Pope Francis in front of the relics of Saint Teresa during the general audience, in St. Peter's Square in Rome, Wednesday, June 7, 2023 (photo: Vatican News)

At the heart of a pilgrimage organized from Lisieux to Rome by the Sanctuary, from December 15 to 22, 2024, Pope Francis will welcome at the general audience on Wednesday, December 18 the reliquary called “statue” of Saint Therese before being installed in the church of the Trinité-des-Monts for the entire jubilee year 2025.

For the Jubilee year “Peregrinantes in spem” (Pilgrims of hope), Pope Francis wanted to associate several churches in Rome with holy female figures proclaimed Patrons and Doctors of the Church.

It is in Trinité-des-Monts, for its link with France, that the reliquary called “statue”, containing a bone from the right foot of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, will be installed throughout the year 2025.

However, rather than transporting them directly to the site by plane, the rector of the Sanctuary, Father Emmanuel Schwab, wanted to transport these relics to Rome in the form of an organized pilgrimage, open to all, inspired by the one that Thérèse Martin experienced from November 4 to December 2, 1887 with her father Louis and her sister Céline to ask Pope Leo XIII for permission to enter Carmel at the age of 15.

A group of pilgrims will therefore leave Lisieux by coach on Sunday December 15 to reach Rome via Nevers and Ars, to meet Saint Bernadette and Saint Jean-Marie Vianney.

Originally, it was planned that the reliquary would also pass through Turin and Bologna. However, informed of the move, Pope Francis, who in October 2023 consecrated the apostolic exhortation “It's confidence” on Saint Therese on the occasion of the 150the anniversary of his birth requested that the reliquary be presented for veneration by the faithful, and for himself, at the general audience on Wednesday, December 18.

In a modified itinerary, pilgrims will therefore have the immense joy of taking the relics of Saint Therese to the Vatican for a time of prayer with the sovereign pontiff who has a particular devotion to the little saint of Lisieux.

For those who want to experience this unique event, there are still places available for the pilgrimage which will be held from December 15 to 22, 2024!