It was last year when the “Incorrupt Heart Relic” of St. Camillus de Lellis was brought to the Philippines. Known as the “Saint of the sick, doctors and nurses, St. Camillus was a priest confessor and a miracle worker who treated and cared for the sick. He established the Ministers of the Sick known as the Camillians, which is a religious congregation dedicated solely to cater for the sick. It was the second time the preserved heart of St. Camillus was brought to the country, the first being in 2016. Just 4 days before its departure, I was lucky enough to see it in person when it visited the chapel of the Philippine General Hospital on March 27, 2019.

Nearly a year after, I was lucky again to see another relic of a Catholic saint. This time, it was the first-class relic from the right arm bone of Saint John Baptist De La Salle, founder of the De La Salle Brothers. He founded the Institute of Brothers of the Christian Schools and opened the doors of teaching for lay persons as he pioneered teacher-trainings for non-clergymen. He was canonized in 1900, and was later on declared as the Patron Saint of Christian teachers in 1950.

The relic arrived August of last year and is here in the country for 300 days as a celebration of the Tercenary Death Anniversary of the saint. The relic will tour around the La Salle schools in the country but I am glad that it has also included the EDSA Shrine as one of its destination. I went to that church, not that I knew the relic was there, but because it is celebrating the 34th Anniversary of the EDSA Revolution.