Reliquary theca with relics of St. Aloysius Gonzaga & St. Joseph of Cupertino

Oval glass-fronted silvered brass pendant reliquary theca housing relic of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and a pre-canonization relic of Saint Joseph of Cupertino. The relics are affixed to a blue-colored silk ground, surrounded by gilt paperolle ornamentation, and identified in Latin on a fancy manuscript cedulae labels as S. Aloysii Gonzaga // B. Josephi a Cupert. (Saint Aloysius Gonzaga // Saint Joseph of Cupertino). 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 an unidentified Roman Catholic Bishop.

Saint Joseph of Cupertino, O.F.M. Conv. (†1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar honored as a Christian mystic and saint. He was said to have been remarkably unclever but prone to miraculous levitation and intense ecstatic visions that left him gaping. Joseph was beatified in 1753 and canonized in 1767. He is a patron of the City of Osimo, aviation, astronauts, mental handicaps, test taking, and students.

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J. (Italian: Luigi Gonzaga; † 1591) was an Italian aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of an epidemic. He was beatified in 1605, and canonized in 1726. He is a patron of students, Christian youth, Jesuit scholastics, the blind, AIDS patients, AIDS caregivers.