Visiting the Relics

Lai and I took the kids to the Shrine to see the Relics. We figure that this is probably a once in a lifetime for the kiddos to see the St. Therese Relics in the Philippines. We attended Mass at the Shrine and the kids were well behaved in general, thank goodness, hehehe. Considering the fact that there were so many people and it was HOT, that was a feat, nonetheless.

During the mass, Msgr. Lagoutte, the Rector of the Basilica of St Therese in Lisieux, presented Bishop Tumulak with a first class Relic of St. Therese, a piece of her flesh, to be housed in the Shrine. A momentous event for sure, and I was glad the kids witnessed it. Now did they listen? Not sure, but they DID ask a lot of questions about the Relic when we saw it up close.

After mass, I instructed the kids to stay behind me so we could be first in line, and so that I could take photos of them. I had bought them some St. Therese handkerchiefs for them to wipe on the Reliquary, and make it a souvenir for their visit. I told them to pray while at the Reliquary, especially for Lolo Boy.


If you look behind us, you will see the throng of people lining up to see the Relics and pay homage to it. The Shrine seats 1,600, and that was quite full by the end of the mass. People were just starting to get off work to visit the Relics. And according to Japa, there were more people who arrived that night, too! An endless stream of St. Therese devotees.

Here's the Relic up close, or at least, as close as I could get to it with the camera's macro setting.

Afterwards, we all trooped to La Vista to have dinner with Msgr. Lagoutte, the Bishop and a few other religious people.

TTFN!