in Paray-le-Monial

Ex-Voto of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

Authentic reliquary for private devotion made in the 19th century by the Monastery of the Visitation in Paray-le-Monial, a major center of devotion to the Sacred Heart linked to the visions of Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century.

Presented in an oval frame in blackened wood from the Napoleon III period, under domed glass.

Here, in the lower part, are three identified relics: 

– Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), founder of the Order of the Visitation 

– Saint Jeanne-Françoise de Chantal (1572-1641), co-founder 

– Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), Visitation nun of Paray-le-Monial, great mystic of the Sacred Heart, beatified in 1864 and declared a saint in 1920, so the frame dates from well before that date. The mention of “Blessed” places the creation before her canonization.

This reliquary contains a delicate monastic composition made of paperolles (Paper quilling): rolls of paper, gold thread, pearls, and plant elements arranged around a radiant Sacred Heart.

The entire piece is handmade using decorative techniques practiced by nuns in Visitation convents in the 19th century.

Paperolle is an ancient technique that has been used since the Middle Ages in poor churches to create large decorations imitating gold or silver filigree.

Then, from the 18th century onwards, the technique spread, particularly in convents where cloistered nuns made numerous small reliquaries to house the relics of saints.

This became a real business for the convents and, in order to meet demand, instead of small pieces of bone, these reliquaries contained a piece of cloth that had been in contact with the holy relic. This was known as the transfer of holiness.

The interior is embellished with a beautiful dove cut out of fine paper, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, a frequent iconographic element in mystical reliquaries linked to apparitions and the spirituality of the Sacred Heart.

On the reverse side, the reliquary is still sealed with silk ribbon and wax seals from the Monastery of the Visitation, guaranteeing the authenticity and integrity of the relics.

A handwritten label indicates the presence of plant fragments “From the hazel grove where Our Lord appeared to Blessed Margaret Mary.”

These small branches come from the site of Christ's apparitions to Marguerite-Marie in Paray-le-Monial and are contact relics linked to the Shrine of the Sacred Heart.

Each reliquary of this type was handmade in the monastery and intended for private devotion or offered as a votive offering. Each piece is unique in its assembly and materials.

Dimensions: 16 × 14 cm 

Period: 19th century (before 1920) 

Origin: Monastery of the Visitation, Paray-le-Monial 

Condition: Good antique condition. Some of the beads from the interior composition have come loose over time and lie at the bottom of the frame; two are attached to the inside of the glass.

The reliquary remains sealed with its wax seals intact and has not been opened.

An authentic testimony to devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the monastic work of the Visitation Sisters in the 19th century.