1764 Documented reliquary theca with relic of St. Sylvester, Abbot, founder of the Sylvestrine Congregation
Oval glass-fronted silver pendant reliquary theca housing the first-class ex ossibus (of a bone) relic of St. Sylvester, Abbot. A substantial relic is affixed to the center of the theca surrounded by gilt paperolle and silver wire ornamentation and identified in Latin on a manuscript cedula label as S. Silv. Abbt. (St. Sylvester, Abbot). On the back, the theca is secured with a seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a coat of arms of Fr. Amadeus Grassi, O.S.B. Silv., Abbot of the Sylvestrine Congregation. The relic is accompanied by the original matching hand-written authentics document issued and sealed by the order of Abbot Grassi in 1764.
Saint Silvestro Guzzolini (†1267) was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Silvestrine Order. He served as a canon in Osimo but respectful rebukes of his bishop's inappropriate conduct led him to leave for a hermitage before the bishop could strip him of his position. He remained in his hermitage with a determination to found a religious congregation and based it upon the Order of Saint Benedict after having a dream of Benedict of Nursia. His order received papal approval from Pope Innocent IV which allowed his order to expand across Italian cities to a significant degree. His beatification was confirmed in the 1260s after his death in 1267, and he was later canonized in 1598 as a saint.
