Seville Cathedral Receives a New Reliquary for Saint Manuel González

The Holy Metropolitan Cathedral of Seville has added to its artistic and devotional heritage a new reliquary to house the relics of Saint Manuel González, an illustrious son of the city and one of the most significant figures of Eucharistic spirituality of the 20th century. The piece, commissioned by the Cathedral Chapter, was made in Seville in the Year of Our Lord 2025, faithfully following the traditional techniques of Seville’s goldsmithing.

The reliquary, made of sterling silver in its natural color, responds to an original design conceived specifically for this purpose. Its author, the goldsmith Joaquín Ossorio, has created a work of great symbolic richness and careful execution, designed to integrate with dignity into the artistic ensemble of the Cathedral and serve as a permanent support for the veneration of the Sevillian saint.

The piece is structured on a rectangular base with a mixtilinear profile, articulated by corbels that house spaces for heraldic emblems. On the front is the episcopal coat of arms of Saint Manuel González, surrounded by a phylactery bearing his motto, Sustinui qui consolaretur, a quote from Psalm 68 that expresses the expectation of comfort not found and that summarizes his profound spirituality centered on the Sacred Eucharist. On the back is the coat of arms of the Cathedral Chapter, composed of the Main Tower and two vases of lilies, accompanied by the Latin inscription that records the commission and its dating.

Above the pedestal rises a quadrangular shaft that evolves into an octagon, enriched with small moldings and scroll handles. On both sides, two delicate figures of seises (choirboys) stand out, a clear allusion to Saint Manuel’s connection with the Cathedral since his childhood, when he was part of this historic institution. These sculptures were modeled by the sculptor Álvaro Abrines and are inspired by the famous canvases of the seises painted by Gonzalo Bilbao, establishing a dialogue between pictorial tradition and contemporary goldsmithing.

The upper part houses the reliquary itself, oval in shape and with profuse baroque decoration based on scrolls and ovals, embossed on both sides. In its center, the relic has been placed, conceived as the visual and spiritual axis of the entire composition.

With the arrival of this new reliquary, the Cathedral of Seville not only enriches its artistic heritage, but also reinforces the memory and devotion to Saint Manuel González, known as the “Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle”, underlining his close connection with the city and with the metropolitan temple that marked his early years. The work is thus presented as a testimony of faith, art, and historical continuity at the service of the Church of Seville.