The relic of St. Clare of Assisi will arrive in Cebu today, Feb. 22, starting its two-month-long sortie in the Philippines.
Taken from the urn containing the mortal remains of St. Clare, the relic of the virgin is scheduled to land at the Mactan Cebu International Airport around 3 p.m. and will be brought by motorcade to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
At the cathedral, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma will celebrate a Mass for St. Clare at 6 p.m. before the relic will be exposed for public veneration until 12 midnight.
The relic will be transported to the Poor Clare Monastery in Tayud, Consolacion, tomorrow, Feb. 23 after an 8 a.m. Mass at the cathedral officiated by Msgr. Roberto Alesna.
It will stay at the monastery for public veneration until Feb. 25.
From Cebu, the relic will visit other cities in Mindanao and the Visayas—including Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Dumaguete and Iloilo—before going to Luzon.
The relic will also visit other Poor Clare monasteries in the country before returning to Assisi in Italy.
The relic’s Philippine sojourn is part of the year-round 800th year celebration of the founding of the Order of St. Clare (OSC) that will end on October.
St. Clare was known for her miracles, like warding off Saracen invaders at the gates of her convent by showing the consecrated Host to the troublemakers while lying prostrate in prayer.
But what led Pope Pius XII to designate her as Patron Saint of Television on Feb. 17, 1958, was her reported miraculous vision and hearing of the Mass from the confines of her room several miles away when she was too ill to attend church worship. Her feast is celebrated on Aug. 11.
Clare died in Assisi on Aug. 11, 1253 and was canonized two years after.
She is also patroness of telephones, telegraphs, embroiderers, and of those with eye ailments. She is likewise the refuge for childless couples and champion of the poor.