By Joanne Michielsen
St. John the Evangelist Church in Spencerport hosted a relic visit and Mass honoring Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen on the evening of October 7.
Bishop John Bonnici, the 10th bishop of Rochester, celebrated the Mass, which included veneration of the first-class relic, the second metacarpal bone of the index finger of Sheen’s left hand.
The event brought parishioners together for prayer, reflection, and veneration while highlighting Sheen’s life and connection to the Diocese of Rochester, where he served as bishop from October 1966 to October 1969.
A gifted communicator, Sheen reached an audience of millions through his writings, weekly radio talks on The Catholic Hour, and later through his television show, Life is Worth Living.
Blessed Sheen was beatified September 24 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Vatican attributed Sheen’s beatification miracle to the healing of a stillborn infant in 2010. Without a pulse for 61 minutes and about to be declared dead, the boy recovered with no mental or physical impairments after his parents prayed for Sheen’s intercession.
Beatification is the third step toward canonization, and one additional approved miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession is required for him to be canonized as a saint.
Additional photos and a recording of the Mass are available at https://www.facebook.com/StJohnTheEvangelistSpencerport.
Photo: Bishop John Bonnici processing into the church under a banner of Blessed Sheen. Photo by Dave Stafford.
The first-class relic given to the Diocese of Rochester is the second metacarpal bone of the index finger of Sheen’s left hand. Photo from Facebook/St. John the Evangelist Spencerport Parish.
