Mary’s Veil on display in Chartres Cathedral

Mary’s Veil on display in Chartres Cathedral   

The Veil of Mary (Sancta Camisa) is an oblong piece of silk that Mary is reported to have worn during the Annunciation of Jesus’ birth by the angel Gabriel, and during the birth of Jesus.

King Charles the Bald gave the veil to the Chartres Cathedral in 876. His grandfather, Charlemagne, had received it as a gift from the Byzantine Empress Irene.

When tested in the twentieth century, the cloth was shown to contain pollen from first century Palestine. This piece of cloth is closely linked to the history of both Chartres Cathedral and the town of Chartres.

In The Veil of Our Lady, French author Yves Delaporte, explains that “during the siege of Chartres by the Normands in 911, the relic acquired its fame.” The bishop of the diocese, in full sight of the attackers, displayed the veil of Mary to the townspeople. When they saw the venerated relic, the courage of the Christian army doubled, while the pagans were terrified…

Everyone attributed the victory to the immediate help and intercession of the Blessed Virgin.

The Veil of Mary was placed with other relics in a reliquary around the year 1,000. This was a sealed wooden trunk which was gold plated. It was usually kept on the high altar in the sanctuary. Pilgrims came to pray near the veil. Since it was thought to offer a type of divine protection, clothing of those going to war, and later robes offered to the Royals of France, who were about to give birth, were brushed against it and then worn or kept by those seeking protection.

When much of the cathedral was severely damaged by fire in 1194, there was great fear that the Veil had been destroyed. At first, the people despaired because they believed that the precious relic had also been burnt, and therefore that Mary’s protection of the city was lost, but on the third day after the fire, a procession was organized with the saved relic, which had been rescued by priests who had placed it in the crypt.

The cardinal then declared that this was a sign from Mary that she desired a more magnificent church, and great enthusiasm was immediately aroused for the reconstruction of the cathedral.

During the French Revolution, the Veil was cut into pieces. Some parts were later returned to the Church. Today, two of these pieces are displayed. The larger piece is enclosed in a 19th century reliquary and is displayed in a chapel on the north side of the sanctuary.

A smaller piece is on display in the crypt.

On March 25, 2020, the feast day of the Annunciation, many parishes in France and throughout the world celebrated the Blessed Virgin in a very special way and turned to her in prayer.

In Chartres, the faithful were reminded that in 1832, a cholera epidemic had claimed 160 victims in the city in just a few days. The bishop at the time, Bishop Clausel de Montals, ordered a procession on August 26th of that year. The Veil of the Blessed Virgin was carried through the streets, and from that day no further residents died, except for two patients who had publicly derided this act of trust.

During this Covid-19 pandemic, the people of Chartres have been invoking the protection of the Blessed Virgin again, and exposed the reliquary of her Veil on the threshold of the Cathedral on the feast of the Annunciation.