At each location, visitors knelt and venerated the relics, which included fragments of bone, muscle, skin and hair housed in a 132-pound reliquary. Many also touched two sacred items from the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France—rocks from the Massabielle Grotto where St. Bernadette saw Our Lady and water from the spring the saint discovered there.
Additionally, some locations offered opportunities to pray the rosary, go to confession and attend Masses. Bishop Manuel A. Cruz celebrated the Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, and Father Nicholas Sertich celebrated the Mass at Seton Hall.
“It was beautiful to see so many people, across generations and walks of life, united in prayer,” said Father Matthew Gonzalez, the Cathedral Basilica’s rector, who led opening and closing ceremonies for the relics display during its stop in Newark. “In a world so much in need of healing, the visit of St. Bernadette’s relics offered a moment of respite and renewed hope. It was a reminder that our Blessed Mother accompanies us through life’s trials, always drawing us closer to her son.”
St. Bernadette was 14 when she experienced 18 apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes. During one of these apparitions, Our Lady told Bernadette to dig in the mud at the Massabielle Grotto, where a spring emerged that continues to flow today. The Catholic Church has recognized 72 healings associated with Lourdes as miraculous. More than 7,000 other cases of healing have been reported.
St. Bernadette’s relics are touring the United States in an effort to deepen the relationship between American Catholics and Our Lady of Lourdes. By the time they return to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, the relics will have visited 140 locations throughout the country. A full schedule of the tour can be found at the sanctuary’s website.
About the Archdiocese of Newark?
The Archdiocese of Newark serves 1.3 million Catholics across northern New Jersey’s Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties. Led by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., the sixth archbishop of Newark, the Archdiocese includes 211 parishes, 64 Catholic schools and numerous missions and ministries serving communities through faith, education and social service. For more information, visit www.rcan.org.
Seton Hall University
