Relics of St. Therese draw 3,000 people to a church in rural County Limerick in Ireland, the largest crowd ever seen in the church

photo courtesy of the Limerick Leader

On Sunday, July 8, 2012, the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux (relics that are displayed permanently in Dublin) visited the church in Dromin, together with the relics of her parents, Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin.  Three thousand people greeted them, a larger crowd than had ever assembled in the rural church.  Excerpts from the story reported by Aine Fitzgerald for the Limerick Leader:

“There was a throng of people out the road trying to park their cars. They were walking for a couple of miles to get to the church. We had never seen anything like it in Dromin,” said local woman Anne Mockler, a native of Ashford, Killeedy who has been living in Dromin for over 30 years.

“The people who were waiting didn’t mind waiting. They kept the rosaries going and the prayers. There was no talk – it was just a volume of prayers,” she explained.

“They came from far and near. They came on crutches, they came in wheelchairs, people helped them in. It was the most moving experience,” continued Anne whose own son, Fr John Mockler, arranged his visit home from Rome to coincide with the event.

Read the complete story in the Limerick Leader.