Therese in LA!
Gerard Serafin
The pilgrimage of St Therese's relics continues. I tracked down local
news stories but didn't send them to the lists. But here are two recent
reports, from the Los Angeles area:
Thousands attend reliquary viewing
By Dominic Berbeo, Staff Writer
A century after her death, St. Therese of Lisieux is touring the world
to inspire new generations of Catholics.
The tour included a stop at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic church
in North Hollywood, where about 600 faithful turned out Sunday morning
for a special Mass to welcome the box carrying the saint's remains.
The Rev. Ferdinand Lansang, associate pastor at the church, said as many
as 70,000 people are expected to visit the church before the reliquary
is taken away on Tuesday.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come and experience a very
special figure in the history of Catholicism," he said.
Visitors will be allowed to see the reliquary between Masses at the
church and all day Monday, he said.
Summer Reese, a parishioner at the church, said she made a point of
attending the Mass after some friends told her about the reliquary tour.
"She was a very holy woman," she said. "This just seems like a
meaningful occasion to participate in."
The reliquary was brought into the church in an ornate procession led by
Bishop Gerald Wilkerson and the Knights of Columbus.
Dan Greene drove out from Santa Clarita with daughters Caitlin and Emily
to see the remains of the saint also known as "The Little Flower of
Jesus."
He said the parish he belongs to, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, had formed
a group called The Little Flowers to unite parents and their children in
religious and cultural activities.
"We recognize the importance of St. Therese's activities as testimony to
her faith in Jesus," he said. "She's a good role model for the young
Catholics today."
St. Therese was born in Alencon, France, on Jan. 2, 1873. She became a
Carmelite nun at age 15, joining the convent at Lisieux, where she
changed her name from Marie Francoise Therese Martin to Sister Therese
of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.
She wrote an autobiography focused on the philosophy of a simple way of
faith and loving God, and died from tuberculosis at the age of 24. She
was canonized in 1925, and several editions of her autobiography, titled
"Histoire d'une Ame" or "Story of a Soul" have been published.
Her burial site at Lisieux has since become a place of pilgrimage for
Catholics worldwide, and a basilica in her name was built there in 1929.
In accordance with a special decree of Pope John Paul II, the relics
have been touring the world since 1995. The relics arrived in the United
States on Oct. 5, and will visit 89 cities nationwide before continuing
on to the Philippines on Jan. 28, 2000. Future stops include Taiwan,
Hong Kong, Italy, Mexico, Ireland and Lebanon.
In a written statement, the Rev. Robert Colaresi, director of the
Society of the Little Flower in Darien, Ill., stressed that Roman
Catholics do not worship or idolize relics.
"We venerate tangible symbols of the saint in order to be inspired to
draw closer to God," he said.
In California, the reliquary will stop at the Sacred Heart Retreat House
in Alhambra on Dec. 30 and 31; St. Therese Church in Alhambra on Dec. 31
and Jan. 1; Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte from Jan 2 to 4; and the
El Carmelo Retreat House in Redlands on Jan. 4.
----
2,000 Worshipers Fill Church to See St. Therese Relics
Religion: Crowd views bones of French nun who said life was about 'not
great deeds but great love.'
By BOB POOL, Times Staff Writer
Seventy-five years ago, Catholic leaders in Los Angeles jumped the
gun and named a fledgling Alhambra parish "St. Therese"--a full five
months before the pope actually conferred sainthood upon her.
So no wonder crowds lined up early Sunday at the El Molino Street
church for a chance to glimpse a portion of the remains of St. Therese
of Lisieux as they passed through town on a worldwide pilgrimage.
More than 2,000 jammed St. Therese Church during a series of
Masses. Two hundred worshipers who couldn't get inside stood outside the
sanctuary during the final service, which was conducted by Cardinal
Roger M. Mahony.
Born in 1873 in Alencon, France, Therese Martin dreamed of being a
missionary and traveling to all five continents. But she was a Carmelite
nun for only nine years when she died of tuberculosis at age 24.
Her philosophy that what matters in life "is not great deeds, but
great love" lived on, however, in a touching autobiography titled "Story
of a Soul."
In it, she wrote that there was a spirituality in doing the
ordinary with extraordinary love. She likened herself to a flower "in
God's garden."
Standing next to the ornate box made of jacaranda wood and gilded
silver that contained the relics--some of her bones--Mahony urged
worshipers to use her life as an example for theirs.
"St. Therese prayed to be a missionary, but she never left the
monastery," he said.
"It's a good example for us. St. Therese taught us to take our
situation and make it holy. We have the ability to touch so many people
. . . to take reality and make it holy."
Mahony joked that the Los Angeles bishop who designated the parish
as "St. Therese" probably didn't realize he wasn't supposed to do it
before the nun had been canonized.
St. Therese Church held its first Mass at Christmastime in
1924--becoming the world's first church with that name.
The premature naming became moot on May 17, 1925, when Pope Pius XI
authorized sainthood.
Since then, both the parish and its namesake have flourished. Today
more than 1,400 families are part of St. Therese.
Catholic leaders say St. Therese, dubbed "The Little Flower" by
church members, has influenced millions over the past seven decades.
Acclaimed the "greatest saint of modern times" by some, she was
declared a doctor of the church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II. The
designation, reserved for saints whose teachings are considered
particularly outstanding, is the only one the pope has given. The box of
relics was at his side when he did it.
The relics' visit to the United State has been arranged by the
Carmelite religious order as part of a five-year world tour. Preserved
in their 300-pound box, the bones have traveled to Belgium, Germany,
Italy, Brazil, Russia and Argentina, among other places. Future stops
include the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mexico and Ireland.
"It was St. Therese's dream to be able to proclaim the word of God
throughout the world," said Father Matthew Williams, the pastor of St.
Therese Church, as he stood near the plexiglass-covered container of
relics--and beneath a 10-foot marble statue of her that towers above the
altar.
The relics came to the Los Angeles area on Dec. 26 and have been
displayed at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Church in North Hollywood and
at the Carmelite Monastery in Alhambra. They will be at Santa Teresita
Hospital in Duarte until Tuesday afternoon, when they will be taken to
Redlands and then to Palm Springs.
Crowds filling St. Therese Church after the relics arrived at the
parish on New Year's Eve have included a large group of Vietnamese
Americans from Orange County, said Joe Jackson, a parish spokesman.
Many Vietnamese Catholics have a strong emotional tie to St.
Therese because of her unfulfilled desire to have visited what was then
French Indochina, said worshiper Kim Nguyen, who traveled from
Westminster for Sunday's service.
"She loved Vietnamese in her heart. That's why she is in my heart,"
Nguyen said.
Worshiper Therese Biggs of Newport Beach, who said both she and her
mother were named after the saint, said her message remains valid today.
"St. Therese teaches us to do the best you can, wherever you are," Biggs
said.
Watching as the relics left for Duarte--under an Alhambra police
escort--was Joanne Hawkins, a member of St. Therese Church since 1938,
when she was a child. She said she grew up learning about the saint
while attending the parish school. Sunday's service was the perfect way
to start the new millennium, Hawkins said. "This is an excellent day,"
she said.
--
Gerard Serafin
Celebrating the Romance of Orthodoxy:
A Catholic Page for Lovers:
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Praise of Glory BookCenter:
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Bone
Vincent DiCarlo
Sacramento this Sunday, January 8. Arrival at 11:00, Mass at noon,
veneration from 1 to 4. The cathedral has also been designated a Jubilee
site of pilgrimage by our bishop, William Wiegand, in accordance with
the Holy Father's Jubilee decree, so there are lots of reasons to
attend.
Vincent
Paula74
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, New York this past
October...it was a very beautiful experience. The Cathedral was filled to
capacity for the noon Mass...and the line to venerate the relics seemed to
go on forever. But it was well worth the wait!
Paula
Kateri On-line - Dedicated to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
http://home.earthlink.net/~paula74/Kateri/index.html
Gerard Serafin wrote in message <38727C5D...@home.com>...