KULPMONT - The St. Pauline Visintainer Center has become the repository for relics - parts of saints' bodies (such as blood, bone or hair) or clothing worn by saints - that will be made available for viewing and veneration by the public.
The Rev. Ray Orloski, the center's spiritual moderator, donated many of the relics, and others were provided by individuals. It is the center's hope, he said, that the relics will inspire people of faith through the example of the saints and help them enter into a closer relationship with God through their individual prayer.
In addition to a relic of St. Pauline, who is the patron saint for people suffering from diabetes, the center now has relics of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Pius X, St. Bernadette Soubirous (who received a vision of Our Lady of Lourdes), St. Peter, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Padre Pio, St. Maria Goretti and St. Adalbert. Additional relics are expected soon.
Orloski said all the relics that are now in the center's possession have been officially documented as to their authenticity by the bishop or cardinal where they originated. He explained that relics from a saint's body are considered first-class relics, and items of clothing that were worn by saints are second-class relics.
Each relic is enclosed in an individual case which is called a reliquary. Reliquaries range from being very simple to quite ornate and beautiful. Orloski said the reliquaries at St. Pauline Center were donated to the center along with the relics they contain.
Among the center's most cherished possessions is a zucchetto, a papal skullcap, which was worn by Pope John Paul II, who is now well on the path to sainthood as a result of his recent beatification May 1. The zucchetto was among the items donated to the center by Orloski.
While Orloski was pastor at Holy Angels Church in Kulpmont, W, Edward Whitney, a Kulpmont native, came to him with the news that he brought a gift from a "friend in Rome." Inside a bag was the zucchetto. The priest learned that during a meeting in Rome with the pope, Whitney, who is a knight commander of the Equestrian Order, Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, was given the skullcap by John Paul II with the request that Whitney present it to his pastor.
The St. Pauline Center also has a copy of the thick bound liturgical program that was used by people who attended John Paul II's beatification ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The program contains translations of the ceremony in several languages.
Orloski spoke with love and reverence for the other relics as he recounted how he or the center happened to come into possession of them.
The first-class relic of St. Adalbert of Prague, 10th century bishop and martyr, was given to Orloski by a priest friend at the Pontifical Institute in Rome in gratitude to Orloski for his hospitality during a visit to Lebanon while Orloski was pastor of a church there. Orloski received the relic on the occasion of the millennium of St. Adalbert's death.
Orloski received the relic of St. Maria Goretti when he was visiting Rome. It was presented to him by Franciscans in appreciation for monetary donations for Mass intentions that Orloski brought with him from the U.S. Maria Goretti, one of the Catholic Church's youngest martyrs, was an Italian girl who, in 1902 at the age of 11, was stabbed to death by an attempted rapist as she resisted because of her love for Jesus. A relic of St. Pius X, pope from 1903 to 1914, was given by a priest to Orloski when he entered the seminary.
The second class Blessed Virgin Mary relic, stone from her grave, was given to the center by Dolores (Sankonis) Staskiel, a former member of St. Casimir Church. The St. Pauline Center is located in the former St. Casimir Church building, but that parish ceased to exist as a result of the area Catholic church consolidations of 1995.
Orloski said the center plans to prominently display the individual relics during the months that coincide with the respective saints' feast days. For example, during this month, the center hopes to display the relics of St. Thomas (feast day, July 3) and St. Maria Goretti (July 6), along with the two additional relics that are expected at the center soon - those of St. Marziale (July 10) and St. Innocent (July 28).
Other feast days for the display of relics include: St. Bernadette, April 16; St. Adalbert, April 23; St. Pius X, Sept. 3; and St. Padre Pio, Sept. 23. The center is in the process of acquiring relics of St. Amand, feast day of Feb. 6; Blessed Placida Viel, March 4; and St. Denis, patron of France, Oct. 9.
Orloski said it means a great deal to him to be able to donate to the St. Pauline Center the relics that were in his possession. There could be no better place to maintain the relics, he noted.
"This is a center for spirituality," Orloski said. "Many people visit here, especially in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament Friday evenings and Saturdays, because they want a little time away from the busy world we live in and they seek some quiet time with God."