Relics of St. Bernadette Coming to 3 Local Catholic Sites

Relics of St. Bernadette Soubirous will visit three local Catholic sites in the Philadelphia area starting next week.

The relics will first arrive at St. Thomas of Villanova Church on Sept. 28, marking the final day of a three-day visit by Pope Leo XIV to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. Following this, Our Lady of Lourdes Church in the Overbrook Farms neighborhood will host the relics from Oct. 2 to Oct. 4. Malvern Retreat House will also host the relics for a nearly 24-hour overnight encounter.

Father Matthew Phelan, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and vicar general of the Mercedarian Friars, said he is ready to accept the opportunity. Father Bernard Scianna, vice president for mission and ministry at Villanova University, noted the connection between the Pope, Lourdes, and the university as a reason for the local community to honor the relics. St. Bernadette was a young woman from Lourdes who reported 18 apparitions of the Blessed Mother beginning in 1858.