When the Blessed Pierre of Luxemberg died in 1387 at the age of 17, he had already been made a pseuocardinal by the Antipope Clement VII. He was living at the papal court in Avingnon at the time and died from anorexia and fever due to the harsh lifestyle he demanded of himself. He was beatified in 1547. Some of his relics are displayed in Avignon’s lovely Basilica of St. Pierre (the original St. Peter).

Did you know there are three classes of relics. A first class relic is a body part, such as a bone or a heart, or an item related to the passion, such as a piece of the cross. A second class relic is something used by a saint, such as Pierre of Luxumberg’s cardinal garb, seen in the first photo above. A third class relic is something, usually a piece of cloth, that has touched a first or second class relic. It is difficult to determine the classes of the relics in the small reliquaries in the second photo.