Catholics across the US will have a rare chance to venerate one of the church’s most beloved saints this fall.
The relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux—the 19th-century Carmelite nun known for her “little way” of trusting God with childlike faith—will tour the US from 1 October to 8 December, making over 30 stops in 10 states and Washington, DC.
The visit coincides with the 100th anniversary of her canonization and the church’s Jubilee Year of Hope.
It begins fittingly on her feast day and ends on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Ahead of the arrival of the relics, the website for the US (stthereseusa2025.com) visit requests prayers.
When her relics last visited the US in 1999 and 2000, more than a million people came to pray with them.
Organisers expect even more this time. The traveling reliquary holding her remains contains some of the saint’s bones, Father Donald Kinney, a Discalced Carmelite priest residing in Oakville, California, and the national coordinator of the upcoming visit, said, “On a spiritual side, I believe I’ve experienced that there really is something inside the reliquary: the merciful love of God, the peace of Christ and a little heaven on earth.”
The priest, who also helped coordinate the first visit, added, “That’s what people experience.”