The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver will host a rare opportunity to venerate the major relics of the Apostle of the Sacred Heart on Aug. 2, mere weeks after the United States was consecrated to Jesus’ heart.
The Apostle of the Sacred Heart is coming to Denver!
In a historic prayer opportunity, major relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque will be available for public veneration at Denver’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday, August 2, before and after Masses from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Who is St. Margaret Mary Alacoque?
A member of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, this French cloistered, contemplative nun dedicated her life to private prayer, hidden away from the world.
Throughout the late seventeenth century, she received visions of Jesus in which he spoke directly to her of his profound love for humanity. During these conversations, he revealed his Sacred Heart, burning with love for each of us, and encouraged St. Margaret Mary Alacoque to foster devotion to it.
She would later speak with her spiritual director, St. Claude de la Colombiere, a Jesuit priest, about her visions. With his help, encouragement and preaching, the Sacred Heart devotion was introduced at a time in which the Church clung to God’s justice to the detriment of his mercy.
She was canonized a saint in 1920.
What are relics? Why do Catholics venerate relics?
Either the mortal remains or possessions of saintly individuals, relics are highly regarded in the Catholic Church. They provide us a physical reminder of who these individuals were, how God worked in their lives and how God might be inviting us to follow him.
Since the ancient Church, Christians have venerated these earthly remains or possessions out of a profound respect for the sanctity of the people they pertain to. Catholics do not worship these remains, but look to them as physical reminders of God’s work in our lives.
Our faith is an incarnate one — Jesus took on flesh; the sacraments use visible things to bestow invisible grace; sacramentals like rosaries and scapulars are physical items meant to remind us of spiritual things; we sit, stand and kneel at Mass to remind us of deeper truths. By praying with relics, we ask our heavenly brothers and sisters to intercede for our needs before God.
Venerating the Sacred Heart’s Apostle
Entrusted to the Knights of Columbus for this tour, the relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque arrived in the United States ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. They were present with the bishops of the United States as they consecrated the country to the Sacred Heart on June 11. The following day, they were available for public veneration in Orlando, Florida.
Later, the relics were made available for veneration at the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center in New Haven, Connecticut, the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, Maryland.
Only the fourth opportunity for public veneration, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s relics will be available before and after Sunday Masses at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver on Sunday, August 2, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The faithful are welcome to attend Mass at the Denver Cathedral at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., or 12:30 p.m., and to venerate the relics before or after Mass.
Visit of the Relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
TIME: 8:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m.
(Before and after Sunday Masses)
LOCATION: Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
