Don Bosco Relic Venerated in Shirva, Mangalore

(August 25, 2011) The relic of the patron of youth Saint John Bosco reached Shirva, near Mangalore in the Indian State of Karnataka on Thursday. “The relic will travel to 13 places in the state,” said Fr. Maxim D’Souza, Rector, Don Bosco Youth Centre, Shirva. He said that the relics will be taken to Sirsi, then Shirva, Hassan, Bangalore, Kolar, Tumkur, Shimoga, Davangere, Chitradurga, Bellary, Raichur, Gulbarga and finally Bidar. From Bidar, it will go to Andhra Pradesh, he added. The relic at Shirva was received by Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza of Managalore, who also presided over the Eucharist for Youth. Fr. D’Souza said the relic will travel to places where only the Salesian order or Don Bosco houses have been set up. The Salesians of Don Bosco (or the Salesian Society, originally known as the Society of St. Francis de Sales) is a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Don Bosco in the late 19th century. The relic comprising the bones and tissues of Don Bosco’s right hand have been placed within a wax replica of Don Bosco’s body, which in turn is enclosed in a large urn. It began its journey in India on April 29 from Imphal and it has arrived in the Konkan Province of the Salesians on August 17.