This Is My New Jersey

Tomorrow the faithful will have a unique opportunity at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Montclair. A variety of religious relics will be on display from noon until 7pm at Capozzelli Hall at 94 Pine Street.

The event will be hosted by Joseph Santoro, who is the Order of the International Crusade for Holy Relics’ regional delegate to the U.S. The order is an international group of independent relic apostolates, advocates, and saint devotees.

Relics are divided into three classifications. A first-class relic is a body part of a saint, such as bone, blood, or flesh. Second-class relics are possessions that a saint owned, such as clothing, bed sheets, or handkerchiefs. Third-class relics are objects that have been touched to a first- or second-class relic or that the saint has touched. The exposition allows the faithful to create third-class relics by touching objects such as rosaries, prayer cards, and photographs to the relics on display.

The exhibit includes a handful of relics from the passion of Jesus Christ: a small splinter of the cross, a piece of the crown of thorns, a piece of Christ’s tomb, and a piece of the column on which Christ was whipped before his crucifixion.

I am excited to see this amazing display. I encourage everyone to take time to visit this rarely seen collection within an incredibly historic church.