Relic Veneration
Sacred Treasures of the Church
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is blessed with a vast collection of authenticated sacred relics. In order to properly honor these holy saints, the Shrine makes our relics available for public veneration on their particular feast days.
Veneration Schedule
February
9th – St. Maron
10th – St. José Sánchez del Río
11th – Our Lady of Lourdes (St. Bernadette Relic)
MoreMarch
17th – St. Patrick of Ireland
19th – Clothing of St. Joseph
May
St. Peregrine (Every 1st Mon. of May)
+1st – Clothing of St. Joseph
3rd – Ss. Philip & James the Less
MoreJuly
6th – St. Maria Goretti
11th – St. Benedict, Abbot
13th – Bl. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago
MoreNovember
13th – St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
+13th – St. Stanislaus Kostka
16th – St. Gertrude the Great
MoreRelic Veneration Information
Public veneration of 1st-Class Relics at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe takes place by the way of a general blessing at the conclusion of Holy Mass. Should the saint’s feast day fall on a Sunday or a Solemnity, there may not be a public veneration of that saint’s relic, however, the relic will be available for private veneration upon request.
Veneration of Saints
Honor paid to the saints who, by their intercession and example and in their possession of God, minister to human sanctification, helping the faithful grow in Christian virtue. Venerating the saints does not detract from the glory given to God, since whatever good they possess is a gift from his bounty. They reflect the divine perfections, and their supernatural qualities result from the graces Christ merited for them by the Cross. In the language of the Church’s liturgy, the saints are venerated as sanctuaries of the Trinity, as adopted children of the Father, brethren of Christ, faithful members of his Mystical Body, and temples of the Holy Spirit.
- Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Servant of God, Modern Catholic Dictionary
“RELIC. An object connected with a saint, e.g., part of the body or clothing or something the person had used or touched. Authentic relics are venerated with the Church’s warm approbation. They may not be bought or sold. Those of a martyr are placed in the altar stone at the consecration of an altar.”
– Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Modern Catholic Dictionary