Martin Family Relics

Almost two weeks ago we had the joy of welcoming the relics of St Therese and her parents to our monastery for a day. The relics were scheduled to arrive at 2:30, plenty of time for them to get settled before our 3:00 Office of Readings. Except by 3 they still weren't here! Sure enough, they arrived in the middle of office. Not only does St Therese know how to be fashionably late, she really knows how to make an entrance! Everyone knew she had arrived due to thedrilling and hammering required to secure the relics in place in our sanctuary. 

After things quieted down in the sanctuary and Office had finished, Marcia Reina led the rosary  in the public chapel. There was already quite a crowd! Mass was celebrated by Fr. Rick Jastrzebski, OP and Fr. Gregory Schnakenberg, OP following the rosary. Since no one is allowed to touch the reliquary of the Martin family, we brought out our two first class relics of St. Therese for the faithful to venerate.  People could also pray before the Martin Family relics at the communion rail. At 6:40 we sang Vespers, and there were still two long lines of people waiting to venerate the relics!

At 7 we had to close the chapel doors. People continued to stop by even much later asking to see the relics (unfortunately we had to say no!).  Once the chapel doors were closed, the sisters were finally able to go see the relics! Interestingly, in this reliquary you can't see the relics at all! What you can see are the  big gold tubes that contain the relics, which we guessed to be bone (turns out we were right!).  For safety reasons, the reliquary was brought to the chapter hall (where the monastery relics are kept) until it was picked up the next morning to be brought to its next destination. 

A special thank you to Christ Church and the Grand Summit Hotel for allowing all those who came to see the relics to park in their lots! 

If you weren't able to make it, here's a look at event: