The relics of a saint who rested upon the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be coming to Philadelphia to mark the consecration of the United States to that very heart this summer.
The Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia and St. Denis Parish in Havertown will offer people the chance to venerate the relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in mid-September.
“It’s a great blessing for us to have the relics here in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,” said Father Dennis Gill, rector of the cathedral. “The relics remind us of the promise of glory that belongs to all of us, the promise of heaven that belongs now to the saints and will be ours if we’re faithful to Jesus.”
The relics will arrive at the cathedral chapel at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, then move to the main basilica from 5 to 7 p.m. that day.
They will remain displayed for veneration in the Cathedral Basilica on Sunday, Sept. 13 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and again from 5:30 to 8 p.m., while displayed in the chapel between 2:30 and 5 p.m.
“Hopefully the relics will provide many Catholics throughout the region to come and visit the Cathedral Basilica, to venerate the relics, to ask the heavenly help of St. Margaret Mary to pray for us and our fidelity to Christ,” Father Gill added. “Also it will be a wonderful opportunity through St. Margaret Mary to renew our devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
St. Denis Parish will display the relics in the parish’s perpetual adoration chapel, itself named for the Sacred Heart, throughout Monday, Sept. 14 and until noon on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
The Knights of Columbus are bringing the relics to the Cathedral Basilica. They are being entrusted with the Catholic men’s organization for part of 2026 before their return home to France.
Peter Sonski, the director of community outreach for the Knights of Columbus, has taken the relics throughout numerous locales along the East Coast for veneration opportunities.
He said this journey of creating pilgrimages to encounter the relics in cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., began with the U.S. bishops collectively consecrating the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11.
“It seems very appropriate that they go to cities that we think are really significant in the history and development of our nation,” he said.
Sonski says that the Catholic Church’s unique practice of venerating relics harkens back to the beginning of the Catholic Church.
“We know that in the early years of Christianity, the Church was forced underground, and so many of the early Christians who were martyred were buried in the catacombs. Worship took place in the catacombs,” Sonski said.
“This veneration, this respect for the deceased people who lived lives of holiness, of heroic faith, stems from the very origins of Christianity, and it’s something that has been perpetuated in Catholicism for millennia.”
The relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque bring a rare opportunity for connection to one of the few saints who, at the invitation of Jesus, rested her head upon His Sacred Heart during a mystical encounter in late 17th century in France.
“The love that God has for us is without compare, and St. Margaret Mary is the soul among all of human time that our Lord chose as the one to communicate this,” Sonski said.
“Her relics naturally are of importance because this was a select soul. This was an individual whom our Lord identified from the very beginning to be His apostle of devotion to His Sacred Heart.”
Grace Mazza Urbanski, the National Vice Director of Pope Leo XIV’s Worldwide Prayer Network, said that God did not choose her because of personal piety, but chose her after seeing her need, living as an indentured servant.
“She found refuge in prayer. She found refuge in the love of Jesus,” Mazza Urbanski said.
“Anyone who especially feels the need for love, anyone who feels lonesome and like an outcast should see that’s precisely why Jesus communicated His love for us to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, why he presented this image of His Sacred Heart on the outside of His body, totally open.”
The appearance of the relics also reflects how the Cathedral Basilica is the home of the resting place of St. Katharine Drexel, Philadelphia’s own homegrown saint.
“The relics of a saint bring us near to glory. They inspire us to trust and have confidence in the intercession of a saint who is in heaven,” Father Gill said.
“I find that to be a particular comfort to me that when I’m venerating relics. While I’m honoring the holiness of the saint, I’m also in a sense touching heaven through the relics of the saint. I find it to be a very comforting experience.”
See more information on the arrival of the relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Philadelphia and Havertown.
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