R E L I C S T H I S W E E K E N D ! I M P O R T A N T I N F O...
Please note that we are anticipating huge crowds for this very special event (see schedule below). HOWEVER, WE CANNOT TELL YOU AT WHAT TIMES IT WILL BE MOST CROWDED or how long you will have to wait in line. We don't know. Wear comfortable shoes! There is no reservation system; you just have to take your chances when deciding what will be the best time for you to come. The office will be closed on the weekend and no one will be answering the phones or door.
THE RELIQUARY: The reliquary will be inside the church during its visit here (the church holds 800 people in the pews). The reliquary contains some of St. Therese's bones. It was flown here from France for this tour. You may touch the glass on the outside of the reliquary and touch objects to it (rosaries, the artificial roses sold in the Parish Hall, etc.), which will then be Third Class relics. You will not actually be able to see any of the bones.
SATURDAY: (The church doors will open at 7:00 a.m. to allow people to enter for the 9:00 a.m. opening Mass). On this day the parking lot will be reserved for the elderly and disabled. There will be a special line for elderly and disabled. We are located in a residential neighborhood (no businesses), so there is plenty of on-street parking for everyone else. Please be careful when parking on the street that you do not block anyone's driveway (you don't want them calling the police to have you towed!). Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk. During the Masses, the reliquary will be covered as there is NO veneration during the Masses. As you can see in the schedule below, VENERATION HOURS on this day are from 10:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. NOTE: After you visit the reliquary, you are welcome to sit in the pews for prayer.
SUNDAY: (The church doors will open at 6:30 a.m. to allow people to enter for the 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass). The parking passes that were handed out at our Masses last weekend are so that our parishioners have preference to park in the lot during Masses on Sunday only. However, when Mass is over, please move your car from the lot in time for people coming for the next Mass to have room to park. There will be NO veneration at the reliquary DURING MASSES (the reliquary will be covered). VENERATION HOURS are from 2:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. NOTE: After the last Mass on Sunday, you may sit in the pews for prayer until 9:00 p.m.
MONDAY: (The church doors will open at 5:00 a.m. to allow people to enter for the 6:00 a.m. weekday Mass). The VENERATION HOURS are very short on this day (from 7:10 a.m. to 8:45 a.m only, which will include the school students). There will be NO 8:00 a.m. Mass that day. The closing Mass will be at 9:00 a.m. (with a full choir). Immediately following that Mass, the reliquary will be carried to its next stop, Sacred Heart Retreat House, which is one block from St. Therese.
FOOD: Tamales will be sold on Saturday by the picnic bench area; and on Sunday, in front of the church. Not available Monday.
GIFT SHOP: On Saturday and Sunday, stop by the Parish Hall to purchase St. Therese-related merchandise: T-shirts, books, commemorative cards, artificial roses to touch to the reliquary, etc. Not available on Monday.
NOTE TO VOLUNTEERS: The parking passes are ONLY for parishioners while they attend Mass on Sunday. Volunteers can park in the lot on a first-come, first-served basis. Carpooling is suggested. Volunteers will get a special chance to venerate either before or after the event on all three days, or they can get in line after their shift.
Volunteer parking available at Sacred Heart Retreat House (approx. 45 spaces).
Please plan ahead: walk, carpool, or consider rideshare (Uber/Lyft).
