St. Bernadette Soubirous’s remains embark on 140-stop US tour

The remains of St. Bernadette Soubirous are currently on a 140-stop United States tour titled ‘Journey of Grace’. The exhibition features a 132-pound, 24-karat gold-plated reliquary containing various physical fragments, including her fifth and sixth ribs, kneecaps, strands of hair, muscle from her right femur, and pieces of her skin.

St. Bernadette, the Catholic Church’s patron saint of illness, gained prominence after experiencing 18 visions of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France, in 1858. She died in 1879 at the age of 35. The tour includes visits to various basilicas, shrines, cathedrals, parishes, hospitals, and universities.

Rev. Patrick Flanagan, chair of the theology department at St. John’s University, noted that the veneration of such relics is rooted in the belief in the sanctity of the human body. He clarified that Catholics do not worship saints but rather venerate them as holy intercessors.