A new reliquary
Father Martial Python, the parish priest moderator and biographer of the saint, was keen to give the desired solemnity to this transfer of the relics. The journey of a few metres, from a small side chapel to the main nave of the church, was made in procession and to the sound of hymns. The glass case containing the bones of the saint was placed in the new reliquary in the left transept of the nave.
A necessary transfer
This transfer was necessary because the small chapel, built in 2000, was really too small. It could only accommodate two or three pilgrims at a time," explains Jean Paul Conus, president of the Marguerite Bays Foundation. When a busload of pilgrims arrived, it was a mob.
The glass base of the reliquary of Saint Marguerite Bays gives it an airy appearance © Maurice Page
Simply moving the present reliquary would not have been appropriate, as the object would have been lost in the vastness of the church nave. The commission for a new reliquary was therefore given to Jean-Pierre Demierre, an artist who has already made liturgical furniture for several churches in the region. The cost of the project, to be borne by the parish and the foundation, was covered by an anonymous donor.
An unusual order
Making a reliquary is not a frequent artistic work, especially in the 21st century, the artist notes. "I was preoccupied with this work for two years. I had to create an object that corresponded to the life and spirituality of Marguerite Bays, but also fit harmoniously into a church that was already rich in artistic elements. After numerous sketches, I made two life-size models in wood, before making the object in bronze," he explains to cath.ch.
The general shape is based on the circle, which evokes the world and nature, and is taken from the vault of the nave. On the circular part, the cross of Christ appears with the daisy in the background, whose golden centre evokes the Eucharist. The side sections have bronze reliefs representing the tetramorph, i.e. the symbols of the four evangelists: a man for Matthew, a lion for Mark, a bull for Luke and an eagle for John.
The shrine is set on a cherry wood tray, the wood from which the beautiful furniture of the region was made. The whole thing rests on a glass structure, the shape of which echoes that of the arches of the church. The reliquary will finally be surmounted by a new, younger and more smiling portrait of the saint, painted by the Valaisan painter Roger Gaspoz.
A friend in heaven
The cult of relics goes back to the earliest times of the Church, when the faithful built memorials at the places where martyrs died," says Martial Python. Today, the veneration of relics reminds us how much the saints have responded to God's call. "With Marguerite Bays, we pilgrims on earth have a friend in heaven who accompanies us with her prayer and protection.
Blessing of the reliquary at the patronal feast of Saint Margaret Bays
Sunday 27 June 2021 in Siviriez
