‘I feel like this is our chance to visit with St. Thomas Aquinas’: R.I. Catholics marvel at relic of patron saint – The Boston Globe

“I feel like this is our chance to visit with St. Thomas Aquinas,” Laureen Petrocchi, of Johnston, R.I., who is part of the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic, told the Globe as she stood outside the church. “It’s a very rare opportunity.”

The relic, usually in France, is now on its first tour across the United States as part of a two-year-long jubilee commemorating the 700th anniversary of the saint’s canonization in 1323, the 750th anniversary of his death in 1274, and the 800th anniversary of his birth, believed to be sometime in 1225, according to the Dominican Friars Province of St. Joseph.

The relic arrived at the church by 9 a.m., and was later scheduled to move across the street to Saint Dominic Chapel at Providence College. Masses were slated to be held at both locations, along with venerations, allowing parishioners and students to pray before the relic.

Wednesday marked the relic’s only tour appearances scheduled in New England.

St. Thomas Aquinas looms large at Providence College: The school was founded in 1917 by Dominican friars, who run the institution to this day, and images and statues of the beloved saint can be found throughout its campus.

“To be able to host him in our chapel, to have an opportunity for students to come and pray in front of his relics, is really special,” college chaplain the Rev. Simon Teller O.P. said in an interview. “It’s a special way to bring students deeper into relationship with Saint Thomas, with the Dominican intellectual heritage and tradition.”

Efforts to bring the relic to St. Pius V had been in the works for at least a year, according to Jason DeSilva, a church parishioner and a knight commander in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a papal knighthood. DeSilva served as the church’s contact for managing the visit after the tour was offered by the Dominican Order, he said.

St. Thomas Aquanias is a particularly special figure for DeSilva. A former Dominican brother, he adopted the saint’s name when taking his vows, he said.

On Wednesday, he carried the crucifix that once adorned the saint’s rosary beads. Inside the cross is a piece of bone from the beloved saint’s body, he said.

St. Thomas Aquinas, he said, remains relevant for two reasons: Faith and reason.

“Saint Thomas was known for … showing that faith and reason are in harmony and they’re not in conflict, and particularly now when we have such a scientistic society where, like, only science is real and true, he showed that it’s both, and,” DeSilva said. “So that’s what we need today.”

For some, the timing of Wednesday’s visit may have also seemed divine.

Students at Providence College are now fretting over their upcoming final exams for this semester. Teller said he advised a few to consider a visit to the chapel to say a prayer to St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of Catholic education, while the relic was on campus.

“For some, they’re praying for a miracle,” he joked.

Cassidy Pry, a freshman studying education, was the first in line to pray at St. Pius V, and prayed for the students she teaches in her religious education class — along with a bit of help with her studies and those upcoming tests.

“I think a lot of us were excited that he was coming specifically during finals season,” she said with a laugh.

Meanwhile, Mike Ford said he prayed for “a better ability to focus mind and heart on God and be able to serve him better in my own life.”

Ford and his wife, Elizabeth, drove about an hour and a half to St. Pius V from their home in western Massachusetts on Wednesday morning after learning the relic was there, he said.

Admittedly, Ford was a bit nervous as he made his way toward the altar.

“It’s not every day you get to do that,” he said.

As people continued to trickle in late Wednesday morning, the Rev. John Maria Devaney O.P., the pastor at St. Pius V, recalled how one longtime parishioner had told him earlier she came to pray for a friend with metastatic cancer.

She said she felt honored and yet overwhelmed, too, Devaney said.

“Sometimes with these events, people may experience, like, the veil between heaven and earth a little thinner,” Devaney said. “So that’s what she expressed. She was very grateful, and she was honored she had a few moments with the relics to ask for help.”

Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.