The relics of this French Carmelite nun, who died of tuberculosis in 1897 at age 24, will travel across Canada for the next three months visiting more than 100 locations. Canada is the 22nd country to host the reliquary containing the bones of the popular saint.
The relics will be staying in the Archdiocese of Vancouver for six days and will also visit the dioceses of Victoria, Kamloops and Prince George before moving eastward across Canada.The Canadian visit of the relics will end in Halifax on Dec. 14 when the reliquary will return to Lisieux, France.
The reliquary, made of precious wood and silver, weighs more than 135 kilograms (300 pounds) and measures 1.5 meters long by 1 meter wide and 0.85 meter high (a little more than 4½ feet by 3 feet by 2 feet high).
St. Thérèse was canonized in 1925 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997. More than 1,800 churches worldwide carry her name, 60 of which are in Canada.
More information on the visit of the relics is at http://www.cccb.ca/therese/index.html.
