Unused certificate for authenticating veil relic of the Madonna di Loreto.
[Madonna di Loreto] / [Relic]. Attestazione. Attesto io sottoscritto Custode della S. Casa di Loreto, che il Velo sigillato, ed annesso a questa mia sia stato indosso il Giovedì, e Venerdì Santo alla Sacra Statua Laurentana, e poi toccata nelle Sacre Mura, e nella S. Scodella della Beatissime Vergine, che si conserva in questa sua S. Casa. S. l. [Loreto?]: s.n., s.a. [late 18th century?]. [15.4 x 10.3 cm], [1] f. letterpress form with woodcut image, on laid paper with partial watermark (star within a circle). Only very minor toning and spotting.
The black gauze ‘mourning veil’ used during Holy Week to cover the much-venerated cult state of the Virgin & Child at the Casa Santa di Loreto was cut up and distributed to pilgrims who valued such pieces of fabric not only as souvenirs but also as wonder-working relics. The item seen here is a certificate to which such fabric would be attached by the custodian of the Holy House. This late 18th-century example was never used and thus represents an unusual survival of ‘old stock’ from the Loreto pilgrim trade.
The certificate is headed by a (quite vernacular) woodcut of the cult statue. In the letterpress text below, the custodian of Casa di Loreto states that he certifies the attached piece of ‘veil’ as having covered the statue on Maundy Thursday and on Good Friday and that the fabric also touched both the Sacred Walls of the House and the Holy Bowl kept there [a relic used at the table of the Holy Family]. There follow blank spaces where the custodian was to sign his name and provide the date.
The veil fabric given to Loreto pilgrims is an example of a ‘touch’ relic (also called ‘contact’ or ‘secondary’ relics), i.e., a substance that came in contact with saint’s primary relic (e.g., a body part or personal item) or was taken from a holy place (as here). Other pilgrim-oriented touch relics from Loreto include engraved ‘envelopes’ containing dust from the Holy House and replicas of the Holy Bowl which were made with clay to which such dust was added.
This form/certificate is not located by OCLC or KVK, although similar certificates of various design are well known.