The Litany of the Saints will be sung, during which first class relics of ten saints may be venerated. The relics will be place at stations around the church so that we are 'surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.' By each relic will be an image of the saint and a votive lamp. Y'all come if you can!
The preservation and veneration of the relics of the saints is an ancient tradition in the church dating back to the first Christian martyrs. The remains of those martyred were gathered up carefully and kept in a place of honor. Their above ground tombs often doubled as an altar so the tradition of relics of the saints being embedded in the altar was established.
By the veneration of the saints we connect with the historicity of the saints. These are not legends, myths or fairy tales. These bones remind us that each one was an ordinary person made extraordinary by the grace of God, and if these bones could speak they would each, in their way sing the praise of God who made them and his Son who redeemed them and the Holy Spirit who gave them life eternal.
The first class relics on display will be those of:
- Pope St Gregory the Great
- Pope St Pius X
- St John Neumann
- St Therese of Lisieux
- St Catherine Labore
- St Theresa of Avila
- St Margaret Mary Alacoque
- St Padre Pio
- St Maria Goretti
- St Elizabeth Ann Seaton
UPDATE: Our All Saints Day liturgy was v. beautiful. A large turnout of the faithful from across Greenville. Instead of prayers of the faithful Dr Ballard (our relic rescuer extraordinaire) led us in singing the Litany of the Saints, during which I processed and censed all the images and relics of the ten saints. After which, the faithful reverently went about to the ten stations to venerate the relics. After the litany we sang all eight verses of For All the Saints and moved into the offertory.
What was beautiful was to see the large number of families with young children there. Afterward several cradle Catholics commented that they had never done anything like that before and had never seen a relic nor knew how to venerate the relic. Nevertheless, it was encouraging to see Catholics come together and be enthusiastic about doing something very Catholic.
We must do more of this sort of thing...you know, processions and pilgrimages and so forth
3 comments:
Wonderful! That's how to honour the Saints.
All 8 verses of one of my favourite hymns! How I envy you.
When we honour the Saints we honour the God Whom they loved and for Whom they lived and died.
The Saints are such an inspiration for us all.
'Twas a great evening.
LA is in no way a favorite city of mine--- Yet to see the new cathedral and these murals of the saints would make a trip worthwhile to me.
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