Oval glass-fronted metal pendant reliquary theca housing first-class ex praecordis (of the inner organs) pre-canonization relic of Saint Joseph of Cupertino. The relic is affixed to a red silk ground, surrounded by silver wire and gilt paperolle ornamentation, and identified in Latin on a typeset cedula label as Ex Praecordiis // B. Jos. A Cup. (of the inner organs of the Blessed Joseph of Cupertino). On the back, the theca is secured with a perfectly preserved seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of an unidentified Roman Catholic Bishop.
Saint Joseph of Cupertino, O.F.M. Conv. (†1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic and saint. He was said to have been remarkably unclever, but prone to miraculous levitation and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping. Joseph was beatified in 1753 and canonized in 1767. He is a patron of The City of Osimo, aviation, astronauts, mental handicaps, test taking, students.