Fabric from the Franciscan habit worn by Leonardo da Porto Maurizio.

[Textile] / [Relic]. Testor Ego Infras.tus, hoc alligata, sigilloque munita particula esse Habitus Servi Dei P.ris F.ris Leonardi à Porti Mauritio Miss. Apost. Ord. Min. Ref. Sacri Recessus, Conv.tus S.ti Bonav.rae de Urbe in quo obiit die 26 9mbris 1751. In quorum fidem. Ex edem Conv.tu die 5 Aug. 1754. [Outer sheet:] Abito autentico del Rve. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio missionario Apostolico. Rome: signed by Brother Philippus, dated 5 August 1754. [20.2 x 13.7 cm the authenticum; 29.0 x 20.1 cm the cover sheet; 2.1 x 15 cm the fabric piece], [1] f. manuscript document to which a piece of fabric is attached with string and a wax seal, the whole of which is enfolded within [1] f. contemporary coversheet with Italian inscription. Minor ink burn, a few minor stains, chipping to the wax seal. Very well preserved.
 
 
Piece of fabric cut from a habit worn by the Franciscan saint Leonardo da Porto Maurizio (1676-1751). The fragment is tied and sealed to a manuscript authenticum, or certificate of authenticity, written out and dated 5 August 1754 by a certain Brother Philippus from Leonardo’s monastery of San Bonaventura on Palatine Hill in Rome. 
 
Textiles of any sort from this period rarely survive in any condition today, and a well-preserved, firmly dated item is an unusual find. The fabric piece is also an example of a ‘touch’ relic (also called a ‘contact’ or ‘secondary’ relic), i.e., an item that came in contact with or was in the vicinity of a saint’s primary relic (e.g., a body part or personal item).
 
Upon his death Leonardo da Porto Maurizio was immediately venerated at the monastery San Bonaventura al Palatino, and it is likely that the distribution of relics of this sort was part of an initial push for his sainthood. Leonardo was not, however, beatified until 1796, and he was sanctified only in 1868.
 
The folded authenticum is wrapped in a sheet of paper on which there is a contemporary inscription in Italian stating that it encloses “the authentic habit” of the apostolic missionary Leonardo da Porto Maurizio. The authenticum itself is written in Latin, in the first person, by Brother Philippus. He states that he is a witness to the fact that the “particula” tied and affixed with a seal to the document is from the habit of Leonard, who died at the monastery of San Bonaventura on 26 November 1751.
 
The ascetic Leonardo da Porto Maurizio is remembered for his extensive missionary work (principally on the Italian peninsula), his promotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and for his several published works of sermons, letters, treatises, and devotional tracts for the use of both the clergy and laymen. 
 
 
I have not encountered any other relic textiles related to Leonardo da Porto Maurizio, and this category of material is generally rare.
 
*H. Leclerc, “Reliques et Reliquaires,” Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie (Paris: Letouzey, 1948), vol. 14/2, cols. 2338-46 (on authenica).