Bishop Cullinane welcomes St. Bernadette's relics to Waterford

Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan welcomed the relics of St Bernadette Soubirous to the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, saying he hoped the relic’s presence would “reawaken faith” across Ireland.

The relics arrived in Waterford on Tuesday, September 17, and will move on to continue on a pilgrimage to each of the 26 Catholic Dioceses in Ireland from September 18.

The saint’s relics landed in Ireland at Knock Airport on Wednesday, September 4, before visiting Galway Cathedral. Before arriving in Waterford the relics also visited the dioceses of Killaloe, Limerick, Kerry and Cloyne.

St Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes in 1844, and is said to have seen the Virgin Mary 18 times, starting from when she was preparing for her first Communion at age 14. She was canonised posthumously in 1933, 54 years after she died from tuberculosis, in 1879. Today, the Grotto of Lourdes, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to St Bernadette, is visited by millions each year.

“Of course, the Irish have a long association with Lourdes and with St. Bernadette. For decades, the Irish have been going to Lourdes, so they're well acquainted with the story of Lourdes and St. Bernadette,” Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan said while speaking to Waterford News & Star.

The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore said the relic’s pilgrimage around Ireland will “reawaken faith” across the country and said: “The relics have just arrived here and people are telling me things, people are coming in crying; one lady came in with a little baby who is going for an operation. People are coming in with all kinds of burdens and hoping that God will listen to them and give them strength."

St Bernadette is notable as the Catholic Patron Saint of Illness and Poverty, as the Lourdes Medical Bureau has labelled nearly 70 cures at the grotto in Lourdes as “inexplicable”. As a result, February 11, the date of the first apparition, is dedicated as World Day of the Sick.

“She was 14 when Our Lady appeared to her,” Bishop Cullinan said, “I think Our Lady picked her out because she was so humble, so uncomplicated and honest. But certainly, she was an extraordinary character and was tough as nails, and she had to be.” 

Bishop Cullinane explained that some people were not receptive to the stories of the apparitions St Bernadette experienced at the time.

Now, however, in Waterford the reception the saint’s relics received was unexpected, the Bishop said: “There has been a great buzz around [the Cathedral], [parishioners] will be streaming in all day today. We were hoping to close the doors at 10pm, but we will see, we might have to keep them open even longer, praise God.” 

Bishop Cullinane said he had been researching more about St. Bernadette in anticipation of her relics arriving in Ireland.

“When I was reading about her, it became so obvious how concentrated she was on God, God's will and Heaven," he said. 

"She really has a message for Ireland; are we totally concentrated on this world, when there is something more for us," he added.

“When we think of the loss of meaning today, and the despair and hopelessness a lot of people have. St. Bernadette was full of hope, and reading that book really reminded me of that, because we can all lose focus.”

He said the relics bring “a message of hope and healing”, commenting: “I think those two things are so needed in Ireland today and in the world, you know, in so many places.”

The relics of St. Bernadette are moving on the diocese of Cashel & Emly and will be staying in Holycross Abbey, Thurles, Tipperary from September 19.