10/12/17: A Boston, Massachusettses mall chapel will house the relics of 3 saints
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/a-boston-mall-chapel-will-house-the-relics-of-three-saints-64586
The relic of St. Maximilian Kolbe which will be venerated at the St. Francis Chapel in Boston's Prudential Center Mall.
Relics of St. Faustina Kowalska, St. Maximilian Kolbe, & St. John
Paul II will be coming to a Boston mall’s Catholic chapel, & a local
priest hopes they'll help mall patrons encounter the reality of
Christian love.
“Our hope is that these relics will be a source of spiritual wealth
for the Church of Boston,” Father James Doran, O.M.V., told CNA. “We
hope that all the faithful who live & work in Boston & all those who
travel there will know that right in the heart of the city they have
access to the 2 greatest treasures the Church possesses: the
Sacraments & relics of the saints.”
Father Doran is director of the St. Francis Chapel
at Boston’s Prudential Center mall. The mall, located in Boston’s Back
Bay neighborhood, hosts more than 75 shops & restaurants.
Father Doran reflected on the character of the saints whose relics the chapel will house.
“These 3 saints in particular encountered modernity with the full
force of Christian love, sometimes in confrontation but also in
invitation,” he said. “The mall is a place where encounter & exchange
happens, not just of material goods but personal goods even more
importantly.”
“With the relics of these saints here we hope the faithful will find a
place for contemplative refreshment, gospel formation & the challenge
to take up in full freedom the responsibility & privilege of finding
God in all things & living by the movements of the Holy Spirit & His
gifts & not by blind market forces,” the priest continued.
St. Maximillian Kolbe had served as a missionary priest in Japan &
ran a printing press in the face of Nazi occupation. In August 1941, he
volunteered to take the place of an innocent husband & father about to
be executed at a concentration camp.
The Polish nun St. Faustina Kowalska saw apparitions of Christ & brought the devotion of the Divine Mercy to the world.
The pontificate of St. John Paul II, the first Polish Pope, included
the collapse of the Soviet Union & the effort to evangelize around the
world.
“What we learn from these great saints is especially relevant for our
modern times, that is, to not be afraid,” Dolan commented. “Clearly,
that was a theme of St. John Paul’s entire pontificate but manifested
also in the lives of Faustina & Maximilian. Fear is the result of the
absence of love.”
The relic of St. Maximillian Kolbe, hair from his beard, was obtained
from his monastery in Poland. The relic of St. John Paul II is also a
piece of hair, obtained by an Oblate priest in Rome, the Boston Pilot
reports.
The third relic, a chip of bone from St. Faustina, came to the
oblates as a surprise. They had been trying to obtain a relic of the
saint, but couldn't meet the requirements of her convent.
A woman who was a frequent attendee at the chapel came forward with a
relic of the nun she'd obtained when St. Faustina was beatified. She
said she felt God wanted her to donate it.
The Prudential Center chapel was founded in 1969. Staffed by the
Oblates of the Virgin Mary since the early 1980s, it offers daily Mass,
Confession, & Eucharistic Adoration.
“The chapel is known as an oasis of prayer, silence & mercy in the heart of the city,” Doran said.
Saint John Paul II National Shrine
3900 Harewood Road NE
Washington, DC 20017
For information about the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, call 202-635-5400
Directions: