Saints on display
LYNDORA — A historic church is hoping to kindle a new interest in Catholic saints through a unique display of their relics.
The Rev. Douglas Lorance, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Greek Ukrainian Catholic Church, 610 Hansen Ave., and David Rehm, a member of St. Michael's Altar Society, said the 112-year-old church is host to the relics of 63 saints, as well as a piece of Christ's manger.
Rehm said the saints' relics were loaned to the church by the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, whose members formed the Relic Crusade to safeguard and find relics that have been stolen or lost to the church.
“The Relic Crusade is part of the Order of Equestrians,” said Rehm. “They were founded in Jerusalem and transported the knights. Afterward, they would clean the field and help the local people.”
“Today they help the Eastern Church in Syria, Iraq and Iran and evacuate and relocate people,” said Rehm.
“Many churches have been vandalized and desecrated. The Relic Crusade helps get relics into a community instead of being desecrated,” he added.
Rehm and the Rev. Lorance, both Knights of Malta, met with Order of the Equestrians representatives through the connections between the two Catholic orders.
“We were lucky to be able to convince them to allow the relics to be housed here,” said Rehm.
Negotiations and later the construction of a highly secure and alarm-equipped ossuary to hold the relics, as well as the transport of the relics to Lyndora, lasted from 2005 to 2015 when the relics went on display.
“They had to be sure we met certain criteria, that the climate was hospitable and that there was a responsible guardian,” Rehm said.
Rehm said the saints' relics range from hair from the newly sainted St. Teresa of Calcutta to the heart tissue of St. Monica, patron of troubled marriages.
Saints range from the recent such as St. Peter To Rot who was martyred by the Japanese during World War II for his evangelism to Saints Benedict and Scholastica, twin brother and sister, whose relics share a reliquary.
Each case in the ossuary contains a picture of the saint, a plaque with his or her name and the reliquary containing the relic.
Lorance said the display, which is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Saturday and by appointment at other times, has drawn visitors from as far away as California and Canada.“People come from New York, Chicago, Connecticut, they come to take Mass and the sacraments,” said Lorance.Lorance said the relics help make the life stories of the saints behind them come to life.“They were heroes and heroines to me. This is a way to get the saints back into the community, to bring the saints alive again,” said Lorance, whose been the pastor at St. Michael for 21 years.“This is the best-kept secret in Western Pennsylvania,” said Lorance. “Many people who come by are taken aback. They are very surprised.”“I'd like to think that this could help build up the community of Butler,” said Lorance. “The saints intercede for the community.”Rehm said, “The saints did great things in their lives; raised the dead, cured sickness. The holiness in them has not left.”St. Michael, said Rehm, is in line to receive more relics in the near future. Plans call for additional cases to be built along the frames of the church's stained-glass windows.Rev. Lorance said anyone wanting to visit the saints outside of the Saturday hours should call the church at 724-283-0363 to set up an appointment.
