St. Mary Magdalene's Relic Will Be Venerated In B'klyn
The Tablet, October 31, 2009 (Volume 102, No. 31)
The relics of St. Mary Magdalene, which have been in the care of the Dominican Fathers for centuries, will visit the Diocese of Brooklyn from Nov. 11 to Nov. 18.
Father Thomas Michelet, a Dominican priest from France, is accompanying the relic on its first visit to the United States to share the story of the person who is recorded as the first witness of the Resurrection.
The relics comes with a letter of authentication from Bishop Dominique Rey of Frejus-Toulon, France, which indicates that they were hidden at the time of the Saracen invasions and rediscovered in 1279, from which date they have been venerated without interruption. A spokesman for the tour says that veneration of these relics may have begun as early as the second century.
"They are presently kept by the Dominican priests in the cave of St. Baume, a part of my diocese," writes Bishop Rey. "A new reliquary has been constructed to allow one of the relics, a piece of the tibia, to travel to different countries for veneration by the entire Church." The faithful may venerate the relic at Most Precious Blood, Bath Beach, Nov. 11; St. James Cathedral-Basilica, Downtown Brooklyn, Nov. 13 and 14; St. Thomas Aquinas, Park Slope, Nov. 14-15; and St. Anthony-St. Alphonsus, Greenpoint, Nov. 17.
At St. Thomas Aquinas, a welcoming Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by an all-night prayer vigil. On the following day, the relics will be present as the parish completes the celebration of its 125th anniversary. There will be a 9 a.m. Mass in English, and an 11 a.m. procession with the relics. At noon, Msgr. Steven Ferrari, Vicar for Brooklyn, will celebrate a bi-lingual Mass. Additional events are being planned.
As The Tablet goes to press, details of the other parishes' celebrations were not complete.