(ZENIT News / Washington, 06.07.2025).- This fall, a wooden reliquary carrying the remains of one of the most beloved saints of modern times will make its way across the United States. From October 1 to December 8, the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux will journey through more than 30 cities in 10 states and Washington, D.C., in a two-month pilgrimage designed to rekindle Catholic faith and plant seeds of new vocations.
Far more than a devotional artifact, the reliquary is being welcomed as a living symbol of divine tenderness and purpose in an age marked by restlessness, doubt, and religious drift. Organizers hope the tour will be a spiritual catalyst, inviting Americans to encounter the disarming simplicity of Thérèse’s «Little Way»—a path of holiness through small acts of love, radical trust in God, and daily humility.
“There’s a quiet fire in her,” said Carmelite Father Donald Kinney, who is coordinating the tour. “She doesn’t preach loudly, but she reaches deep. What people encounter is not just a saint’s relics—they encounter Christ’s mercy, his peace, his personal invitation.”
The tour is timed with potent symbolism. It begins on her feast day, October 1, and concludes on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception—a liturgical arc that mirrors Thérèse’s own devotion to the Virgin Mary and to the purity of heart she believed every Christian should seek. It also coincides with the 100th anniversary of her canonization in 1925, marking a century of global veneration for a cloistered Carmelite who died at just 24, never left her convent, and yet became a Doctor of the Church and patroness of the missions.
“This tour is a gift not only to Catholics, but to the entire American spiritual landscape,” said Mother Maria Bernardina of the Carmel of Port Tobacco, Maryland, one of the pilgrimage stops. “People are searching—for meaning, for belonging, for peace. St. Thérèse whispers the answer: childlike trust in the arms of a loving Father.”
The tour follows in the footsteps of a previous relic pilgrimage in 1999–2000, which drew over a million visitors across the country. This time, expectations are even higher. With processions, Masses, all-night vigils, and confessions planned at each site, organizers hope the presence of Thérèse’s relics will ignite a renewed love for the sacraments—especially in younger generations who have grown increasingly detached from formal religious practice.
According to Father Kinney, Thérèse’s spirituality is uniquely suited for today. “She offers a countercultural model of strength—not through domination or brilliance, but through vulnerability, surrender, and joy. That’s an antidote to so much of what’s breaking us right now.”
The 2025 tour comes during a year dense with anniversaries in Catholic memory. Alongside the centenary of St. Thérèse’s canonization, it marks 100 years since Pope Pius XI’s encyclical «Quas Primas», which established the feast of Christ the King—a proclamation of Christ’s reign in all spheres of life. It also commemorates the beginning of the First Saturday Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, revealed at Fátima through Sister Lúcia in 1925.
“This convergence of centenaries isn’t accidental,” said a Carmelite historian involved in the planning. “The Church is inviting us back to the basics: surrender, reparation, trust in divine kingship. And Thérèse embodies all of that.”
In an era of decreasing Mass attendance, declining vocations, and cultural secularization, the hope behind the relic tour is not nostalgia—it’s revival. For many, St. Thérèse remains an unexpected spiritual companion: a 19th-century French nun who speaks powerfully to the 21st-century soul.
“She said she would spend her heaven doing good on earth,” said Father Kinney. “And she’s keeping that promise. This tour is her way of walking beside us again—and showing us that holiness is possible, right where we are.”
More information at: https://stthereseusa2025.com/
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