A relic of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, formerly known as Mother Teresa, will visit the cathedrals of Ireland as well as Knock Shrine this summer, as part of a national tour. Following the tour, the relic will be given a permanent home in Ss Patrick and Colman’s Cathedral, Newry, in the Diocese of Dromore.
The Knights of Columbanus in Newry have received the first class relic from the Sisters of Charity and have arranged a national tour of the relic to facilitate its veneration by the faithful.
The first location for veneration of the relic will be Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh. Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin will welcome the relic on Thursday 8 June, with a procession at 7.20pm followed by evening Mass at 7.30pm, and night prayer at 10pm. There will be opportunity to venerate the relic on Friday 9 June, during Masses and prayer of the Rosary at 3.00pm. The relic will depart from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral at 1.00pm on Saturday 10 June. For more information on the visit of the relic to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, see www.armagharchdiocese.org.
That evening, Saturday 10 June, the relic will then visit be received by Bishop John McAreavey, Bishop of Dromore, at Ss Patrick and Colman’s Cathedral, Newry. The relic will remain in the Cathedral from 10 – 12 June, before continuing on the tour.
The relic will arrive at Saint Patrick’s Church, Donegal Street, Belfast, in the Diocese of Down and Connor, at 7.15pm on Monday 12 June and remain there for veneration and Mass at 7.30pm. On Tuesday 12 June the relic will transfer to Corpus Christi parish church in Springhill Grove for Mass at 7.00pm, before returning to Saint Patrick’s Church for 12noon on Saturday 13 June. The relic will leave Belfast on the Saturday at 4.00pm.
On Friday 16 June, the relic will arrive at St Eugene’s Cathedral, Derry, with Masses at 8.00am, 10.00am and 7.30pm. The following day, the relic will visit St Malachy’s Church, Coleraine, Derry, with Mass on Saturday 17 June at 6.00pm and on Sunday 18 June at 9.00am and 11.00am.
Some of the dates of relic visits are as follows:
- The relic will visit the Archdiocese of Tuam from Saturday 24 June until Monday 26 June;
- From Friday 30 June until Sunday 2 July the relic will visit Knock Shrine;
- On Sunday 16 July to Tuesday 18 July, the relic will visit the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly;
- On Friday 28 July to Monday 31 July, the relic will visit Archdiocese of Dublin;
For a full list of dates of the visit, please see www.newrycathedralparish.org.
Born in 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian parents, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu joined the Loreto Order and lived in Ireland until she was sent to India in 1929. There, she worked with the poorest of the poor, a vocation that led her to found her own order, the Missionaries of Charity, in 1950, in Calcutta (now Kolkata). By 2012, that congregation numbered 4,500 sisters, working among the destitute and outcast in 133 countries. She was regarded by many as a saint within her lifetime and Pope (now Saint) John Paul II waived the usual 5-year waiting protocol to begin the process of her canonisation. Saint Teresa of Calcutta was canonised on 4 September 2016.
