Reliquary theca with relics of Saint Joseph Calasanz, Patron of Christian Schools

Oval glass-fronted silver theca housing a relic of Saint ​Joseph Calasanz. The relic is affixed to a red silk background surrounded by silver wire ornamentation and identified on a manuscript cedula label as S. Joseph Calasan.  On the back,  the theca is secured by a seal of red Spanish wax with an imprint of a coat of arms of an unidentified Roman Catholic Bishop.

Saint ​Joseph Calasanz, Sch.P.(Spanish: José de Calasanz; Italian: Giuseppe Calasanzio), (†1648), also known as Joseph Calasanctius and Josephus a Matre Dei, was a Spanish Catholic priest, educator and the founder of the Pious Schools, providing free education to the sons of the poor, and the Religious Order that ran them, commonly known as the Piarists. He was beatified on ​in 1748, by Pope Benedict XIV​ and canonized by Pope Clement XIII ​in​ 1767. On August 13, 1948, Pope Pius XII declared him to be the "Universal Patron of all Christian popular schools in the world." His feast day is celebrated on August 25. ​