Sacred relics of St Bernadette for display at Oblates

THE holy relics of St Bernadette of Lourdes are set to visit the Oblate Church of Mary Immaculate in Inchicore on October 23 and 24, as part of a tour of three Dublin churches.

St Bernadette of Lourdes (1844 – 1879), was a French saint whose visions led to the founding of the Marian shrine of Lourdes.

She was canonised in 1933.

The eldest of nine children from a poverty-stricken family, Bernadette Soubirous had a series of visions of the Virgin Mary in the Massabielle grotto when she was 14, which led to the founding of the shrine of Lourdes.

To escape public attention, she became a boarder in the local school run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers.

In 1866 she was granted admission into the novitiate in the motherhouse at Nevers. There she completed her religious instruction and passed her remaining years in prayer and seclusion.

She was canonised by Pope Pius XI, who authenticated her visions and the veneration of Mary as Our Lady of Lourdes.

The Archbishop of Armagh, Eamon Martin, said the opportunity to venerate St Bernadette’s relics in Ireland for the first time will be “a source of hope, great joy, and inspiration.”

The relics will journey from Lourdes, France, before reaching cathedrals and churches across Ireland between September 4 and November 5.

As part of the nationwide tour, the relics will be on view at Our Lady of Victories Church in Glasnevin on September 25 and 26, the Oblate Church of Mary Immaculate in Inchicore on October 23 and 24, and in Adam and Eve’s, Franciscans, Merchant’s Quay, on October 25 and 26.