Military Ordinariate of the Philippines Bishop Oscar Jaime L. Florencio, rector of the National Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus on Manlunas Street, Villamor Air Base, Pasay City, will preside over a feast mass at 6:30 a.m. Friday, October, at the shrine to celebrate the feast day of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, the youngest Doctor of the Universal Church and one of the Roman Catholic Church’s most popular saints.
At 10:30 a.m., a high mass will also be celebrated in her honor by Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles John Brown. Holy masses will also be offered at 8 a.m. and at 5:30 p.m. The praying of the Holy Rosary with meditations from St. Therese will be held at 8 p.m.
The shrine will accommodate 10 percent of its capacity. Only the fully vaccinated will be allowed inside. The unvaccinated will be given a spot in front of the entrance where they can say their prayers and light candles.
Novena masses were held from September 22 to 30. A motorcade was held September 30.
Also known as the “Little Flower of Jesus,” St. Therese of Lisieux is the 33rd and the youngest Doctor of the Universal Church. Her sacred relic was brought to the country for the third time in 2013 in time for her 140th birth anniversary.
Born in Alencon, France on January 2, 1873, she entered the Carmelite Monastery of Lisieux in France at the age of 15. She died of tuberculosis at the young age of 24 and was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925. In 1927, together with St. Francis Xavier, she was declared the patron of foreign missions.
Pope Pius X referred to St. Therese as “the greatest saint of modern times.” Her major shrine, the Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux is the second most popular pilgrimage site in France after Lourdes.