'A little heaven on Earth': St. Thérèse relics tour US in 2025

(OSV News) -- Catholics nationwide are invited to encounter St. Thérèse of Lisieux in a special way during an upcoming visit of her relics to the United States this fall.

The relics or remains of the 19th-century Carmelite nun -- one of the most beloved saints in the world -- will make more than 30 stops in 10 states and Washington, D.C., in 2025, a year that marks the 100th anniversary of her canonization and the Jubilee Year of Hope. The two-month journey begins Oct. 1, the feast day of St. Thérèse, and concludes Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

More than 1 million people flocked to venerate or honor these relics when they first visited the U.S. in 1999 and 2000. This time, organizers expect the saint, known for her "little way" of childlike trust and confidence in God's merciful love, to draw even larger crowds.

The traveling reliquary holding her remains contains some of the saint's bones, Father Donald Kinney, a Discalced Carmelite priest residing in Oakville, California, and the national coordinator of the upcoming visit, told OSV News.

"On a spiritual side, I believe I've experienced that there really is something inside the reliquary: the merciful love of God, the peace of Christ and a little heaven on earth," said Father Kinney, who also helped coordinate the first visit. "That's what people experience."

St. Thérèse, also known as "The Little Flower," lived in France 1873-1897. At the age of 15, she entered the cloistered Carmelite community at Lisieux where she remained until she died of tuberculosis at 24. She was quickly canonized 27 years later, in 1925.

Before dying, she promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth.

St. Thérèse became well-known through her autobiography, "Story of a Soul," read by millions. Today, she is one of four women named a doctor of the church for her significant contributions, and her words appear multiple times in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Several popes have expressed a devotion to her including, most recently, the late Pope Francis, who canonized her parents and wrote a 2023 apostolic exhortation about her and her "timely witness."

Online, the website for the visit of the relics provides a detailed schedule and lists stops in six general areas: Royal Oak, Michigan (Oct. 1-8), California (Oct. 10-30), Texas and nearby states (Oct. 31-Nov. 14), Hubertus, Wisconsin (Nov. 15-18), the Washington, D.C., area (Nov. 19-30) and the Miami area (Dec. 1-8).

For this visit, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been entrusted with the relics by the Sanctuary of St. Thérèse in Lisieux. Most of the stops take place at churches and Carmelite monasteries and many will be accompanied with processions, Masses with local bishops, confessions, lectures, concerts and prayer.

The Carmel of Port Tobacco in La Plata, Maryland, the first convent of religious women in the original 13 states and the first American Carmelite monastery, serves as one of the stops and will house the relics Nov. 23-25.

"Our biggest hope for the people who venerate the relics of St. Thérèse is for them to desire to learn more about her, read her writings, and practice her 'Little Way' of spirituality," Mother Marie Bernardina of Divine Mercy, prioress of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Carmel of Port Tobacco, told OSV News in emailed comments. "We hope everyone grows in their love and confidence in God's Mercy and constant goodness and graciousness."

In preparation for the visit, they are, among other things, organizing a novena to St. Thérèse that leads up to her feast day.

"We are looking forward to all the many graces and blessings that will descend upon the pilgrims and their families who come to this location to visit her relics," Mother Marie Bernardina said. "We are looking forward to all the many graces and blessings that will descend upon the 11-12 sisters here, and hopefully spark new vocations to consecrated and priestly life."

Like Mother Marie Bernardina, Father Kinney also anticipated the impact of the visit on the church and vocations.

"When we first started working on this, our first goal was to build up the church in the United States and to promote vocations," he said.

"What we want through the relics of St. Thérèse, is to bring people back to church, to lift up the country with something that's totally positive, and then to bring in vocations," he added.

Father Kinney has witnessed this firsthand, after his command of the French language enabled him to take a leadership role in coordinating the 1999-2000 visit.

"It was such a wonderful, powerful experience for me," Father Kinney, who is also the translator of "The Poetry of St. Thérèse of Lisieux" from ICS Publications, said of the visit.

He remembered the impact on the country, highlighting not only the enormous crowds but also the graces, conversions and vocations that came from the event.

He began coordinating this next visit after receiving a phone call from the pastor of the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak in 2023. The pastor asked for Father Kinney's help in bringing St. Thérèse's relics to the U.S. as the shrine approached its own 100th anniversary.

"I thought, in her centenary year of her canonization, somebody else will already have booked or reserved the relics," Father Kinney recalled. "But I emailed Lisieux and they said, 'Yes, we do have several months open.'"

Ahead of the arrival of the relics, the website for the U.S. (stthereseusa2025.com) visit requests prayers.

"Through St. Thérèse we ask the Lord for another life-giving shower of graces for the USA," it reads. "We want to build up the Church and promote vocations. In St. Thérèse's words, we want 'to love Jesus and make Him greatly loved.'"