First-class relics of well-known Catholic saints coming to Waterford this weekend

The first-class relics of a number of well-known Catholic saints are coming to Waterford city this weekend.

The relics of St Therese, as well as her parents St Zélie and St Louis, will be in the city from today until Sunday.

They will be on display in the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, where a number of services will be held.

A welcome liturgy will be held at 2pm today, followed by veneration until 5:30pm.

Mass will be held at 12 noon on Saturday, followed by veneration until 4pm.

On Sunday, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan will celebrate Mass at 8:30am and 12 noon, with veneration until 5pm.

A closing liturgy will then be held at 5pm on Sunday.

“All are warmly invited to join us for this beautiful opportunity for prayer and veneration,” a church spokesperson said.

St Therese of Lisieux is one of the most well-known modern saints, widely venerated for her spiritual writings during her time as a Carmelite nun.

Her travelling relics are fragments of her physical bone structure, categorised by the Catholic Church as first-class relics.

Her parents, St Zélie and St Louis, were the first ever couple to be canonised together.

Similarly, their relics are also first-class relics consisting of fragments of their physical arm bones.

When such relics are brought on pilgrimage tours, they are safely secured inside highly ornate, protective cases called reliquaries.