Tiny rare French medal Saint Amaro San Mauro St Maur Maurus Sacred Heart Jesus

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Tiny rare French medal Saint Amaro San Mauro St Maur Maurus Sacred Heart Jesus:
$10.03

A tiny little vintage medal made of aluminium, with \"M. Santo Amaro Sanhoane\" around the portrait of the saint on the reverse, and Jesus and the Sacred Heart on the obverse.

St Amaro (or Maur, in French, Maurus in Latin, and known as Amarus the pilgrim in Brazil) was a disciple of Saint Benedict of Nursia (512-584 AD) and he is usually pictured holding a pilgrim\'s staff or sometimes a spade, in reference to the founding of a church in Paris named St Maur des Fosses ( a fosse is a ditch). On this medal he is pictured with a book and what may be a crutch, as he is a patron saint of healing. He also has a headdress or resplendar, which may reflect the connection the saint has with Brazil.

Saint Amaro, who was born in Italy, was said to have travelled legendary distances and encountered amazing wonders and obstacles with his companions to get to France and found Glanfeuil Abbey on the Loire near Angers, as the first Benedictine Abbey in what was then Gaul.

Whether he went to Portugal on these journeys is not recorded, but Sanhoane, the place named on this medal, is a district in Mogadoura, Portugal, which has a catholic chapel dedicated to him. There is also a chapel in Lisbon called the Capel0 de Santo Amaro, built in 1547. On the door panels arms and legs appear, a reference to the miracles he is said to have performed as a healer.

The little aluminium medal is less than 1.5 cm high including bail (just half an inch) and weighs 0.3 gm. This is an unusual memento of the saint, full of intriguing information, suitable for a charm bracelet or pendant.