A Saint on Campus at Seton Hall

Between Sunday, October 4 and Tuesday, October 6, Seton Hall University and the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception were blessed to be home to the relics of St. Bernadette. The relics, which began their tour across the United States last month, made a stop at Seton Hall after appearing at sites such as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and Villanova University among other stops. While at Seton Hall, St. Bernadette’s relics were available for public veneration each day from October 4-6, and October 5 featured a special communal rosary and Healing Mass. St. Bernadette’s presence on campus drew a large crowd, not only from Seton Hall staff, students and faculty, but also from alumni and visitors in the surrounding community and even a few visitors from out of state.

The crowd was largest for the Healing Mass in Honor of St. Bernadette on Monday, as more than 550 people gathered to pray for healing and to receive a special blessing with holy water from Lourdes. With such a large crowd, people were spilling out of the doors, onto the steps and even out onto the plaza area in front of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. The Mass was celebrated by Father Nick Sertich and concelebrated by more than a dozen other priests from the University Priest Community. In his homily, Father Nick described the amazing healing power of God’s love for all of us. He proclaimed that “everything Jesus does with us is relational.” While our earthly relationships might be transactional and merely seek to discover something for self-benefit, our relationship with God is far deeper and is relational. Our relational bond with God means that while He may not simply fix all of our anguish and suffering, He will walk by our side and carry our burden. In these moments of healing where the Lord is walking by our side, we gain something so much greater than the relief of pain and suffering, we gain everlasting faith and trust. What a beautiful image of God’s love at work in each of our lives.

Father Nick’s homily and the presence of St. Bernadette’s relics on campus were extremely moving for those in attendance. When asked about what it meant to have the relics of St. Bernadette on campus, Director of University Core Nancy Enright, Ph.D., said “it meant a lot” as “that is a shrine [the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes] I have not yet visited, but have heard about all my life.” Enright went on to explain that “these sacred shrines are places sanctified by Mary’s presence and the faith” and now Seton Hall has in a special way “shared in that faith experience.” Enright also offered some touching insights when asked about the Healing Mass, saying “it was very meaningful to me to see so many people in the chapel…it reminded me of the stories in the Bible where Jesus and his disciples were crowded so much that there was no more room.” Within the crowd, there “was a deep kind of excitement…a gentle awareness of God’s presence and a sense that the opportunity for healing of all kinds was present, even more than in a usual Mass.”

The deep excitement and gentle awareness of God’s presence was something which was also felt by sophomore student Joey Harrison who said the Healing Mass was an incredible experience, especially “hearing the crowd gathered all say the Our Father together and seminary choir sing from above.” Such moments reminded him of the great Catholic community that is present at Seton Hall. Harrison went on the say that opportunity not to celebrate the Healing Mass and host the relics of St. Bernadette on one of its many stops throughout the country highlights that “Seton Hall is at the center of Catholic higher education” and that “Seton Hall truly can change the world.” Just as St. Bernadette changed the world through her faith, Harrison’s words are a reminder that here at Seton Hall, our great minds and greater purpose can make a tremendous impact on the world around us.

The large crowds that gathered for the Healing Mass in Honor of St. Bernadette and to venerate her relics were an incredible witness to the healing power of prayer and God’s work on our campus at Seton Hall University. May we be inspired by the example and prayers of St. Bernadette, and seek each day to follow in her footsteps of true faith.

Categories: Community Engagement, Faith and Service