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'An honour' to host saint's relics, say parishioners

BBC A gold decorative reliquary holding the relics of St Bernadette inside a perspex box in front of the altar of the Holy Cross ChurchBBC
The relics of Saint Bernadette can be seen around Ireland until 5 November

Every year, thousands of Irish Catholics make a pilgrimage to the town of Lourdes in the south west of France.

Now the relics which attract those pilgrims have arrived on Irish soil for the first time.

Lourdes was a sleepy country town, until the 1850s when a peasant girl claimed she saw something.

Bernadette Soubirous told the church authorities she saw "The Immaculate Conception" 18 times.

'It's just a beautiful day for everybody'

The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.

The relics of Bernadette, who became a saint in 1933, arrived in Ireland on 4 September and are now touring across the island.

Lisnaskea, in County Fermanagh, was the first stop in Northern Ireland and they will travel to Londonderry, Belfast, Newry and Armagh before returning to the Republic of Ireland.

The final date of the tour is 5 November.

The relics were on a similar pilgrimage of England and Wales in 2022.

Carmel Wheeler has shoulder-length dark brown hair and is wearing a paisley-patterned padded jacket
Carmel Wheeler was in Lisnaskea to see the relics

Carmel Wheeler has been to Lourdes twice and was in Lisnaskea to see the relics on Thursday.

She said she never believed the relics would come to her parish.

"Mum and dad raised us with the rosary, there was nine girls and one boy, we all knelt down and prayed the rosary every night," she said.

"St Bernadette just means so much to our faith."

She said it was "an honour" for Holy Cross Church in Lisnaskea to be the first in Northern Ireland to host the relics.

Antoinette Lee has shoulder-length blonde hair and is wearing a blue knitted jumper
Antoinette Lee says she was brought up with a strong faith

For Antoinette Lee, the visit of the relics was "an amazing experience" that she thought she would never get to witness.

She said her household had a strong faith and belief when she was growing up.

"When daddy died unexpectedly, it was faith that drove us through," she told BBC News NI.

"So to be here today, it is even more special to be able to do it with my mother.

"It is lovely."

St Bernadette has played a big role in her family's life, Ms Lee said, and her mother has visited Lourdes.

Olga Gilliland has blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She is wearing a white T-shirt and a purple scarf. She is standing in front of the altar of the church
Olga Gilliland's parents were married in Lourdes

Olga Gilliland, a volunteer with the Clogher Diocese and pilgrimages to Lourdes, said the tour of the relics was an opportunity for those who cannot go to Lourdes to experience the relics.

"It's just a beautiful day," she said.

"A lot of people would get a lot of comfort from St Bernadette.

"Lourdes is a very special part of my life, my parents were married in Lourdes.

"That started the role of me becoming involved with volunteering with the diocese and the pilgrimage. I have been so many times, I just love it.

"I never thought the relics would come her."

Who was St Bernadette?

Getty Images An portrait in greyscale of St Bernadette - she is a young girl at the time and is wearing a headscarf and shawlGetty Images
In 1858, the then teenage Bernadette Soubirous reported seeing the Virgin Mary 18 times over the course of a few months at Lourdes, France

Born in Lourdes in 1844, Bernadette Soubirous was a peasant girl.

Her family were poor and she had to miss school lessons to stay at home and help out.

In 1858, she said she saw the Virgin Mary 18 times at the Grotto of Massabielle, the Apparitions of Lourdes were authenticated in 1866 by the Bishop of Tarbes.

In the same year, Bernadette left Lourdes to live out her religious vocation within the community of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers.

She died at the age of 35 and was proclaimed blessed in 1925, then a saint in 1933.

A collection box that says Saint Bernadette Relic Pilgrimage Ireland 2024
The Catholic Church says her reported visions of the Virgin Mary are "worthy of belief" and has officially declared the healings of 70 people, who either drank or bathed in the waters at Lourdes, as inexplicable cures

Ireland has had a long connection with Lourdes, with groups and individuals travelling there in their thousands each year seeking hope, healing and peace.

Millions of pilgrims visit the site annually from across the world.