Relic Of St. Therese Comes To Cameroon

By Walter Wilson Nana

"People spend more than FCFA 4 million to go visit the Relic of Saint Therese of The Child Jesus in Lisieux, France. Here it is in our sitting room. It is God's sign of goodness to Cameroon," veteran journalist, Kevin Njomo, Station Coordinator, CRTV Mount Cameroon FM, Buea told The Post.

The setting was the Small Soppo Cathedral, Buea, during one of the stopovers of the Relic of St. Therese of The Child Jesus in Cameroon and Buea Diocese in particular.
The Bishop of Buea Diocese, Immanuel Banlanjo Bushu, custodian of the Relic of St. Therese in the Diocese of Buea until it leaves for another Diocese had this to say:

"It is the call to imitate the life of the saint we are venerating. She lived a very simple life; she is a very holy person, doing what she was supposed to do as a Christian. As a religious woman, she did it to the fullest. So the church puts her forth as an example to follow."
Fr. Moses Tazoh, Head of Communication at Buea Diocese, explained the impact of the Relic of St. Therese on the Christians.

"St. Therese was a woman, who felt that God had called her to take His mission out of France to the rest of the world. That is bringing the good news to the rest of the world, which is part of communication.

Having the Relic with us means the message is getting to its target. Even though she is dead, she is still alive and that message has reached us in Cameroon. St. Therese has come to bring the message of God to the people of Cameroon," he said.

To Fr. Hilary Ngome, Parish Priest, Small Soppo, St. Therese lived the law of love.
"She did little things in an extraordinary manner. Her wish is that we should do things in our life with love and belief," he said.

Fr. George Jingwa Nkeze, Director, John Paul II Institute of Theology, JOPASIT, Buea, saw the presence of the Relic of St. Therese in the midst of the Christians as a communion between heaven and earth.

Meanwhile, Justice Henrietta Nyamndi noted that the presence of the Relic would give a plus to her spiritual life."It will change a lot in my life. I wish to model my lifestyle to that of St. Therese of The Child Jesus; her humility, her love for Jesus. I have learnt that when you are in pains, when you are sick, do not curse God. You should accept it as part of the cross you are carrying to help Jesus," she said.

Dr. Roselyne Jua of the University of Buea, found the Relic of St. Therese in her Christian community a very spiritually rewarding experience to her entire family."The mood in the Churches we have visited in the Buea Diocese tells you what the Relic means to the Christians," she commented.

Business magnate, Tony Munangai, made meaning out of the Relic. "Following the scripture, it is important for us to have the Relic with us. In the Old Testament, we heard about how somebody was going to be buried and his body touched the coffin of a Prophet and the dead body rose.

We also heard how pieces of cloth from St. Paul were used to heal. They were not ordinary pieces of cloth. They carried the Holy Spirit because they had touched a holy person. So, we have the Relic of St. Therese in Cameroon. It relives the significance of the Old and New Testaments that God is with us. Where the Saints are and their Relic, it means God is present," he said.

After haven been to the North, Centre, Littoral, Southwest Regions of Cameroon, the sojourn of the Relic of St. Therese in Cameroon continues to the West and Northwest Regions in the weeks ahead.

From Cameroon, the Relic of St. Therese, which is her bone, put in a very beautiful casket, decorated with gold and covered with a transparent glass will be flown to Nigeria.Born in Alencon, France on January 2, 1873, Therese was baptised two days later in the Notre Dame Cathedral. 

She received the name Marie-Françoise Therese. Her parents were Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin. After her mother's death in 1877, Therese moved with her family to the town of Lisieux.

Educated by the Benedictines of Lisieux, she received Holy Communion on May 8, 1884. On June 14 1884, she received the Sacrament of Confirmation. On December 25, 1886, she had a profound spiritual experience that she described as "complete conversion."
On September 30, 1897, Therese died from severe tuberculosis.

Comments

[Maureen]

Thank you for this story about the reception of the reliquary of St. Therese in Cameroon. For more about her life, spirituality, writings, and mission, please visit the Web site http://thereseoflisieux.org.

[Radicalbrother]

From Cameroon, the Relic of St. Therese, which is her bone, put in a very beautiful casket, decorated with gold and covered with a transparent glass will be flown to Nigeria
Catholics should explain to me where it is written in the Bible that the bone of someone who has died is supposed to be paraded in a bit to make the person closer to those who are living. Are these not the anti-christs the Bible is talking about? These are really hypocrites of the first order.These are mstical ritual s occuring before ouur own very eyes.
Infact who so ever is carrying the bone along should be arrested for trafficking human parts. So the sunday offering being collected is not enough until you are using human parts to raise money or you mean to tell me that any mass organised with the relic is free?
DO NOT BE DECEIVED. ONLY GOD KNOWS HIS OWN PEOPLE AND NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND. Blood stained churches!