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Ten people from Stonyhurst travelled to Salford Cathedral on Sunday 27th September to visit the relics of St Therese of Lisieux, led by the chaplains, Fr John Twist SJ and Miss Sarah Young, and Mr Damien Morley.
Mr Morley writes:
After brunch, we met in the Emmaus Centre for a brief reflection on St Therese’s “Little Way” before we set off.  We took time to think of all of the prayer intentions we wanted to carry with us on our little pilgrimage.
Arriving at the Cathedral, we were able to benefit from our school group status and avoid the 1-2 hour queue!  According to stewards, a staggering 27,000 people of all ages had been through the doors of the cathedral since Friday evening, with the cathedral remaining open throughout the night twice.
Once inside, we were seated in the nave before beginning the journey towards the relics via a number of “prayer stations”.
The atmosphere of prayer was very special and there was also a deep sense of peace and joy around the cathedral.  Numerous priests were busy hearing confessions.
When we were on our way out, following refreshments in the cathedral garden, we spotted one of last year’s Rhetoricians – Daniel Bloor OS – in the increasingly long queue.
Bishop Crispian Hollis OS, wrote movingly of the effect of the visit of the relics to Portsmouth Cathedral, the first stop on this month-long tour:
“There have been many occasions when I have been intensely proud to be the
bishop of our diocese of Portsmouth, but never more so than now. I will keep the
memory of these days and, I hope, the graces that have flowed from them forever
in my heart.”

We hope that, each in our own way, we can put this inspiring young saint’s message of love in the little things into practice in our everyday lives at Stonyhurst.

For more information, visit: http://www.catholicrelics.co.uk

Perhaps the best brief overview of St Therese’s life and spirituality, and the reasons the visit of her relics is important, is the Bishop of Leeds’ Pastoral Letter:
http://catholicrelics.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/ar_st_therese_pastoral_letter1.pdf