Saint’s heart goes on display for 1st time outside Italy
LOWELL, Mass. — Hundreds of people came to a Massachusetts church on Wednesday for a glimpse of the glass-encased heart of a celebrated Roman Catholic saint, the first time the religious relic has left Italy.
Many of the faithful who filled Immaculate Conception Church in Lowell to see the heart of St. Padre Pio clutched rosaries, even though the relic was difficult to view through its largely opaque container.
Janet Black, from Boston’s Charlestown neighbourhood, was moved nearly to tears.
“I’m all full of emotions,” Black told The Sun of Lowell. “It’s just beautiful that people could come together for one purpose. If the world was like this, we’d have no problems.”