‘Wouldn’t miss this for anything’: Relic of St. Jude the Apostle visits 2 local churches
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People lined up outside the Saints John and Paul Catholic Church as early as 11 a.m. Friday for what hundreds said was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with a relic of St. Jude the Apostle.
Hope, healing and comfort are just some of the reasons hundreds of people came out in droves for a public veneration of the sacred relic: the forearm of St. Jude the Apostle.
“I wouldn’t miss this for anything,” said Mary Ciccone of McCandless.
“The reliquary, or relic case, is actually a hand-carved hand with the fingers in the position to impart a blessing, and there’s a little window in the front of it, and you can actually see the bones of St. Jude,” said Father Joe Carr.
Father Car said the relic was lost for about 200 years but then discovered in Italy during a church renovation. It is now outside of the country for the first time ever, being taken by Vatican officials to 100 cities all across the country.
“We’ve had, just this week, cancers disappear, stroke effects vanish…” said Father Carlos Martins, CC, director of pilgrimage. “People come because the touch of Heaven is here present.”
That notion had inspired thousands of people like Paul Patterson to come and touch the relic.
“I was in a desert storm, and I was in the unit that got hit by the SCUD with the 14th 32 years ago, so I’m just thankful that I’m here today,” Patterson said.
The relic will also be on display at the Diocese of Pittsburgh this weekend. A special Mass will be held in honor of Saint Jude on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m., with veneration of the relic beginning at 2:15 p.m. at Triumph of the Holy Cross Parish, Saint Thomas à Becket Church, located at 139 Gill Hall Road, Jefferson Hills, PA 15025.
Veneration of the relic will continue throughout the day until 10 p.m. Individuals must be in the veneration line by 9 p.m. to have the opportunity to venerate and view the relic.
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