Devotees flock to Saint James the Great Parish in Tanjay City, Negros Oriental to pay respects to the relic of St. Therese of the Child Jesus on Monday, March 6, 2023 (FERDINAND EDRALIN)
DUMAGUETE CITY 鈥� The pilgrim relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus arrived here on Monday, March 6.
Msgr. Gamaliel Tulabing said the local Church was blessed to have been visited by the bone fragments of the prominent saint.
He called on people to follow the steps of St. Therese in serving the Church.
鈥淚 pray and petition to St. Therese for everyone鈥檚 good health. I also ask our fellow Catholic faithful to pray for our province鈥檚 safety from any forms of disorders,鈥� he said.
Negros Oriental has been in the limelight since Saturday, March 4, after its governor, Roel Degamo, and eight other people were killed in a gun attack.
Angela Saycon, a devotee of the saint, waited at the St. James the Greater Parish in Tanjay City to offer flowers to St. Therese.
鈥淚 was supposed to be operated on three times way back in 1996 because of my ovarian cyst. But because of my faith and the miracles St. Therese offered to me, I am healed鈥� she said in Cebuano.
鈥淓ven my doctors cannot believe that a saucer size cyst in my ovaries was eventually gone. No operation was made. Just my prayers and devotion. Now, I am healthy, no cancer,鈥� she added.
The pilgrim relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus arrived in the country last December 15 as part of its four-month tour in the Philippines.
The relics, stored in a special reliquary, are bone fragments of St. Therese which was known for her simplicity and holiness back then.
At 15, she became a Carmelite nun and passed away at the age of 24.
Her relics are scheduled to depart from Negros Oriental to Siquijor on Tuesday afternoon.
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