LOWELL — 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.
Honoring the relics of saints is an ancient practice in the Roman Catholic faith.
St. Padre Pio was a Capuchin friar best known for possessing the stigmata, or wounds of Jesus Christ. He died in Foggia, Italy, in 1968 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002.
The relic was scheduled to be on display at St. Leonard’s Church, in Boston’s North End on Wednesday; at the Archdiocese of Boston’s pastoral center in Braintree today; and at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston today and Friday.