Anything under the sun
Visits of religious relics in West Visayas
On March, the relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus will again visit Iloilo. This will be its second time in Iloilo thru the sponsorship of the Carmelite sisters of Jaro, the saint being a Carmelite nun. It first time was during the Great Jubilee year 2000. The relics consists of a piece of the habit of this saint.
Other relics that had visited West Visayas:
In 1950, the uncorrupted hands of St. Francis Xavier thru the Society of Jesus reached the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod. This relic is part of the uncorrupted body this saint called "The Apostle of the Indies" now in India.
In 2000, there was the bloodied glove of San Padre Pio displayed in the Jesuit Chuch Santa Maria in Iloilo City.
Lastly, the heart of Blessed Hannibal di Francia exhibited at Archbishop's Palace in Jaro in 2003 accompanied by his miracle child, Charisse Nicoloe Diaz of Zarraga, Iloilo.
Incidentally, there are other relics in the churches in Iloilo like those of Santa Monica in Pavia and Santa Ana in Molo. There is also a reliquary gifted by the Church to Don Manuel Arguelles who was mainly responsible for building the famous Jaro Cathedral and belfry during the Spanish time. This reliquary had relics of many saints.
Religious relics of the saints are classified into three:
a. Primary relics – part of his/her body
b. Secondary relics – an article which had touched his body, and
c. Tertiary relics – an article which had touched a secondary relic.