A fragment of the Holy Veil of Mary preserved in Aveyron, France

For at least 500 years, Coupiac, a commune of Aveyron, France, has kept a piece of a veil considered to have belonged to the Blessed Virgin. The annual feast in honor of Our Lady of the Holy Veil takes place on the second Sunday after Easter.

A half of a mile to the north of Coupiac is the chapel of Our Lady of Massiliergues, where the Holy Veil had been buried the ground during the wars of religion in the 16th century. Thus the holy relic escaped the destructive hands of Protestants thanks to pious souls, who hid the veil in a piece of land adjoining the parish cemetery. Their intention was to unearth it after the war, but they died before the war ended. Therefore, the hiding place remained secret and the relic was forgotten.

Tradition has it that a bull from the nearby village continually scraped the ground around the cemetery while making unusual moans. It also refused to eat but kept its large size. Intrigued, the people decided to dig up the ground and the veil was discovered. Despite the humidity and a very prolonged stay in the earth, the relic was in a perfect state of conservation.

In 1968, an oratory intended to receive the gilded copper shrine containing the Holy Veil, was set up in an outbuilding of the presbytery. The relic has the particularity of healing sick eyes.

Source: Coupiac