St Therese Relics Tour _ Orange Parish details

YOUR GUIDE TO THE VISIT OF THE RELICS OF SAINT THÉRÈSE, ST LOUIS AND ST ZÉLIE MARTIN

WELCOME TO ORANGE AND OPENING MASS 5.30PM FRIDAY

HEALING SERVICE FOR THOSE TOUCHED

BY CANCER 11.00AM SATURDAY

HEALING SERVICE FOR PARENTS WHO HAVE LOST A CHILD MIDDAY SATURDAY

CONCLUDING MASS AND FAREWELL OF RELICS 6.00PM SATURDAY

VISIT OF THE RELICS

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and her parents St Louis and St Zélie Martin Touched by Cancer - 11.00am Saturday 29th February at St Joseph’s, Orange.

The Loss of a Child - Midday Saturday 29th February at St Joseph’s, Orange.

A Healing Service for those suffering from cancer or in remission, for their families, and for those mourning the loss of a loved one. We ask the intercession of St Zélie, who died of breast cancer, and St Louis and St Thérèse who mourned her loss. This service will include the lighting of candles for those touched by cancer.

A Healing Service for those parents who have lost a child in the womb, in infancy, or as an adult. We ask the intercession of St Zélie and St Louis, who lost four of their children in infancy, to be with parents who carry the heavy burden of mourning a child. This service will include the lighting of candles for those children who have gone before us.

THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF MOLONG & ORANGE, 28-29 FEBRUARY 2020

YOUR GUIDE TO THE VISIT OF THE RELICS OF SAINT THÉRÈSE, ST LOUIS AND ST ZÉLIE MARTIN

Leave a Rose or Flower for ‘the little flower’

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux Generations of Catholics have admired this Saint, referred to as the “Little Flower”, and found in her short life more inspiration for their own lives than in volumes by theologians.

Thérèse was born in France in 1873, and died when she was 24, after having lived as a cloistered Carmelite for less than 10 years.

She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, and never performed any explicitly great works.

“When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens, I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.”

- Saint Thérèse of Lisieux It is a custom to leave a flower for ‘the little flower’ when venerating her relics, particularly a rose. Feel free to bring your own flower/ rose and leave it at the reliquary of St Thérèse.

Take a medal, prayer or petal home Near the reliquaries of the three saints will be bowls of blessed rose petals, prayer cards, and medals of St Thérèse. Feel free to take one or more of these items home with you.

The only book of hers, published after her death, was a brief edited version of her journal, Story of a Soul. Collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals have been recently re-published. Within just 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonised. In 1997 she was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Saint John Paul II.

Saint Zélie Martin Zélie Guerin (1831 - 1877) was a lace maker. Born into a military family, Zélie described her childhood and youth as “dismal”.

Her mother and father showed her little affection.

As a young lady, she sought unsuccessfully to enter the religious life. Zélie then learned the Alencon lace-making technique and soon mastered this painstaking craft. Richly talented, creative, eager and endowed with common sense, she started her own business and became quite successful.

Notable as these achievements were, Zélie was yet to reveal the depths of the strength, faith and courage she possessed until she wholeheartedly undertook her life as a wife and mother.

Saint Louis Martin Louis Martin (1823 - 1894) was a watchmaker by trade. He also skillfully managed his wife’s lace business and was also born into a family of soldiers. Louis absorbed the sense of order and discipline that army life engenders, but his temperament tended toward things of the spirit.

At age 22, young Louis sought to enter religious life at the monastery of the Augustinian Canons of the Great St Bernard Hospice in the Alps. The Abbot insisted the young candidate learn Latin, which he found extremely challenging, and he eventually had to leave the monastery due to illness.

Fortunately, Louis’ desire for holiness was realised through his love for his wife, his redemptive suffering, and in his later years as a single father following Zélie’s death. He is now venerated as a Patron Saint of mental health issues due to his struggles with dementia toward the end of his life.

THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF MOLONG & ORANGE, 28-29 FEBRUARY 2020

YOUR GUIDE TO THE VISIT OF THE RELICS OF SAINT THÉRÈSE, ST LOUIS AND ST ZÉLIE MARTIN

A Catholic Understanding of Relics The veneration of relics in the Catholic Church is an ancient tradition that dates back all the way to the New Testament. We can find its origins in the life of Jesus Christ (think of the woman who touched Jesus’ cloak and was healed). The Church has always treated the relics of saints in a special manner, preserving them.

Typically, they are housed in special gold cases and can either be seen in a permanent display in various churches, or in a traveling presentation.

When venerating a relic it is most appropriate to show honour and respect to the saint by performing a simple exterior gesture. The Directory on Popular Piety explains that, “Popular piety is characterised by a great variety and richness of bodily, gestural and symbolic expressions: kissing or touching images, places, relics and sacred objects … These and similar expressions, handed down from father to son, are direct and simple ways of giving external expression to the heart and to one’s commitment to live the Christian life. Without this interior aspect, symbolic gesture runs the risk of degenerating into empty customs or mere superstitions, in the worst cases.”

In general the Church recommends an exterior gesture that fits the occasion and corresponds to a person’s interior disposition.

Someone venerating a saint’s relic can kiss or touch the glass case that houses the relic, or simply stand near the relic in a prayerful attitude, raising one’s heart and mind to God and invoking the intercession of the saint.

Other acceptable gestures include signing oneself with the sign of the cross or kneeling in front of the relic in prayer. However, a person should not genuflect before the relic in a way similar to genuflecting before the Blessed Sacrament. That type of veneration is reserved to Christ alone.

Whatever gesture a person chooses to use to venerate a relic, it must not be done out of superstition, but out of love for the saint and for God. Think of the practice in a similar way to someone who takes out a photograph of a beloved family member and kisses it every time he or she puts it back. The gesture is a sign of love for that person and contains no hint of superstition.

Venerating the relics of saints is a beautiful practice that brings us close to those who walked before us in the sign of faith. They “ran the race” and reached the end goal of Heaven. Seeing their relics and touching them can incite in us a greater urgency to strive for sanctity so that we can meet these holy men and women at the end our time on earth.

The reliquary of St Thérèse of Lisieux

The reliquary of St Louis and St Zélie Martin

Venerating Relics In general the Church recommends an exterior gesture that fits the occasion and corresponds to a person’s interior disposition.

Someone venerating a saint’s relic can kiss or touch the glass case that houses the relic, or simply stand near the relic in a prayerful attitude, raising one’s heart and mind to God and invoking the intercession of the saint.

Other acceptable gestures include signing oneself with the sign of the cross or kneeling in front of the relic in prayer. However, a person should not genuflect before the relic in a way similar to genuflecting before the Blessed Sacrament. Christ alone is reserved that type of veneration.

THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF MOLONG & ORANGE, 28-29 FEBRUARY 2020

YOUR GUIDE TO THE VISIT OF THE RELICS OF SAINT THÉRÈSE, ST LOUIS AND ST ZÉLIE MARTIN

Full Schedule Friday 28th February 2020 3.00pm Welcome Ceremony followed by veneration at St Lawrence’s, Molong.

Times for Reconciliation (Confession) during Veneration

3.30pm-4.15pm Reconciliation (Confessions) available.

4.30pm Farewell of Relics from St Lawrence’s, Molong.

5.30pm Welcome Ceremony in grounds of Catherine McAuley Catholic Primary School, Hill St, Orange with procession of relics to the Church.

5.45pm Opening Mass at St Joseph’s, Orange, with special involvement of parish schools followed by veneration.

6.30pm-7.30pm Reconciliation (Confessions) available.

9.15pm Night Prayer and conclusion of veneration.

Saturday 29th February 2020 9.00am Morning Prayer and commencement of day of veneration at St Joseph’s, Orange.

9.15am-10.00am Reconciliation (Confessions) available during veneration at St Joseph’s, Orange.

3.30pm - 4.15pm Friday 28th February at St Lawrence’s, Molong.

6.30pm-7.30pm Friday 28th February at St Joseph’s, Orange.

9.15am-10.00am Saturday 29th at St Joseph’s, Orange.

11.30am-12.00pm Saturday 28th February at St Joseph’s, Orange.

10.00am-11.00am Devotions with the Syro-Malabar Indian Community at St Joseph’s, Orange.

12.30pm-1.00pm Saturday 28th February at St Joseph’s, Orange.

11.00am - 11.30am ‘Healing Service for those touched by cancer’ at St Joseph’s, Orange.

2.30pm-3.00pm Saturday 28th February at St Joseph’s.

11.30am - 12.00am Reconciliation (Confessions) available.

12.00am - 12.30pm ‘Healing Service for Parents who have lost a child' at St Joseph’s, Orange.

12.30pm - 1.00pm Reconciliation (Confessions) available.

12.30pm - 2.00pm Silent prayer and veneration at St Joseph’s, Orange.

2.00pm-3.00pm Devotions with the Missionaries of Charity at St Joseph’s, Orange.

2.30pm-3.00pm Reconciliation (Confessions) available.

3.00pm Conclusion of Day of Veneration.

6.00pm - 7.30pm Final Mass at St Joseph’s, Orange, followed by veneration and farewell of relics from St Joseph’s, Orange.

Where do I go for Reconciliation (Confession)?

St Lawrence’s, Molong: Confessions will be in the Confessional, which is the door to your right when entering the main foyer of the Church.

St Joseph’s, Orange: Confessions will be in the Confessional which is located in the north transept of the Church directly to the left of the state of Mary (Our Lady of Fatima).

THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF MOLONG & ORANGE, 28-29 FEBRUARY 2020