Archdiocese of Manila, suffragans welcome
Relic of St. Therese

The Archdiocese of Manila together with four of its suffragan dioceses and the Religious will host the visit of the miraculous Relic of St. Therese, the Saint of the Little Way on March 8-10 at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila. This is the second time that the relic of the much beloved saint is visiting the Philippines.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales will be the main celebrant at the welcome mass at 11 a.m. at the Manila Cathedral where the relic will be brought from Malacañang. The veneration by the public in the Cathedral’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel will immediately follow the Mass. Vespers will be held at 6 pm to signal the start of the Vigil for the Relic by Youth from the Archdiocese and suffragans. Confession will be held throughout the vigil.

On March 9, the morning Masses will be celebrated by bishops as follows: 6:30 a.m. – Infanta Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona, with the Religious Men and Women; 8:30 a.m. – Kalookan Bishop Deogracias S. Iñiguez; 10 a.m. Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias; 11:30 a.m. – Parañaque Bishop Jesse Mercado. Pasig Bishop Francisco C. San Diego will celebrate the 6 p.m. Mass, after which the Solemn Vespers and Exposition will be held followed by a short talk and video presentation on St. Therese by Fr. Genaro O. Diwa, Minister for Liturgical Affairs of the Archdiocese of Manila. An overnight vigil will once again be held and public veneration ends at 6 a.m of March 10. The clergy of the Archdiocese of Manila and its suffragans will venerate the Relic from 8-9 a.m. Cardinal Rosales will preside at the 9 a.m. Eucharistic Celebration before the Relic departs for the Shrine of St. Therese in Villamor Air Base.

The Masses will be offered for the healing of the Nation and for peace and unity in the land.

St. Therese who led a brief but holy life is the Catholic Church’s Patroness of Missionaries and the Missions, Protector of AIDS and Tuberculosis Patients, Guardian of those who follow her “Little Way.” She was born in Alencon, France on January 2, 1873. At the age of 15 she entered the Carmel Convent in Lisieux, following her two sisters, Pauline and Marie. She offered herself to God in the ordinariness of her life as she wrote in her autobiography, The Story of a Soul. She called it her “Little Way,” the way of love, which everyone can follow, she said, so everyone can become a saint. She died on September 30, 1897 at the age of 24, after suffering from tuberculosis.

She was canonized by Pope Pius XI. On October 19, 1997, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a Dcotor of the Church. In his apostolic letter, The Science of Divine Love, Pope John Paul II wrote of St. Therese: “In her life God has offered the world a precise message, indicating an evangelical way, the ‘little way’, which everyone can take… The core of her message is actually the mystery of God-Love, of the Triune God, infinitely perfect in himself.”##

Please refer: PEACHY E. YAMSUAN
Archdiocesan Office of Communications
Archdiocese of Manila/ 5273962