LAFAYETTE, LA. (KLFY) – A tour for the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina will be making a stop in the Diocese of Lafayette this weekend.

Padre Pio’s relics will be on display at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church on Sunday.

Bishop Douglas Deshotel will kick off the day-long event with a mass in honor of St. Pio at 9:00 a.m.

Veneration of the relics will follow at Knight Hall directly behind the chruch beginning at 10:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.

Director of Communications Blue Rolfes says while that is going on, the 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. masses will also be held.

The relics that will be available for public veneration include Padre Pio’s glove, crusts of the wounds, cotton-gauze with his blood stains, a lock of his hair, Saint Pio’s mantle, and his handkerchief soaked with his sweat hours before he died.

Rolfes says each relic is encased in an elegant reliquary, which will be displayed for prayers and veneration.

The faithful who visit will be allowed close enough to touch the reliquaries holding the saint’s effects.

For those unfamiliar with why and how Catholics venerate relics of the saints, some background information can be found here.