St Thérèse relics in Sheffield

Pilgrims visit the relics of Saint Therese in Coleshill, West Midlands

The Carmelite Monastery at Kirk Edge in High Bradfield opened its doors to the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux on Monday 5th October 2009.

During a short visiting period of three hours from 12-3pm, pilgrims of all Christian traditions could visit the Monastery.

The relics, contained in a decorated casket, are in England and Wales until Friday 16 October 2009 at the invitation of the Roman Catholic Bishops of England and Wales.

Thérèse of Lisieux is one of the major saints of the Roman Catholic Church, and many Christians of other traditions and denominations are influenced by her writings and her life. She died aged just 24, and is one of only three women recognised as 'Doctors of the Church.'

St Thérèse in South Yorkshire

BBC Radio Sheffield's reporter Kate Linderholm visited the Relics at Kirk Edge Monastery at High Bradfield, at around 1pm on Monday 5th October:

"It's quite a strange atmosphere. The roads have been closed - it's out in a beautiful stretch of countryside. As you get closer you can hear the sound of singing. Several hundred people are waiting patiently in line. They've come from all over to be here and look at these relics. I've never seen anything like it and I've never known an atmosphere like it. There are big coaches arriving."

Kate Linderholm also went to see the relics: "I queued up, waited patiently, shuffled my way in there. The relics are in quite a small part of the monastery. I walked up the aisle and there were the relics. I sort of expected to see bones but you don't see anything. The body remains are inside a very ornately-carved jacaranda wood box which is inside a Perspex case. There are rose petals and other flowers around it.

"People walk up to the case and press their lips or hands, holding beads and figurines. It's very quiet and reverent. And then they walk out."

"People feel it's very important to be here. There are a lot of elderly people and people in wheelchairs. There are people from countries like Africa and the Philippines to which Catholicism has spread quite strongly.

"One man I spoke to said he hoped that after he touched it he was hoping for a 'small miracle' - that he would be well. There is a hope that touching these relics can make people well. Superstitious in some people's view, but these people believe it very passionately and there is a great fondness for this young woman St Thérèse who died very young in life but was apparently full of love and had a great message of love for people."

Father Shaun Smith is the Priest in Hillsborough and organised the event for the Diocese of Hallam. He spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield before the arrival of the relic:

"When people come to the gates of Kirk Edge convent they file into the chapel, file around the casket and out again. The prayerful experience starts from the moment they enter the convent. There will by hymns, prayers, readings and silences."

What is the benefit of being close to the relic?

"In my opinion, there is a sense that they are in the presence to something important to them. There is a Catholic tradition that has a reverence for things that are associated with people who have got it right. Think of the symbolism of a wedding ring, it is very important beyond the value. Thérèse of Lisieux remains are an outward sign of an inward experience. It's just like a pilgrimage anywhere else, it's a community experience of prayer and a sense of joining in and the presence of God."

Who was St Thérèse?

St Therese in 1896 who died aged 24

Born in 1873, Thérèse Martin was the youngest of nine children. Her parents were devout but the family was struck by tragedy.

Four of the children died in childhood and Thérèse's mother died when she was just four.

Her elder sister, Pauline, became a Carmelite nun and Thérèse herself developed a vocation at a very early age.

Initially refused entrance into a convent because of her age, she petitioned her local Bishop and then Pope Leo XIII when she went on pilgrimage to Rome.

She was finally admitted to a Carmelite convent aged just 15 in 1888. The young girl soon found herself at home there, both emotionally and spiritually.

St Thérèse had a particular fondness for nature, hence the name by which she is often known, "the Little Flower".

As her health failed her she was encouraged to write an account of her life, "The Story of a Soul." Published shortly after her death in 1897 it has proved remarkably popular with people of all faiths and nationalities.

Unusually she was canonised in 1925, less than 30 years after her death in 1897.

What is a relic?

Saint Therese mosaic by artist Pierre Gaudin

A relic can be either a part of the physical remains of a holy person after his or her death, or an object which has been in contact with his or her body.

The veneration of relics is found in many religions and is rooted in the natural human instinct to treat with reverence anything connected with those we love who have died.

By venerating the relics of saints, some Christians believe that they are honouring God who has made the person holy. The relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux are contained in a closed casket with a glass canopy over the top.