Some
may have seen this news that the relics of St. Maria Goretti will be on tour in
the United States come this fall. From
the National Catholic Register:
It’s been confirmed. The
body — the major relics — of St. Maria Goretti, beloved by countless millions,
is heading to the United States.
When she arrives from
Italy, the first public appearance will be on Sept. 21 at Sacred Heart Basilica
in Newark, N.J. — public because she will initially be visiting a prison before
that. As of the latest scheduling she will tour through 25 Catholic dioceses
spanning 18 states in parishes, schools, and prisons, including New York,
Boston, Newark, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Orlando, and
Oklahoma City.
But
I have even bigger news that that. One
of the parishes selected for the veneration of her relics will be no other than
my humble, little parish in Staten Island, St. Rita’s Church. Other than St. Patrick’s Cathedral in
Manhattan, St. Rita will be the only church in New York City where the relics
will be on display. I don’t know how we
were selected, but what a huge honor for us.
Here
are some details. She will be hosted at
St. Rita's on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 for one day only. Public veneration will begin at 7:00 AM. A Solemn Mass will be celebrated by Bishop
John J. O'Hara at 7:30 PM. Public
veneration will end at 11:00 PM.
Hereis a website with the information.
At
the web site there is a schedule for the travel across the country. She may be at a parish closer. Here's the link to the travel schedule.
There's also a Facebook page, but I'm not on
Facebook to verify it. Here's that link.
The
relics will not be her entire body. From
the Register article:
To be clear, the major
relics are her remains inside a glass-sided casket. The wax statue of her in
repose contains her skeletal remains which are not visible. Her body is not
incorrupt. But her skeleton is complete except for some small amounts of bone
that went into reliquaries and her right arm that her mother Assunta donated to
the Church of St. Nicholas, known as the Sanctuary of St. Maria Goretti, in her
birth town of Corinaldo. Maria used her right arm
to defend her purity in the attack.
Expected to draw huge
crowds, every stop on the tour at the various churches, schools and prisons
will include presentations on Maria Goretti’s life and virtues, plus other
prayer and veneration opportunities. Masses will often be part of the
liturgical celebrations.
I assume the display will be like this image of her relics on display above. i pulled that off Google Images.
I know that my son’s class (he goes to St. Rita’s school) will be led
into the church for veneration. I don’t know how
the little church will hold what I expect will be huge crowds. I would guess that if we squeezed tightly St.
Rita could hold maybe 400 parishioners. The
lines could be out the door. Still I
will be there for as long as I can, and certainly for the Mass. If you plan to be in the neighborhood to
attend, let me know. I’d love to meet
you.
Lucky! Veneration of saints relics is something so awesome and amazing that there are no words for it. You will probably have to wait in line, but its worth it!
ReplyDeleteI've never come across actual saints' relics before. This will be huge.
DeleteWow, how wonderful that the relics are coming to your parish church! We had some Saint (Padre) Pio relics some to our church once.
ReplyDeleteI don;t know where the Philly sites are yet, but we have a high school here that once was a girl's school named Maria Goretti, and is now a co-ed named Neumann-Goretti, which our Chinese student attends.
The travel schedule link listed a number of places in Philly. Look for the one nearest you. I didn't realize you still had your Chinese student living with you. You haven't blogged in a while. [hint] ;)
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