Rare 1959 Relic Card of Blessed Marguerite d’Youville | Original Catholic Devotional Card

A beautiful and historically significant Catholic relic card dedicated to Blessed Marguerite d’Youville, founder of the Grey Nuns of Montreal.

This original devotional card features a portrait of Marguerite d’Youville wearing the habit of the Grey Nuns, with a period red ecclesiastical seal and a printed designation referring to her relics.

The reverse contains a French prayer:

“Prière pour obtenir des faveurs par l’intercession de la Bienheureuse Marguerite d’Youville”

— a prayer asking for favors through the intercession of Blessed Marguerite d’Youville.

The card is particularly interesting because the reverse bears the date 3 May 1959, with permission of the Ordinary of Montreal (Canada). This was the very day on which Pope John XXIII beatified Marguerite d’Youville in Rome.

Marguerite d’Youville (1701–1771) founded the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, commonly known as the Grey Nuns. She dedicated her life to caring for the poor, sick and marginalized. She was beatified on 3 May 1959 and later canonized by Pope John Paul II on 9 December 1990, becoming the first person born in Canada to be canonized.

The portrait itself is also of particular historical interest. A Canadian museum record identifies a 1959 painting of Marguerite d’Youville by Alphonse Lespérance, suggesting a contemporary visual source for this devotional image.

A wonderful piece of mid-20th-century Catholic devotional history, especially appealing to collectors of religious ephemera, Canadian Catholic history and objects connected with the Grey Nuns.

Details

• Subject: Blessed Marguerite d’Youville
• Later status: Canonized Saint in 1990
• Order: Sisters of Charity of Montreal / Grey Nuns
• Date: 3 May 1959
• Place associated: Montreal, Canada
• Type: Catholic devotional / relic card
• Language: French
• Approx. size: 9 × 7 cm
• Seal: Original red printed/ecclesiastical seal
• Reverse: Prayer for favors through the intercession of Blessed Marguerite d’Youville
• Permission: Ordinary of Montreal, dated 3 May 1959

Condition

Very good antique/vintage condition for its age, with natural age toning, light surface wear and minor signs of handling. The original red seal remains present.