Fabric from the habit of the nun Maria Diomira del Verbo Incarnato (1708-68).

[Nuns] / [Touch relic]. Attesto Io infrascritta che la presente Porzione d’abito qui fermato col Bolla della Religione fù usato dalla fù nostra Buona Serva di Dio la Ma[d]re X. M[ari]a Diomira del Verbo Incarnato, Nata in Genova, Capp[ucci]na in Fanano, morta in concetto do Santità il de 14 Gennaro 1768. In Fede, Io X. Anna M[ari]a Teresa del Pre.a S. Franc[es]co sup[erio]ra afferma quanto sopra. [15.0 x 10.2 cm], [1] f. manuscript to which is attached with red string a square of fabric and a wax seal on paper cut out in the form of a flower, an annotation on verso addresses to a certain Suor Maria Catona. Small losses at folds.
 
 
Manuscript leaf describing and certifying the textile ‘relic’ attached to it with string and wax, i.e., a piece of fabric from the habit of Maria Diomira del Verbo Incarnato (1708-68), a Capuchin nun in Fanano. She was known for her mortification of the flesh and for having received the stigmata. The item was written and signed by the mother superior, Anna Maria Teresa.
 
This ‘relic’ was no doubt distributed with an eye toward advancing a case for sainthood, but Maria Diomira del Verbo Incarnato never became a saint, and was only declared ‘venerable’ in 1901.
 
This textile square here can be considered a ‘touch’ relic (also called a ‘contact’ or ‘secondary’ relic), i.e., an item that contacted or was in the vicinity of a holy person’s primary relic (e.g., a body part or personal item) or another holy item. 
 
 
*Giovanni Bensi, Un’esperienza mistica a Fanano: Venerabile suor Maria Diomira del verbo incarnato; Vita della serva di Dio suor Maria Diomira del Verbo Incarnato cappuccina professa nel monastero di Fanano scritta da lei medesima (Modena: presso la Societa tipografica, 1788).