On July 22, 1670, Pope Clement X issued a Brief authorizing the Chapter of Coria to celebrate the Office of the Blessed Sacrament every Thursday of the year, except during Advent and Lent. By a rescript of the Sacred Congregation of Rites (April 26, 1738), this privilege was extended to the entire Diocese.
The silver reliquary that houses it is a splendid piece, gifted in 1678 by Bishop Francisco Sarmiento de Luna Enríquez and crafted in Madrid by the notable silversmith Rafael González Sobera (1635–1681).
An important decision regarding the veneration of the relics was the remodeling of a chapel located on the Gospel side, dedicated to Saint Peter Martyr of Verona, where the Chapter met between the 15th and 18th centuries. The relics were placed on the main altarpiece on March 2, 1789.
The Tablecloth was displayed by the bishop from the Balcony of the Relics on May 3, until the ceremony was discontinued in 1791. Since then, it has been venerated in the aforementioned chapel.
This is a tradition that seeks to be revived—as it once was in the past—drawing the devotion and interest of hundreds of pilgrims, both believers and skeptics alike, so that both the cathedral and the city of Coria may once again become a focal point and meeting place for spiritual devotion, cultural interest, and pilgrimage within global religious tourism, for all those who travel to the ancient, noble, and episcopal City of Coria to venerate the Holy Tablecloth of the Last Supper.
(Oil painting from the polyptych donated by Raquel Clemente Rubio)
