Reliquary theca with relics of Carmelite Blessed Nuns of Guadalajara, Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War

Round glass-fronted yellow-metal reliquary theca housing the first-class ex ossibus (of the bone) relic of the Blessed Martyrs of Guadalajara. The relic is affixed to a red silk ground and identified in Latin on a typeset cedula label as BB. Mart. Guadalaiar. (Blessed Martyrs of Guadalajara). On the back, under the protective cap, the theca is secured with a seal of red Spanish wax bearing an imprint of a crest of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, (known as the Carmelite Order).

The Blessed Martyrs of Guadalajara (†1936) were three Discalced Carmelite nuns from the Monastery in Guadalajara, Spain: Blessed María Pilar of Saint Francis Borgia, Blessed Teresa of the Child Jesus and of Saint John of the Cross, and Blessed María Ángeles of Saint Joseph. When in the early days of the Spanish Civil War, on July 24, 1936, anti-Catholic militiamen seized their convent, the sisters, known for their deep prayer life and devotion to Christ the King, were taken to a cemetery outside the city. Calm and fearless, they forgave their persecutors, proclaimed their faith, and were shot while singing hymns and praying. María Pilar reportedly said, "We die for Christ our King!" They were the first religious martyrs of the war to be beatified, by Pope St. John Paul II on March 29, 1987. Their feast is celebrated on July 24.