2018, January 15

Hundreds of devotees swarm the pilgrim relics of St. Therese as they offered prayers and roses to venerate the saint. Touching down at the Laoag airport via military plane, a crowd of local government, school, church and religious leaders welcomed the relics on its fourth visit to the Philippines. Enclosed in a golden reliquary some bone fragments of St. Therese, personnel of the Ilocos Norte Police Provincial Office carried the relics while members of the Knights of Columbus helped in crowd control. From the airport, organizers conducted a motorcade all the way to the St. William Cathedral in downtown Laoag. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, also called Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, was born on January 2, 1873, in Alençon, France. She died at the age of 24.