19-year-old jeweler making crown for Our Lady of Liesse

At the age of 19, Melchior Nitsch is preparing to complete a project of great difficulty for his young age and relative inexperience. On August 15, 2024, he will officially hand over a crown for the statue of Our Lady of Liesse in Aisne, France, which he designed and crafted himself.

The story begins in August 2023. A young high-school graduate, Melchior, who was taking part in a summer camp with the Brothers of Saint-Jean, went to the Basilica of Our Lady of Liesse. He talked to the person in charge of the shrine's activities and learned that the crown had been stolen. The Virgin was wearing a replacement, but the young man didn’t think it looked good.

Boldly, Melchior — who had been taking jewelry courses since 3rd grade and was about to enter the Haute École de Joaillerie (Superior School of Jewelry) in Paris — offered to make a new one for her. Quite a challenge for a first order!

"The first woman to ask me for a bespoke piece of jewelry was the Virgin Mary," the young man tells Aleteia jokingly. He soon got in touch with the head of the shrine, who was convinced by the young jeweler's designs.

The budget for making the crown — 4,000 euros (about $4,300 American dollars) donated by the parish — was tight. But “miraculously,” in the process of making it, everyone turned out to be a donor. As part of his studies, Melchior works as a jewelry apprentice at the Antoine Camus workshop. He was told he could count on the support of his boss, who let him work on the crown in the workshop during his free time, use the tools, receive his help with practical aspects, and so on. 

But Melchior's manager isn't the only one to have shown generosity. "A few days ago, a stone merchant dropped by the workshop," says Melchior. "I needed lapis lazuli, which is an opaque blue stone. I asked if the dealer happened to have any with him. Turns out, not only did he have some, but they were the perfect size!" he enthuses. "I explained to the merchant that I'd be using them to crown a statue of the Virgin Mary, and he said: 'If it's for the Virgin, I'll donate it!” The merchant explained that he wasn't Catholic, but that he wanted to give the stones as Our Lady had been winking at him a lot lately."

But that's not all. Melchior has seen several providential results. "At the end of May, the director of the shrine validated the second design. I was then told that the Virgin was to be crowned on August 15, the feast of the Assumption of Mary," he recalls. This gave him two months. "I then carried out all the test phases and realized that it was technically impossible to make the crown within the allotted time!”

Nevertheless, Melchior refused to give up. So he went to a prayer vigil to ask the Virgin Mary for a miracle. "Today, I'm already halfway through the process, even though I started three weeks ago! Each time, the test phases have been successful."

He has already made the base of the crown, which is the headband, the branches, the elements that will be plated, the stones ... In short, "all the elements of the crown."

"This year 2024 will have been the hardest of all," says Melchior. But right from the start of this crazy adventure, Melchior decided to place himself under the protection of the Virgin Mary. "I entrust myself to her every day, [...] it's thanks to the Rosary that I'm able to fight all my battles, it's the most powerful weapon against the Devil."

As for the Virgin Mary, he says, "Her graces are very powerful; she's not our mother for nothing! She waits tirelessly for our prayers and has so much to give.”

Divine Providence is present in many ways in this story. Melchior is part of the third generation of singers at the Académie musicale de Liesse, having joined in 2016 for the Sixième class. He has also spent two summer camps in the Académie building. For him, it's a place that carries very special emotional associations. Having received so much from Our Lady of Liesse during his youth, Melchior will be crowning her, as a perfect fulfillment of the path he has traveled. "A real bond with Our Lady of Liesse has been forged since the beginning of the project," he assures us.

And Melchior tells a final anecdote: "Two months before the project was proposed to me, I prayed to the Virgin Mary like this: Virgin Mary, if you want me to work in sacred art, give me a sign.'"

Ask and you shall receive!