1744 Documented reliquary theca with relics of St. Lucia (Lucy) of Syracuse, Martyr
Oval glass-fronted silver reliquary theca housing precious first-class ex ossibus (from the bone) relic of St. Lucia. The relic is affixed to a gold silk background decorated with silver wire ornamentation and identified on a manuscript cedula label as S. Luciae V.M. (Saint Lucia, Virgin & Martyr). 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 Fr. Salvatore Castellino, the Vicar General of Genoa. The relic is accompanied by an original matching authentics document issued and signed by Fr. Castellino in 1744 under the orders of the Archbishop of Genoa Nicolò Maria de’ Franchi O.P. (†).
St. Lucia of Syracuse (†304), also known as Saint Lucy, or Saint Lucia (Italian: Santa Lucia), was a young Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution who is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Orthodox Churches. She is one of eight women, who along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. She is a patron of the blind; martyrs; Perugia, Italy; Mtarfa, Malta; epidemics; salesmen, Syracuse, Italy, throat infections, and writers.
