3 Shrines in the USA with the Most Catholic Relics

Lis Luwia July 9, 2019

If you’re traveling through the USA or looking for a place to pilgrimage to in the US that has a lot of your favorite saint relics, this is the place for you! But, first, let’s sign into what exactly classifies as a relic.

There are 3 types of relics:

  • First-class Relics: a part of a saint’s body (like fingernails or fragments of a bone)
  • Second-class Relics: an item used by a saint (like a shoe)
  • Third-class Relics: an object touched to a first-class relic (my daughter’s rosary that was touched to a vial of Saint Pope John Paul II’s blood)
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The Maria Stein Shrine of the Holy Relics

The Maria Stein Shrine of the Holy Relics contains 1,100 relics in 970 reliquaries representing 900 saints. 95% of the relics are first-class. The collection continues to grow since they receive new relics from the Vatican regularly. It is located in the Diocese of Cincinnati.

Some relics that can be found here include:

  • Relic of the True Cross
  • St. Peregrine
  • St. Stephen
  • Padre Pio
  • St. Teresa of Avila
  • St. Ursula and Companions
  • St. Victoria
  • St. Anthony of Padua
  • St. Anne, mother of May

Request a tour

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St. John Cantius Church

Located in the Archdiocese of Chicago, St. John Cantius is home to about 1800 relics.

One very interesting facet of the collection of relics at St. John Cantius Church is the relics of the saints from the Lenten Station Churches of Rome. In the fourth century, pilgrims could journey to Rome and visit churches honoring various saints.

St. John Cantius is known for its celebration of the traditional liturgy and the Station Churches which are listed each day of Lent in the traditional missal.

Visit St. John Cantius

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St. Anthony’s Chapel

St. Anthony’s Chapel can be found in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and it boasts of having over 5,000 relics.

Included in this chapel are these relics:

  • A splinter of the True Cross
  • A thorn from the Crown of Thorns
  • A piece of the stone from the Holy Sepulchre
  • St. Demetrius
  • St. John the Baptist
  • St. Mary Magdalene
  • St. Blase
  • St. Stephen
  • St. Anthony of Padua
  • St. Celcilia
  • St. Agnes

Plan a pilgrimage

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A Catholic Relic in California You Probably Didn’t know about

Lis Luwia July 6, 2019

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, you’re familiar with hot summers, traffic and Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. You know, the big cathedral off the freeway?

Well, you might not about the relic that is housed in this cathedral that got me excited enough to want to tell you about it. Because I’ve been to this cathedral, but I didn’t know this relic was there and you probably didn’t either!

Here’s the front of the cathedral.

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And the inside

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And here’s a statue of Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Wait- what’s that around her neck? It’s our relic.

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This relic is an original piece from Saint Juan Diego’s tilma on which Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared! Isn’t that amazing?

Also, you may not know that the relics of the third century Roman martyr, Saint Vibiana, can be found in the mausoleum of the cathedral.

The next time you visit the cathedral, be sure to check out these relics!

Do you have relics hidden in your parish or cathedral? We would love to hear about them! Use our contact form to let us know and your hidden relics may be featured in a future post!

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