A rare opportunity to pray before a major relic of one of the greatest saints in Church history attracted 3,000 people to Columbus St. Patrick Church last weekend.
A reliquary containing part of St. Thomas Aquinas’ skull was on display during the evening of Saturday, Dec. 7 and in the afternoon and evening on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the downtown church under the care of the Order of Preachers, OP, or Dominican Fathers.
The relic of St. Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Dominican revered for his spiritual wisdom, traveled to Dominican parishes throughout the Province of St. Joseph in the eastern United States in late November and early December, drawing thousands with a desire to be in the presence of a part of the saint’s body.
The tour coincided with the 700th anniversary of Aquinas’ canonization, the 750th anniversary of his death and the 800th anniversary of his birth. The Dominican order’s Triple Jubilee year ends after his feast day on Jan. 28, 2025. Aquinas was born in 1225 in Roccasecca, Italy, southeast of Rome, and died at age 48. He was made a Doctor of the Church in 1567.
Bishop Earl Fernandes celebrated the 9 a.m. Mass at the church in the relic’s presence on the second Sunday of Advent. He was joined on the altar by the parish’s friars.
The previous evening, the relics went on display after the Vigil Mass and the parish estimated approximately 1,500 came to the church to spend a few moments praying in front of the relics.
In honor of the Triple Jubilee, one may obtain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions for making a pilgrimage to a Dominican church until Jan. 28, 2025.
Confessions were offered with multiple priests on hand from the parish and the diocese throughout the weekend.
During the parish’s four Sunday Masses, the reliquary was kept on a side altar visible to the congregation. After the last Mass, the reliquary was moved in front of the altar for public prayer and a steady stream of the faithful came forward throughout the afternoon. Lines extended outside the church, through the adjacent gallery and into adjoining Patrick Hall.
On Sunday evening, Solemn Vespers were sung with the Dominican Friars before veneration ended at 9 p.m.
Among those who came to pray were a sizable group of seminarians from the Pontifical College Josephinum and diocesan priests. Religious from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and local sisters from the Children of Mary and other orders visited as well.
Lay faithful who came for the event ranged from infants to parents to individuals with serious illnesses to elderly women and men with various ailments. Parish volunteers reported that pilgrims attended from throughout Ohio and several states.
The parish started preparing months in advance for the anticipated large crowds coming to venerate a major relic of one of Catholics’ most revered saints.
Eunice Hayes, a seamstress and head of the parish’s Martha-Mary Sewing Circle, made an octagonal cloth for the reliquary to rest on during veneration, embroidered with symbols of St. Thomas Aquinas.
The cloth will be permanently displayed in the parish center to commemorate the relic visit.
“I’m honored to have been asked,” Hayes said. “I chose to embroider elements representing St. Thomas Aquinas. These include a quill pen and a book representing his Summa.
“There is a sun in the center of the book in reference to the topic of his writings, which were enlightened by his life given to Jesus. It is very simply hand-embroidered in black cotton, on white linen, with the sun in gold.”
Local artist Bernadette Carstensen was commissioned to paint an image of St. Thomas Aquinas for a holy card that was based on her painting of St. Thomas in an All Dominican saints painting for the 800th anniversary of the Dominican Order in 2016.
Her parents, Larry and Winifred Carstensen, contributed a prayer to the back of the holy card taking from St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings. The prayer cards were placed on the relic before veneration, becoming third class relics, and distributed to each visitor.
Parishioner Mike Melliere, who leads the parish hospitality ministry, organized several crews totaling 120 volunteers for the weekend who helped with details that included parking, ushering, refreshments, signage and crowd control.
Other planning committee members were Chris Chenault, Joe Testa, Daniel Heitzenrater, Rich Kozlowski, Max Madrid and Jim Haninger. Bobby Russell, head of the parish security team, was also heavily involved in planning.
Several alumni of the former Columbus Aquinas College High School stood guard by the relic during veneration, paying tribute to the patron of their alma mater. They were joined by members of the Knights of Columbus and the Knights and Dames of the Holy Sepulcher.
After the Columbus stop, the relic traveled to parishes in Kentucky, New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
