Only one will be offered this auction - and it's been quite some time since we were able to offer this beautiful pilgrimage badge with the special Rainbow Sheen Finish!

Beautiful detail - be sure to view all the images to see the beauty in this piece!  

This comes with its own special pouch for safekeeping!  It was purchased in Chartres, France many years ago during one of our programs.

Detail about the badge itself: a replica of a 13th Century Medal of Our Lady of Chartres.

Mary, on the one side is crowned with a halo.  She holds the infant Jesus, with a cruciform nimbus on her left arm.  He blesses with His right hand and holds a globe in His left.  Mary is seated on a throne between two pillars and is being carried from left to right by two clerics.  Two tiny figures are kneeling at her feet.

On the reverse side, two bare-headed and tonsured clerics are carrying a reliquary containing the Sancta Camisia. This is the sacred tunic* that was believed to have been worn by Mary when she gave birth to Jesus. It was given to Chartres Cathedral by King Charles the Bald in 876. Beneath the reliquary is the representation of a medieval Chartres coin, known as a "besan," which is still part of the city’s heraldry.

This medal is a copy of one found in 1862 at the Pont Notre-Dame, when the Seine River was being dredged. It is an exact copy in both design and dimensions. In medieval times, pilgrims sewed the medal onto their hat or clothing or wore it around their neck on a leather chain.  It is a fine example of medieval craftsmanship and was intended for the numerous pilgrims who flocked to Chartres to seek Mary's intercession; many of them on their way to Santiago de Compostela via Chartres.

*When the reliquary was opened in the 18th century, the garment was found not to be a tunic, but folded linen.*