(ANS - Lugano) - The pilgrimage of the relic of Don Bosco throughout Italy ended at the end of February. The relic then went to Lithuania where the Salesian communities belong to the Special Circumscription of Piedmont and Valle d' Aosta. Now the relic has come to Lugano in Switzerland.

A large group of people, including students of the Istituto Elvetico in Lugano, gathered to welcome the relic of Don Bosco on 24 March. Children, young people, adults and families expressed their joy as they welcomed the saint’s relic to their city.

On the morning of Tuesday 25 March the relic remained at the Salesian school. Students and the entire educational community prayed in the presence of the relic and invoked the intercession of Don Bosco. Then, in the early afternoon, a large group of children and young people escorted the relic in procession to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, where it was displayed for public veneration until the following day.

The next and final stage of the world pilgrimage is planned for the month of May, when the relic will spend a little over a week in the Salesian houses in Albania and Kosovo.

Published 08/04/2014