The Cathedral Parish and Diocese Shrine of the Good Shepherd, Diocese of Novaliches, located along Regalado Avenue, Fairview, Novaliches Quezon City (Photo from the lakansining.wordpress.com)
MANILA – The pilgrim relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus will be coming on a three-day visitation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Novaliches (RCDN) from April 9 to April 11.
The RCDN said on its website that the relics will be arriving at the Cathedral Shrine and Parish of the Good Shepherd along Regalado Avenue in Barangay Fairview, Novaliches at 11 a.m. on Easter Sunday for a welcome Mass and public veneration. The mementos will stay at the cathedral for an overnight vigil.
The Diocese of Novaliches, headed by the Most Reverend/Bishop Roberto O. Gaa, is composed of more than 70 parishes and churches in northern Quezon City and Caloocan City. The diocese has a population of more than 2 million Catholics.
On Monday morning (April 10), the relics will be taken on a motorcade to various parishes of the RCDN in North Caloocan City, mainly Holy Cross Parish in Amparo Village; St. Joseph the Worker and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, both in Tala; Sto. Niño de Bagong Silang; Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Urduja Village; and Sto. Nino de Congreso in Deparo and-Bagumbong.
In the afternoon of the same day, the relics will be transferred to the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of the Our Lady of Mercy in Barangay Novaliches Proper. It will stay there before its transfer to the San Bartolome de Novaliches Parish in Barangay San Bartolome for public veneration and overnight vigil.
After a closing and farewell Mass on Tuesday morning (April 11), the relics will leave for a similar visitation to the nearby Diocese of Kalookan under Bishop Pablo Virgilio David.
According to the website of the Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the relics arrived in the Philippines from France last Jan. 2 and first visited the dioceses in Northern Luzon, Bicol Region, the Visayas and Mindanao. It returned to Metro Manila before the Holy Week.
The visit of the relics to the Philippines was among the highlights of the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of St. Therese who was born in Alencon, France on Jan. 2, 1873. She died on Sept. 30, 1897 at age 24 and was one of the saints venerated in the Catholic Church. (PNA)
