Opportunities to venerate St. John Paul II blood relic in April

At the beginning of April, people in the Diocese of Rapid City will be able to venerate an official pilgrim relic of the blood of St. John Paul II. Taken from his last hospitalization in Rome in 2005, shortly before his death, this relic is miraculously still liquefied.

According to the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the religious community that oversees this relic, the veneration of this relic, in particular, has proved to be an immense moment of grace and healings for many hearts since it began to pilgrimage throughout the Americas in 2013.

**UPDATED** It will be at four locations in the diocese:

Thursday, March 31, it will be available at the SDSMT Newman Center starting at 7pm;
Friday, April 1, it will be available at Immaculate Conception Church in Winner from 2-8 p.m., Mass at 7 p.m.;
Saturday, April 2, it will be at St. Joseph Church, Faith,  from 1-4 p.m., Mass at 4 p.m.;
Sunday, April 3, it will be at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City, Mass at 10:30 a.m., veneration from 11:30 to 5 p.m.

Participants of this year’s Pastoral Ministry Days at Terra Sancta, Monday and Tuesday April 4-5 will have additional time to pray before and venerate this relic.

This year’s PMD theme is dedicated to evangelization, and will be led by Mother Adela Galindo, Foundress of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary (the order of sisters new to this diocese).

The title this year is, “Be Not Afraid! The New Evangelization in the Areopagus of our Times.”

Mother Adela was born in Leon, Nicaragua. Her childhood was marked by a profound Marian spirituality. During her youth, she became actively involved in the charismatic renewal, which she said led her to a deep love for the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus.

In 1990, she founded the Religious Institute, the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, in the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida for religious women. The spiritual charism of the Institute is to be a living image and presence of the Heart, Person and Mission of Mary in the Heart of the Church and in the heart of the world, and to place their Marian charism in communion with and service to the Apostolic — Petrine Principle.

In 2000, Mother Adela founded a lay members’ branch called “Apostles of the Pierced Hearts.” In 2006, she founded the “Missionaries of Love” branch to serve the sick at the Shrine of Lourdes in France. In 2021, a male branch was added.

The Servants have been actively serving St. John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization.

There are four sisters from this order serving in the diocese, at the chancery, Sr. Christine Hernandez and Sr. Rachel Gosda; in the Rapid City Catholic School System, Sr. Maria Belen Musgrave and Sr. Brooke Happ.