Major relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque attract throngs of faithful to the Baltimore Basilica

When Ulrich Bakouane heard that the major relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque were coming to the Baltimore Basilica, he didn’t know much about this 17th-century French nun who was known as the Apostle of the Sacred Heart.

Still, as he did some reading and watched a movie about her life, he felt drawn to visit to ask this saint for her intercession.

So, Bakouane waited in line July 5 with throngs of visitors to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary for his chance to kneel by the relics and pray.

“When you approach the relic, you feel like the spirit is really there,” said Bakouane, a civil engineer who is originally from West Africa and has lived in Baltimore for six years. “I feel like I was really in contact with her.”

Bakouane was one of many who streamed into the basilica to spend time in prayer beside the relics, reflecting on the life of St. Margaret Mary, who inspired greater understanding of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Hundreds visited the basilica to pray by the relics during the two-day visit, with about 700 people coming July 5, alone.

A Historic Moment

The relics traveled to the United States under the custody of the Knights of Columbus for the bishops’ consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart June 11. That consecration was part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

As parishes around the country join the bishops in celebrating the consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart, the Knights of Columbus offered to bring the relics to the Baltimore Basilica for veneration – and Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori accepted their invitation.

At a special Sunday Mass at the basilica July 5, to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and to welcome St. Margaret Mary’s relics, Archbishop Lori – who also serves as supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus – thanked the Knights for bringing the relics to Baltimore.

Archbishop Lori, referring to the phrase, “All roads lead to Rome,” suggested that as the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, “All roads lead to Maryland” for American Catholics – “to a story of faith, perseverance and hope.” 

“And all those roads ultimately lead somewhere even greater: to Jesus Christ, the Lord of history, the source of our freedom, the rest for our weary souls, and the destination toward which every faithful pilgrim journey is directed,” he said.

Rooted in Faith and History

When local Knights heard that St. Margaret Mary’s relics were coming to Baltimore, they were enthusiastic, said John Winfrey, state deputy for the Maryland State Council for the Knights of Columbus.

As a Knight, Winfrey has supported many high-profile events, including three papal visits. But as he stood in the basilica watching the faithful approaching the relics to pray, he said serving at this event was particularly meaningful – especially in the basilica where the Knights’ founder, Blessed Michael McGivney, was ordained.

“For Catholicism in America, not only do all roads come to Maryland. They come to this building,” Winfrey said. “This is one of those that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”

“We’ll make heaven and earth move if Archbishop Lori calls us,” said Winfrey, who lives in Lothian and is a parishioner of St. Hugh of Grenoble Catholic Church in Greenbelt. “There are certain things you have the opportunity to do as part of the Knights. This ranks up there.”

The visit of the relics brought additional beauty and significance to the festivities already planned to mark the 250th anniversary, said Father Brendan Fitzgerald, rector of the basilica.

“As a worship community, we love opportunities to open ourselves up as a shrine,” he said. “What I love about the saints is that there are plenty of them for everyone. But (St. Margaret Mary’s) message and her life are really at the center of the devotion to the Sacred Heart.”

A member of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary who was canonized in 1920, St. Margaret Mary experienced multiple visions of Jesus, in which he emphasized his divine love for humanity and revealed devotion to his Sacred Heart. With the support of her spiritual director, the Jesuit St. Claude de la Colombiere, St. Margaret Mary introduced devotional practices that continue to be observed in the Catholic Church today.

The relics visiting the basilica were St. Margaret Mary’s clavicles, two of her ribs and a small piece of her brain. Dozens of pilgrims of all ages filled the center aisle of the historic co-cathedral, waiting patiently for a turn to spend time with the relics of this holy woman.

“This has been the case wherever it’s been,” said Peter Sonski, director of community outreach for the Knights of Columbus and the custodian of the relics. “The bishops have really inspired the people of the United States with this devotion to the Sacred Heart.”

Another Chance

Standing just a few yards from the reliquary, Ruth Dawkins smiled as she quietly greeted some of the pilgrims, offering to take photos of them in prayer before the relics.

Years ago, she was traveling in France when she realized she was near the Chapel of the Apparitions in Paray-le-Monial. St. Margaret Mary’s incorrupt body is in that chapel, and Dawkins wanted to make a visit there to pray. The people she was traveling with told her, however, that she didn’t have time. Their bus was about to leave. Dawkins thought she had missed her chance.

When she realized that the relics of St. Margaret Mary would be just a few blocks from her home at the basilica, she knew she had to be there. So, the parishioner of New All Saints in Liberty Heights stood in line with dozens of visitors who waited patiently to kneel and pray at the reliquary, pressing her rosary against its side, and asking for the saint’s intercession.

“I was so glad to be here because I missed the Little Flower,” said Dawkins, referring to the visit of the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux at the Carmelite Monastery in Towson last year.

In line behind Dawkins was Christina Betta, a basilica parishioner who has a special connection to St. Margaret Mary. At the start of the new year, Betta filled a box of names of saints and blesseds and placed it in the back of the basilica. She thought her fellow parishioners and visitors might like to pull the name of a saint who would accompany them through the year.

“I wasn’t sure how much people would want to do it,” Betta said. But the box emptied quickly and she had to replenish the names.

When Betta pulled a name out of the box herself, she received St. Margaret Mary Alacoque as her saint of the year.

“I already felt a devotion to the Sacred Heart,” said Betta, a veterinarian and 2009 graduate of Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville. Over the past year, she has spent time considering St. Margaret Mary’s life. “I’m still trying to figure out what God is trying to speak to me through her. Part of my prayer to her today was ‘help me to know.’”

Anna Barron, a Byzantine Catholic who lives in Parkville and attends liturgies at several churches, including St. Michael’s Ukrainian Church in East Baltimore, St. Isaac Jogues in Carney and St. Ursula in Parkville, felt called to come pray near the relics. She and her husband, Don, recently saw the 2026 movie, “Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End.”

Burning with Love for Jesus

Barron said she was moved by St. Margaret Mary’s life and “the fact that Jesus touches her heart and it was burning like our love is burning for Jesus.”

But Barron, who attended the 250th anniversary Mass where the relics were welcomed to the basilica, emphasized that as much as she appreciated spending time with the relics, the Eucharist is central to her faith.

“This is a veneration, not a worship,” she said. “It brings us closer to Jesus to know that there is a saint who loved Jesus so much.”

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