In its second year of inspiring Catholics to revere their faith, the United States of Conference of Bishops and the National Eucharistic Revival group have motivated many parishes across the United States “to inspire and prepare the People of God to be formed, healed, converted, united, and sent out to a hurting and hungry world through a renewed encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist – the source and summit of our Catholic faith,” as reported by the USCCB.
As many parishes are celebrating the Eucharistic Revival, many also are welcoming the holy relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Bishop St. Manuel González García. Venerating relics, objects or items related to that saint or Our Lord, has taken off as a practice in the United States over the last 50 years. As author Michael R. Heinlein, editor of “Simply Catholic” wrote in April, “Within this context, then, we should understand that relics are meant to be honored and venerated, not worshipped. In fact, the saints lead us to fuller worship of God in spirit and truth. By honoring their memories, bodies and belongings, we give thanks to God for the saint’s holy witness.”
Although many American Catholics have participated in saints’ relic tours in the past, this particular tour has been linked to the National Eucharistic Revival. These two relics—St. Manuel Gonzalez Garcia and Blessed Carlo Acutis, patrons of the National Eucharistic Revival—are revered because both men were passionate about their faith and worked diligently to convert people to Catholicism. The collection includes a bone fragment from St. Garcia and a portion of Blessed Acutis’ heart membrane.
Numerous parishes throughout the United States have welcomed the chance to display the relics on tour. For instance, in New Hampshire, the relics tour made at least nine parish stops. According to Father John Maria Devaney, OP, of the Dominican Friars Community in Hanover, New Hampshire, serving the parish of St. Dennis and the Aquinas House that serves the Catholic Community at Dartmouth, “We had the relics display and we welcomed a group of Sisters who toured the Diocese of New Hampshire on Monday, the 15th of May,” he said. “In the evening the Aquinas house welcomed the relics and in the student’s parish hall we had the display of the actual Eucharistic miracles that Carlo had documents. The faithful and for people from elsewhere came to venerate the relics with private prayer time to see the exhibit.”
The Sisters who brought the relics, he said, were the daughters of Mary, Mother of Healing Love. They traveled through the entire diocese on the road with the relics for two weeks. “They were like the road crew, and they packed it all … to help promote the true presence and to show that the two saints that young people have love of the eucharist,” he said. “Reminding people of the true presence of the Eucharist , this tour was a wonderful way to bring earthly life and the supernatural realities of the true presence together.”
In Delphos, Ohio, Mary Will, a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist, described how the diocese received the relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis and St. Manuel González García in April and asked her parish to take the relics for display and prayer. “We have the largest school in the area,” she said, “and we sent a notice to all the Catholic parishes and schools in the area. When the relics arrived in reliquaries, we put them on two tables in the church sanctuary overseen by the Knights of Columbus.”
She said that the parish had three services, and 450 children from the parish school came into the church for the first service. A seminarian and Sister Patricia Odey-Murray escorted them up to touch their rosaries to the relics. Because of the local publicity many visitors from different parishes came to venerate the relics. The Sister stayed in the church from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., helping people to see and touch the relics. “We still talk about this,” she said, “I don’t know how other parishes displayed the relics.” Only 6 parishes in the Toledo Diocese were invited to show the relics. It was such a blessing for us and we keep the pictures in our tabernacle area.”
And in Austin, Texas, Camille Garcia, spokesperson for the Diocese of Austin, noted that the relics were hosted at four University Catholic Centers in the diocese, as well as Saint Mary Cathedral in Austin, and at St. Paul Chong Hasang Parish in Harker Heights. St. Paul held a procession, led by Bishop Vásquez, from the Church to their new parish building, as a youth center named after Blessed Carlo Acutis. “There was a bigger focus on Blessed Carlo,” she said, “because we have many youth groups and young adults in the area who were inspired by him — potentially the first millennial to be considered for sainthood. Each host site organized a Mass, evening prayer and adoration with an overwhelming response at all locations with Churches staying open well past the hour they expected to close for the night so that they could welcome the faithful.”
And to understand how relics can impact our life, Michael Heinlein’s article notes, “When venerating relics we express gratitude to God for those members of our spiritual family. In the presence of the relics we recall their holy lives and we pray for the grace to achieve what they’ve achieved — eternity with God in Heaven.”
Image credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
