San Justino, a Hidden Convent Relic: The Discovery of a Roman Catacomb Martyr in the Church of the Convent of San Jerónimo, Puebla, Mexico.

The female convent of San Jerónimo and the College of Jesús María were founded in the city of Puebla, Mexico, thanks to the interest of Juan Barranco, who obtained the authorization by the bulla of Pope Clemente VII, on February 21, 1597. The church of the convent of San Jerónimo was dedicated on August 11, 1635, and it underwent a neoclassical renovation in the mid-nineteenth century. In 2018, during an inspection of the building it was discovered San Justino, a Roman catacomb martyr, found hidden behind a lid from the neoclassical base of the main altar. Inside, the scattered skeletal remains were found, accompanied by a bust and limbs made in wax, and its authentica. The features of the pieces of wax, the position of the bones and the textile and padding remains, suggest that San Justino was once a ceroplastic reliquary, also known as corpi santi. This discovery is of great importance because it represents the recovery of an invaluable testimony of the presence of Roman relics in the Puebla female conventual environment.