Blessed Michael McGivney’s relic travels through south Texas during a five-day pilgrimage
By Cecilia Engbert
9/26/2024
Source
Thousands of people had the opportunity to venerate a first-class relic of Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, as it traveled almost 600 miles across five dioceses in southern Texas Sept. 3-7.
Beginning in the Diocese of Victoria, the relic was accompanied by Father Mark Salas, former associate state chaplain, and escorted by Knights on motorcycles through the dioceses of Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Laredo and San Antonio. At each parish the pilgrimage visited, a Fourth Degree honor guard ushered the bone-fragment relic into the church, where parishioners and other visitors gathered for Mass, a rosary and intercessory prayer to Father McGivney. Local K of C councils also held exemplification ceremonies at each stop, welcoming new Knights into the Order.
State Deputy Ron Alonzo, who accompanied the relic to four of the five tour stops, said the tour was organized by the Texas State Council in collaboration with the Supreme Council to introduce more people to Blessed Michael McGivney and encourage them to ask for his heavenly help.
“We want our members to have the opportunity to venerate our Founder, but also there is the hope that somewhere along this trip might be that next miracle [to advance Father McGivney’s cause for canonization], so we can share our Founder as a saint with the universal Church,” explained Alonzo.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints approved a miracle attributed to Father McGivney’s intercession — the healing of baby Mikey Schachle in utero — in May 2020, opening the way to his beatification Oct. 31, 2020. In order for Father McGivney to be canonized, a second miracle attributed to his intercession must be approved.
The Knights provided a large prayer box at each stop, where devotees left thousands of prayer intentions that were later placed on the Father McGivney’s tomb at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut. State Deputy Alonzo estimates that somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people visited the relic over the five-day period.
“There were people waiting for us at every stop, and once we started veneration, the lines of people were constant,” Alonso said. “Many that attended did not know about Blessed Michael McGivney, but they learned about him by being present. And for the Knights, the entire experience was very special.”
ALWAYS WITH US
Father Salas, chaplain of Our Lady of the Assumption Council 12697 in El Paso, said the relic pilgrimage reflected Father McGivney’s work as a compassionate, accessible parish priest.
“When you make an appointment with a priest, you take as much time as you need — sometimes it’s 10 seconds, sometimes half an hour. There were always people during the veneration, but every person got as much time as they needed with Father McGivney,” said Father Salas. “If Father McGivney were still around today, he would be happy to go to South Texas, to all these five dioceses and say Mass with them, anoint them, bless them, laugh or cry with them. And that’s exactly what he did, because the saints are not dead in the eyes of God. He’ll always be with us, and the tour showed us that Father McGivney’s love still continues.”
“There isn’t a person who cannot come to Father McGivney as a parish priest and ask for a blessing for whatever is going on that day,” Father Salas added. “He’s a daily prayer saint.”
Indeed, people of all ages, from small children to the very elderly, came to venerate the relic of Father McGivney.
During the first stop at Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church in Port Lavaca, “One of the sisters from the school took her second-grade class to venerate and pray with Father McGivney,” recalled Father Salas. “It was very moving to see their tiny hands embrace the reliquary.”
John Leal, past grand knight of Our Lady of the Gulf Council 3253 in Port Lavaca, made sure he found time between assisting with Mass and the other ceremonies to bring his 90-year-old father-in-law to the veneration.
“He’s been very ill,” said Leal, explaining that several months before the relic visit, his father-in-law had had a stroke. “We took him to the church, and he was able to spend a few minutes with Father McGivney; it was a great opportunity.”
OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH
In Corpus Christi, Bishop Michael Mulvey, Texas state chaplain, celebrated a Mass during the relic’s visit to Most Precious Blood Catholic Church. Father Salas and State Deputy Alonzo also made a special visit with the relic to two patients in the intensive care unit at Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi – Shoreline.
One of the patients, nonresponsive for two weeks, had been experiencing cognitive and neurological impulses. After he was anointed by Father Salas, his body stopped jerking, and he fell asleep.
“We were exhausted. It was like 10 p.m., the restaurant we were going to had closed, and I ended up eating at the drive-thru,” Father Salas recalled. “But I thought, ‘Where would Father McGivney want to be: at that nice restaurant or at that ICU with that family?’ Obviously, Father McGivney would be with that family in most need.”
The next morning, State Deputy Alonzo heard from the hospital that the man was awake and starting physical therapy that day.
After Corpus Christi, the relic traveled to the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle in San Juan; San Martin De Porres Church in Laredo; and St. Mark the Evangelist Church in San Antonio.
During the tour, local councils welcomed around two dozen men to the Order. Despite being the smallest of these councils, Council 3253 in Port Lavaca had one of the largest exemplifications, bringing in 10 new Knights.
“We are a small council, and this is once in a lifetime for us,” Leal said. “Having the relic here was a great opportunity for growth.”
Because of the overwhelming response to the pilgrimage, the state council is planning a second one through Texas early next year, tentatively including stops in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and the Dioceses of Beaumont, Tyler, Dallas and Austin.
Alonzo is looking forward to introducing even more people in the Lone Star State to friendship with Blessed Michael.
“I can’t say [the relic tour] was just about us Knights of Columbus, because it wasn’t. It was a lot more than that,” Alonzo said. “Because of the exposure and the preparation for the tour, more people in Texas know about Michael McGivney now than ever knew before.”
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CECILIA ENGBERT is a content producer for the Knights of Columbus Communications Department.