The Diocese of Dumaguete has been chosen as one of the few dioceses to be visited by the Relic of St. Clare of Assisi, April 18 and 19, Fr. John Du, archbishop-elect of the Archdiocese of Palo, Leyte, said.

Du, former bishop of Dumaguete, said the relic will arrive at the Dumaguete airport around 7:05 a.m. next Wednesday, and will depart for Siquijor an hour after. A welcome mass will be held at the Our Lady of Divine Providence Parish in Maria, Siquijor at 10 a.m.; procession of the relic to the Monastery of the Poor Clare Sisters, 11 a.m.; and an exposition/veneration at the Monastery at 11:30 a.m.

The relic will return to Dumaguete around 3 p.m., with two masses to be celebrated at the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral, starting at 5 p.m., followed by an exposition/veneration of the relic, at 7 p.m.

A departure mass at the Cathedral was also scheduled 5 a.m. on April 19, before the relic will be motored to the Dumaguete airport around 7:25 a.m.

Du, who called on the Dumaguete clergy to prepare for the visit of the relic, said this is the first time in 800 years that the relic will have a pilgrimage in a place outside of Italy. Fr. Jess Dajac, a Filipino priest based in Rome, has been appointed the official guardian of the St. Clare relic while in the Philippines, he added.

St. Clare was born in Assisi, Italy, on July 16, 1194 and died there August 11, 1253. The saint is the patroness of navigators, couples who are childless, of life and of families.*JFP

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