Two Franciscan friars from the Pontifical Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy, will be visiting the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Diocese of San Diego April 14-21 to mark the 750th anniversary of the discovery of St. Anthony’s relics by St. Bonaventure.The friars will bring two Holy Relics of St Anthony. One, placed within a gold-plated bust of St. Anthony, will be placed on a stand near the altar, and people will not only have the chance to see it at close range, but even to touch it. It consists of layers of skin of the saint. The other relic is one of St. Anthony’s floating ribs. It is kept in a different reliquary which will be placed on the altar.The word “relic” comes from the Latin “reliquiae,” literally meaning “remains.” In the strict sense, they are in fact remains of canonized or beatified saints.“Relics direct us towards God himself,” said Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in his address to the young on the occasion of the 20th World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005. “It is he who, by the power of his grace, grants to weak human beings the courage to bear witness to him before the world. “By inviting us to venerate the mortal remains of the martyrs and saints, the Church does not forget that, in the end, these are indeed just human bones, but they are bones that belonged to individuals touched by the living power of God. The relics of the saints are traces of that invisible but real presence which sheds light upon the shadows of the world and reveals the Kingdom of Heaven in our midst. They cry out with us and for us: ‘Maranatha!’ — ‘Come, Lord Jesus!’”The following Eucharistic and Veneration Services will be celebrated:April 14: Good Shepherd Church, San Diego: 12:15 p.m. Eucharistic Celebration and Veneration.April 15: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles: 11 a.m. Veneration and 12:10 p.m. Mass.April 16: St. Peter Italian Church, 1039 N. Broadway, Los Angeles: 6 p.m. Eucharistic Celebration and Veneration.April 17: St. Barbara Church (at Old Mission Santa Barbara), 2201 Laguna St., Santa Barbara: 7 p.m. Eucharistic Celebration and Veneration.April 18: American Martyrs Church, 624 15th St., Manhattan Beach: 5 p.m. Eucharistic Celebration and Veneration.April 19: St. Francis Korean Catholic Church, 2040 Artesia Blvd., Torrance: 7:30 p.m. Eucharistic Celebration and Veneration.April 20: Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 244 Prospect Avenue, Hermosa Beach: 5 p.m. Vigil Mass and Veneration.April 21: St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1050 West 163rd St., Gardena: 11 a.m. Eucharistic Celebration and Veneration.For additional information, contact the Franciscan Friars of the Anthonian Association & the Messenger of St Anthony, 52-29 83rd Street, Elmhurst, NY 11373; telephone (347) 738-4306; email [email protected].{gallery width=100 height=100}gallery/2013/0329/relicstour/{/gallery}