This sword, featuring a gilded metal handle and hilt adorned with a mother-of-pearl appliqué, belonged to Dr. Charles Numa de Blois (1867-1952). The sword scabbard is made of black leather.

On the buttons of the tunic and the handle of the sword, we notice an inscription from the Order of St. Gregory the Great.

Gregory the Great was born ca. 540 in Rome to an aristocratic family. He became a monk within the Order of St. Benedict and was elected the 64th pope in 590 under the name Gregory I. He died in 604.

Closer to us, the parish and municipality of Saint-Grégoire-le-Grand are now associated with the city of Bécancour, Saint-Grégoire sector, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, across from Trois-Rivières.

The Catholic Church has its own system of honorary distinctions. There are five main orders of the Holy See. Each order consists of three classes: Grand Cross, Commander, and Knight. In order of precedence: the Supreme Order of Christ is reserved for heads of state; the Order of the Golden Spur or the Golden Militia, limited to one hundred knights; the Order of Pius IX, established in 1847; the Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great, civil and military; then, the Order of St. Sylvester.

Charles Numa de Blois, a physician, was admitted to the Order of St. Gregory the Great as a Commander.

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (1807-1864) and Honoré Mercier (1840-1894), French-speaking politicians from Lower Canada, received the Grand Cross decoration.

Donation from Guy Tousignant
Musée Pierre-Boucher Collection
2009 238 A.2-1