Archbishop Hebda prays veneration of relics of St. Thérèse will inspire love for the Eucharist

Archbishop Hebda prays veneration of relics of St. Thérèse and parents will inspire love for the Eucharist

By Joe Ruff

ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) -- Thousands lined up in a full Cathedral of St. Paul to kneel and venerate relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and her parents Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Oct. 6 in St. Paul. More than a few were in tears.

Veneration was preceded by hundreds of people walking a half-mile from the State Capitol to the cathedral in the annual Candlelight Rosary Procession, many with lighted candles wrapped in transparent plastic against 15 to 20 mph winds. They accompanied two large, glass-enclosed reliquaries carrying the saints' relics, each carried by six to eight men.

Several other men carried a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary atop a platform of red and white roses, as Knights of Columbus in full regalia led the way.

"Incredible," said Barbarba Dugan of St. Therese Parish in Deephaven, about having the relics part of the procession. "I'm so proud to be Catholic. I feel so blessed."

Dugan was with her 12-year-old granddaughter, Anna Dugan, who said the procession was beautiful.

Tom and Cheri Koezly of St. Peter Peter in Forest Lake said it was amazing to be with the relics of the Martin family.

"It's a blessing especially because they are parents," Cheri Koezly said of Sts. Louis and Zélie. She and her husband participate in the procession each year, often with their five children, she said.

The procession, sacred hymns and litanies, a homily from Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, adoration of the Eucharist, veneration of the relics and Benediction filled the evening. Auxiliary Bishops Joseph A. Williams and Michael J. Izen also participated in the event.

While in the United States, the relics were also venerated at the National Shrine of St. Therese in Darien, Illinois, from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1.

Opportunities to venerate the relics began in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Oct. 4 and continue through Oct. 15 at several parishes, including the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

This year's Candlelight Rosary Procession culminated in a "mega" Cor Jesu (Heart of Jesus) event with worship, music, confession, adoration and prayer teams. Usually held on the First Friday of each month with college students and young adults at St. Mary's Chapel at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Cor Jesu was a much larger affair in the cathedral.

During his homily, Archbishop Hebda invited people to stay as late as they could, while acknowledging many young families were attending as well.

The archbishop noted another special part of the evening: The monstrance holding the Eucharist was about 350 years old, on special loan for the event from Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay. Called the Perrot Monstrance, it is believed to have accompanied pioneering Father Louis Hennepin, the first European explorer to see St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Archbishop Hebda said. It was last in the archdiocese during the 1941 National Eucharistic Congress, the archbishop said.

"It seems only fitting, as the church in the United States continues in its three-year (National) Eucharistic Revival, that we might focus this evening on what St. Thérèse teaches about how to relate to Jesus in the Eucharist," the archbishop said, describing how her devotion to the Eucharist began at a very young age.

As St. Thérèse grew older, the archbishop said, she wrote: "I picture my soul as a piece of land and beg the Blessed Virgin to remove from it any rubbish that would prevent it from being free. Then I ask her to set up a huge tent worthy of heaven, adorning it with her own jewelry. Finally, I invite the angels and saints to come and conduct a magnificent concert there. It seems to me that when Jesus descends into my heart, he is content to find himself so well received. And I, too, am content."

"My sisters and brothers," the archbishop said, "as we continue this evening of adoration, as we continue with this celebration of Cor Jesu and recognize that love that pours forth from the heart of Jesus, let's ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That we, like Thérèse, might be aware of the great gift, the Eucharist. That we might prepare our hearts, that we might rejoice at such a great gift, and that we might go forth and share with others our deep love of Jesus' presence in the Blessed Sacrament."