relics

Devotees believe that the almost transparent cloth was one of the burial shrouds that covered the face of Jesus in the tomb and that the image was formed miraculously at the moment of the resurrection.

Pope Francis and many people attending the canonization Mass in St. Peter’s Square were alive when St. Paul VI and St. Oscar Romero were alive, but the new saints’ relics and those of five other people canonized Oct. 14 still were present at the Mass as reminders that the saints were flesh-and-blood people who lived holy lives.

People waited in lines that stretched down the main aisle of the church and out the door to venerate the relics of St. Padre Pio at St. Mary’s Cathedral Sept. 25.

The veneration of relics is a fundamentally biblical practice; it is not some sort of innovation in the centuries after Christ. On the contrary, as Scripture reveals, the veneration of relics was widely practiced, in one form or another, by ancient Jews as well.

Two churches in the St. Cloud Diocese will host “Exposition of Sacred Relics — Treasures of the Church” presented by Companions of the Cross Father Carlos Martins. 

The relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina will have a local stop at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud as part of a historic U.S. tour commemorating the 50th anniversary of his death.

Published Dec. 16 in Italian by the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the instruction clarifies and details the canonical procedures to be followed by local bishops in an effort to verify the authenticity of relics and the mortal remains of saints and blesseds, as well as better guarantee a relic’s preservation, approve and track its movements, and promote its veneration.

All are invited to join a group for a one-day pilgrimage to La Crosse, Wisconsin, Wednesday, Sept. 20, to see the relics of St. Padre Pio. […]