PRAIRIE DU SAC — We recently celebrated All Saints’ Day. This celebration makes manifest our belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the “Church Triumphant”), and the living (the “Church Militant”).
We venerate relics — not because the individual saint is worthy of some sort of worship, or because there is anything inherently powerful in the relic itself — but because relics are used by God as a means of grace and to show His power and love.
PRAIRIE DU SAC […]
On March 19, we celebrate the solemnity of St. Joseph. Although the Gospels leave his life shrouded in silence and mystery, he is nonetheless held out to people of all states in life as a great example and a most powerful intercessor, being named patron of the universal Church.
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I write these words from Milan, Italy, where I am with my Word on Fire team filming new episodes for our Pivotal Players series.
I’ve seen lots of marvelous things on this trip, including the ruins of the ancient baptistery under the Milan Cathedral where, in the spring of 387, St. Augustine was baptized by St. Ambrose.
But the most fascinating sight I’ve taken in is the vested and mitered skeleton of that same Ambrose, which rests in the basilica that bears his name, not far from the cathedral.
Behind a grille, just under the main altar, lie the skeletal remains of Ambrose and two martyr saints, Gervasius and Protasius, whose bodies were recovered during his lifetime.
It was a birthday party unlike any other.
“This has been unbelievable . . . the greatest experience ever for this parish.”
Those words from Msgr. Michael Burke, pastor of St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison, are the simplest way to sum up the 24-hour period in which the relics of St. Maria Goretti were at the parish from the morning of October 16 — the 125th anniversary of her birth — to the morning of October 17.
It was a privilege for my husband John and me to serve as part of the honor guard as the relics of St. Maria Goretti were venerated at the church named for her in Madison.
Members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in the Diocese of Madison volunteered to stand watch during the veneration from 9 a.m. on October 16 to 5:30 a.m. on October 17. October 16 happened to be the birthday of Maria Goretti, who was born on October 16, 1890, in Corinaldo, Italy.
Thousands of people of all ages waited in line at St. Maria Goretti Church to see the relics of this special saint.
I saw much reverence — and even some tears — as young and old alike came forward and touched the casket with their hands and placed Rosaries, prayer cards, pictures, and Bibles on it.
