Wednesday, May 21, 2008

St. Thérèse of Lisieux in Berlin

Last Sunday, the reliquary containing the remains of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, which is "touring" Germany at the moment (it's somewhat jocularly called the "Tour de Thérèse"), was in Berlin. One of the churches which were blessed with its visit was the little parish church on the southern outskirts of Berlin which has St. Theresia of the Child Jesus as its Patron. The reliquies arrived at 6 pm, and there was uninterrupted prayer until 9 in the morning. At midnight, the parish priest celebrated a missa cantata in the extraordinary form. Here are some pictures (click on them to get larger versions); as I took them myself with my small pocket camera, and the church was not too bright, the quality is not great, for which I apologize.


The reliquary is to the left, in front of the little statue of St. Thérèse.


If the pictures were sharper you might perceive that the chasuble in the traditional German cut actually has an image of St. Theresia embroidered at the centre of the cross on the back. The parish priest has been rescuing old and unwanted vestments for quite some time and now owns a veritable collection.


After Mass, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for adoration:


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