Soldier, sick child, welcome saint’s relics

HE may be tough in battle but 34-year-old Army soldier Rex Dayola knows how to humble himself before the Lord.

Carrying his 5-year-old  daughter in one arm and a basket of flowers in  the other, Dayola approached the gold-trimmed chest containing the pilgrim relics of  St. Therese of the Child Jesus  which arrived in Cebu on Sunday.

His only daughter Mary Luli, a cancer survivor,  has been undergoing chemotheraphy for  three years.

“I am thankful my daughter is alive. I believe St. Therese anoints the sick.  Perhaps, what we’re going through are just trials in life,” he said in Cebuano.

“We need prayers so my daughter as well as other children who are suffering from cancer will recover,” he added.

Dayola was among several persons  who welcomed the relics which were flown to the Benito Ebuen Airbase in Mactan at 7 a.m.

A flower-decked military truck brought the relics to Camp Lapu-Lapu in Cebu City.

Yesterday, Cebuanos had a chance to venerate the relics  in the Carmelite monastery in Mabolo  where they will remain till  Friday morning.

The reliquary is kept in the right  wing of the chapel, where devotees line up to silently pray or touch the  protective case of the wooden box that contains a bone fragment of the 24-year-old French Carmelite  nun who died in 1897.

Women  dressed like angels threw flower petals as the reliquary was first  placed in front of the altar.

In a  welcome Mass, Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal  urged people to emulate St. Therese’s example of childlike devotion and  simplicity.

“Our daily concerns can sometimes overwhelm our instincts.  We long for great and spectacular things without knowing what we really want.  Young as she was, St. Therese understood what is important in life. … In God, the little things are truly the more important ones, “ said Vidal.

The last visit of St. Therese’s relicts to Cebu was in 2000 and 2008.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said the local church requested for a third visit in Cebu due to public demand.

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, a procession will bring the relics  to the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and back to the monastery before it  leaves for Bohol at 7 a.m. Friday.

Archbishop  Palma will preside over the 9 p.m. farewell Mass at the cathedral.

The relics came from the Basilica of St. Therese of Lisieux in France.

The spirituality  of St. Therese emphasizes love and simple means, later referred to as “The Litte Way”.   She is one of only three female  saints given the title “Doctor of the Catholic Church” because of the wide influence and  doctrinal purity of  her teachings.

The others are  Saint Teresa of Avila, who is also a Carmelite nun,  and Catherine of Sienna of the Dominican order. /Ador Vincent Mayol, Reporter