A splinter of the True Cross.

A piece of Our Lady’s veil and St. Joseph’s cloak.

Hundreds of relics of saints.

More than 500 Catholics came to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Oratory in Montclair, New Jersey, to pray before the more than 500 sacred relics on April 5. 

Inlcuded relics were from St. Joan of Arc, St. Louis, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Nicholas, St. Maximilian Kolbe and so many other holy lives. Bone relics were included from Sts. Margaret Mary Alacoque; Louis and Zélie, parents of St. Thérèse; Bernadette; and Faustina. Also present: the Holy Veil of Manoppello and relics from Blesseds Michael McGivney and Solanus Casey, plus soon-to-be St. Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Many of the faithful who came to venerate these holy items brought items like rosaries to press against the reliquaries, the containers of the relics.

(Doing so created third-class relics, items that have touched the saints’ bodies or tombs, such as holy cards, images, oil or cloths. In contrast, first-class relics are any part of a holy body such as a piece of bone or a strand of hair; a second-class relic is a piece of something that was in a saint’s possession, such as a piece of clothing or personal article that belonged to him or her, as the Register has explained in the past.)

“I was pleased to host these relics because it gave people the opportunity to make a pilgrimage and grow in their faith,” said Father Giandomenico Flora, rector of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Oratory, in an Archdiocese of Newark press release, which also explained that the International Crusade for Holy Relics provided most of the relics for the event.

Representatives of the National Centre for Padre Pio in Barto, Pennsylvania, also presented St. Pio relics, including one of the saint’s gloves and a piece of his bloodstained shirt.

Holy men and women, pray for us!