Major Relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas Available for Prayer and Veneration at Saint Patrick Parish in Philadelphia

Major relics of Saint Thomas Aquinas from Toulouse, France will be available for veneration at Saint Patrick Church in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia from Sunday, December 15th through Tuesday, December 17th in the Upper Church.

Faithful across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are invited to attend and seek the intercession of Saint Thomas Aquinas for their intentions and for the needs of the Church and the world. A schedule of events is found below.

Sunday, December 15, 2024 – Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Saint Patrick Church (Upper Church)
242 South 20^th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) was a saintly friar and priest of the Dominican Order, one of the Church’s greatest philosophers and theologians, author of the renowned Summa Theologiae and hymns for Corpus Christi, and the patron saint of teachers, students, universities, and those seeking to grow in the virtue of chastity. He was canonized in 1323 and named a Doctor of the Church in 1567. His feast day is January 28.

Schedule
Sunday, December 15
7:30 p.m. Reception Ceremony
9:00 p.m. Night Prayer
Veneration through the night
(Email to participate in one hour of veneration: [email protected])

Monday, December 16
7:30 a.m. Mass
8:15 a.m. Morning Prayer
12:05 p.m. Mass
3:00 p.m. Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet
5:00 p.m. Office of Readings and Evening Prayer
7:00 p.m. Angelic Warfare Confraternity Enrollment
(RSVP [email protected] by December 8 to enroll)
9:00 p.m. Night Prayer
Veneration through the Night
(Email to participate in one hour of veneration: [email protected])

Tuesday, December 17
6:00 a.m. Rorate Mass
(A Rorate Mass is a candlelit Mass that honors the Virgin Mary during Advent. The Mass is celebrated in the early morning before dawn, and is named after the first words of the Latin opening chant, Rorate Caeli, which means “Shower, O heavens.”)
7:30 a.m. Mass
8:15 a.m. Morning Prayer
12:05 p.m. Mass
12:35 p.m. Daytime Prayer
1:00 p.m. Doors Close
(Relics will be transported to Saints Philip and James Church in Baltimore, Md.)

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Editor’s Note: For more information about Saint Patrick Parish in Philadelphia, please visit https://www.stpatrickphilly.org/.

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