On December 6, the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, over 150 items were on display at the Sacred Heart Elementary gym where students and members of the community were able to pray with relics of Catholic saints.
As Fr. Tom Voorhies, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, said relics are divided into three categories. “First class relics would be a bone or hair or any part of the body of the saint,” he said. “A second class relic would be their possession like their clothes or prayer book. A third class relic would be a piece of cloth touched to a first class relic of that saint. And, we know that God uses the relics of a saint to bring healings.”
The relics came to Ville Platte with Fr. Carlos Martins of the Companions of the Cross religious order. “He travels around the United States and does about 200 displays a year,” Fr. Voorhies said. “He has a big van that helps contain all of these relics. A woman had just called me and asked of we wanted to have it. So, he came.”
Among the relics were items of the 12 apostles and saints such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Maria Goretti. Other items included a relic of the manger of Christ and a relic of the true Cross.
“Constantines’ mother, St. Helen, had gone to the Holy Land in the 300s and found out where the Crucifixion had taken place,” said Fr. Voorhies. “She had her men dig there. They found three crosses and tested them by touching each one to a sick dying woman. The one that healed her was assumed to be the Cross of Jesus our Lord.”
He continued, “There are bits of and pieces of this true Cross throughout the world.”
The day started with Fr. Martins speaking to the Sacred Heart students. The students were then able to view the relics.
“They were very respectful and prayerful and excited.”
Later that evening, 346 people attended a talk from Fr. Martins in Sacred Heart Church that lasted an hour and a half. Everybody was then able to view the relics. “The people were able to pray with the relics,” Fr. Voorhies said.”
Fr. Voorhies went on to say there has been one healing associated with the relics coming to Sacred Heart.
“It was a woman who’s been dealing with a serious illness,” he said. “She’s been off the medication ever since so far, and we pray it’s permanent.”
Fr. Voorhies concluded, “I was so excited to see the excitement of the people. It was just a great joy for me to see the excitement of the people and the healing, and hopefully healings, that will come from it.”
Fr. Voorhies owns 20 relics himself, and Sacred Heart Church is in possession of a second class relic belonging to a would be saint. The church has the chalice of native son Fr. Verbis LaFleur.
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Tony Marks
Editor