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St Therese
The
Reliquary of St Therese was designed by Monsieur Dupont and
crafted by Monsieur de’Have. The rose on the lid of the Reliquary
is carved from an ivory billiard ball. The relic, possibly
an ankle bone, was presented to Father Taylor by the Saint’s
sister, Mother Agnes.
The
Act of Consecration composed and written by St Therese was
framed and again given to Father Taylor by Mother Agnes.
The
reliquary was completed in October 1939.
St
Ursula Reliquary
This
large relic of St Ursula a British princess who, in the fifth
century, fled to the Continent with eleven companions when
the Saxons invaded Britain. On reaching Cologne they were
martyred by the Huns. Their remains lie to this day in a chapel
which miraculously escaped damage during the Second World
War.
A
large relic of the saint was taken to India by a missionary
bishop who gave a portion to Mother Ursula when she retired,
in recognition of her wonderful missionary work. Her home
was in Bruges and she was a friend of Monsieur Dupon who had
designed nearly all of the masterpieces in the All Saints
Reliquary at Carfin.
Monsieur
Dupon brought Mother Ursula to Carfin, and she was so impressed
that she offered to part with her precious relic.
“It
will be the largest relic here,” said Monsieur Dupon, “I
propose that we make for it a copy of the famous reliquary,
designed, carved and painted by the great Bruges artist,
Memling.” The relic is the cheek bone or mastoid, of the
Saint.
 St
Vincent Deacon
This
wonderful carving of a man in agony on a gridiron depicts
the celebrated martyr St Vincent, who died about 304 in
Valencia, Spain. After dreadful tortures far surpassing
those of St Lawrence of Rome, he was finally roasted on
a gridiron. Although now almost forgotten he is still in
the Litany of Saints.
This
most precious relic was brought over 150 years ago to Oulton
Abbey, near Stone, Staffordshire, by Benedictine nuns from
Ghent, once a city of the Spanish Netherlands, at the time
of the French Revolution. It was presented to Carfin by
the Abbess and Community in 1941.
Patron
Of Miners
Because
of the miners association with the Grotto, Father Taylor
felt it necessary to obtain a relic of St. Barbara. It was
carried regularly in procession by the miners.
Our
Lady of Smile
Our
Lady of Smile is the work of Gererd Dupon and Albrecht d’Have.
There are many more works of art in the chapel by these
two men but space does not permit showing or mentioning
all of them. Carfin will be ever grateful to them and, indeed,
is privileged to have enjoyed such a fruitful association.
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