Relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to visit Baltimore Basilica July 5-6

Major relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the 17th-century French nun known as the Apostle of the Sacred Heart, will be available for public veneration at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore July 5-6 as part of a nationwide tour organized by the Knights of Columbus.

The relics will be welcomed at the Baltimore Basilica, the nation’s first Catholic cathedral, with a 10:30 a.m. Mass July 5 celebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori, who also serves as supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus. Public veneration will continue through 7 p.m. July 5 and from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 6.

The Knights of Columbus recently announced a veneration schedule for the relics, which traveled to the United States under the organization’s custody for the U.S. Catholic bishops’ June 11 consecration of the nation to the Sacred Heart, an event held in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The day following the consecration was the Catholic observance of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. Thousands of faithful venerated the relics in Florida at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe and later at Orlando’s St. James Cathedral.

Before arriving in Baltimore, the relics will be available for veneration at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. Public veneration there is scheduled for June 29, through July 1, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and from July 2, through July 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Prior to the Washington visit, the relics are scheduled for public veneration at the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center in New Haven, Conn., June 24-27. The pilgrimage center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Following the Baltimore visit, the relics will return to the McGivney Center for additional periods of veneration.

Relics are either the mortal remains or possessions of holy persons. From the earliest period in Christianity, such remains have been venerated in respect for the saintly people associated with them. The practice has continued for two millennia, with people praying devoutly before relics for their own needs or those of loved ones. The relics coming to Baltimore are St. Margaret Mary’s clavicles, two of her ribs and a small piece of her brain.

St. Margaret Mary was a member of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary. Beginning in 1673 at her convent in France, she experienced multiple visions of Jesus, during which he emphasized his divine love for humanity and revealed devotion to his Sacred Heart. At his instruction, and with the assistance of her spiritual director, the Jesuit priest St. Claude de la Colombiere, she introduced devotional practices that continue to be observed throughout the Catholic Church today. She was canonized in 1920.

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