Pat Oedy-Murray, point person for the Roman Catholic National Eucharistic Revival, holds a parishioner’s item up to a relic during a relics tour Wednesday at St. John the Evangelist Church in Delphos.
Craig Kelly | The Lima News
DELPHOS — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo is working to rekindle a love for the Eucharist, the partaking of communion during the Mass, among Catholics in the region, and part of that revival effort involved the display of relics Wednesday at St. John the Evangelist Church in Delphos.
Relics from St. Manuel González García and Blessed Carlo Acutis were on display throughout the day at the front of the church for private veneration, with a Mass and a prayer service conducted at the church, as well. In Catholicism, relics are physical objects connected with people recognized as saints in the church. This can be a part of the body, such as a bone or hair follicle, or it could be a piece of clothing the person wore. In this case, the relics were a bone fragment from García and a portion of pericardium, or the membrane surrounding the heart, from Acutis, both of whom have been named patrons of the Eucharistic revival. On Wednesday, parishioners had the opportunity to have objects like rosaries or prayer cards prayed over, requesting that the duo pray to God in heaven on their behalf.
“Both of them have a deep Eucharistic love and have proclaimed the Eucharist throughout their short and longer lives,” Pat Oedy-Murray, the point person for the National Eucharistic Revival, said. “Basically, the tour is to help people grow and understand these two saints and understand their love for the Eucharist and help individuals grow their love for the Eucharist.”
Canonized in 2016, García, who was born in 1877 and died in 1940, is known for being assigned as a priest to a poorly attended and neglected church and was galvanized after receiving divine revelation.
“He prays in front of the tabernacle and in that moment, Christ reveals himself to him,” Oedy-Murray said. “In that moment, he knows that the whole goal of his priesthood has changed. It is now to be about love of the Eucharist.”
Acutis, who was born in 1991 and died in 2006, was known for his devotion to God from a young age, despite coming from a non-practicing family.
“He receives his first communion and his life changes,” Oedy-Murray said. “In that moment, he comes to an understanding that this is Christ in the Eucharist, and he wants to go every day to receive communion, and he brings his parents back to the church.”
Adept with computers, Acutis worked to compile a website chronicling 136 miracles connected to the Eucharist. He died before getting the chance to visit each of those sites.
“He loved soccer. He loved movies. He loved video games,” Oedy-Murray said. “He would only play for an hour a week because he knew if he played more than that, he would begin to love that more than he loved Jesus.”
Fr. Dennis Walsh, the priest at St. John’s in Delphos as well as St. Patrick Church in Spencerville and St. John’s Church in Landeck, was gratified that the relics were there for his parishioners, noting that both new and familiar faces came to St. John’s on Wednesday. Having a connection to Acutis, a young person, was also beneficial for the students at St. John’s School, Walsh said.
“I think Carlo’s story, especially in this day and age when so many of our young people are looking for a sense of value and something to put their faith in, Carlo was an excellent example and a great model to our young people,” he said.
