Restorations by their very nature sometimes reserve discoveries that are both unexpected and impossible to fully explain.
Such is the case with the restoration of one of Saint Clement’s side altars. Work being carried out on the altar dedicated to Saint Joseph has uncovered an early ex voto offering hidden behind the fabric lining tabernacle when it was removed for cleaning. How and why it came to be there is a mystery.
The ex voto consists of a donor card in gold lettering signed “Donné par L. Joseph Fauteux Ecr” and is accompanied by a heart-shaped silver votive medal surrounded by palm branches carrying the inscription “Sister Anne Marie, November 13th 1916.”
We don’t know the identities of either Joseph Fauteux or Sister Anne Marie and it is unlikely that we ever will. What we can be sure of however is that the votive offering was so important to Mr. Fauteux that he took pains to ensure that the card identifying him as the donor was done in gold lettering embellished with scroll work before placing it where, together with the silver memento carrying Sister Anne Marie’s name, it would be next to Our Lord in His tabernacle.
If Sister Anne Marie’s identity, like Mr. Fauteux’s, is unknown, so too is the significance of the date of November 13th, 1916. Was it her date of birth or that of her death? Was it perhaps the date the young woman entered religious life? We simply don’t know. All we know is that over one hundred years ago, both objects were entrusted to the safekeeping of Saint Joseph and carefully placed out of sight in the tabernacle.
The saint will continue to watch over them for once the restoration is complete, the votive offering will remain attached to his altar, enclosed in a secure frame accompanied by an explanatory note documenting its discovery.