Rare 1909 Relic of Blessed Madeleine-Sophie Barat | Touch Relic & Antique Devotional Card

Rare 1909 Relic of Madeleine-Sophie Barat

A beautiful and historically significant early 20th-century Catholic devotional object dedicated to Madeleine-Sophie Barat (1779–1865), founder of the Society of the Sacred Heart.

The antique devotional card features a finely printed portrait of Madeleine-Sophie Barat surrounded by an ornate gold decorative frame. Beneath the image is the invocation:

“Sainte Madeleine-Sophie — priez pour nous.”

Inside, a specially prepared reliquary panel contains a small textile fragment identified in French as:

“PARCELLE D’ÉTOFFE
qui a touché au corps de
SAINTE
Madeleine-Sophie”

meaning:

“A piece of cloth which touched the body of Saint Madeleine-Sophie.”

The opposite page contains a Prayer for the Healing of a Sick Person, invoking the intercession of Madeleine-Sophie Barat. At the bottom is the ecclesiastical approval:

IMPRIMATUR:
Tornaci, 1 Septembris 1909.
V. CANTINEAU, Can. Cens. Lib.

The 1909 Imprimatur provides an important historical dating point for this devotional piece.

Madeleine-Sophie Barat founded the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1800 and devoted her life to the education and spiritual formation of women. She was beatified in 1908 and canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925.

The survival of a devotional object with its original printed prayer, relic compartment, aged paper and early ecclesiastical approval makes this a particularly appealing piece for collectors of Catholic relics, antique devotionalia, Sacred Heart history and early 20th-century religious ephemera.

Details

• Person: Madeleine-Sophie Barat
• Dates: 1779–1865
• Founder: Society of the Sacred Heart
• Type: Antique devotional relic / touch relic
• Relic: Small textile fragment identified as having touched the body of Madeleine-Sophie Barat
• Date: Early 20th century
• Imprimatur: Tornaci, 1 September 1909
• Language: French
• Material: Printed paper, textile fragment and decorative gilt elements
• Condition: Antique condition with age-related discoloration, foxing, creasing, surface wear and other signs of age
• Size: approximately 12 × 7 cm based on the photograph with ruler