ca. 1880 French Reliquary monstrance with relics of St. Mary Magdalene

Large French Gothic-style gilt-bronze monstrance reliquary dating to 1880's housing in the central glass-fronted cavity a relic of the Veil of Saint Mary Magdalene. The relic is affixed to a red velvet heart-shaped ground decorated with gilt paperole ornamentation and identified in French on a manuscript cedula label as Voile Ste M. Magdaleine Pénitente ([of the] Veil of Saint Mary Magdalene, Penitent). On the back, under a metal protective cap, the theca is secured with a perfectly preserved seal of red Spanish wax with a clear imprint of a coat of arms of Fr. Pierre-Alfred Grimardias (†1896), Bishop of Cahors, France (1863-1893). 

Saint Mary Magdalene was a woman who, according to the texts included in the New Testament, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Within the four Gospels she is named at least 12 times, more than most of the apostles and she has been merited the title "Apostle to the apostles" by the Roman Catholic Church. Mary Magdalene is considered to be a saint by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches—with a feast day of July 22. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, the Orthodox equivalent of one of the Western Three Marys traditions. During the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a promiscuous woman, claims not found in any of the four canonical gospels. She is a holy patron of Apothecaries; contemplative life; converts; glove makers; hairdressers; penitent sinners; people ridiculed for their piety; perfumeries; pharmacists; sexual temptation; tanners; ​and ​women in general.​