(ANS – Maribor) – As we begin the month of May, the month of Our Lady, the urn with the relic of Don Bosco begins its pilgrimage to Slovenia.

The relic was welcomed by the Slovenian Provincial, Fr Janez Potočnik, in the parish of Šentilj, on the border with Austria. The pilgrimage will last from 1 to 17 May.  The first stage was the new Don Bosco centre at Maribor. The work there began, significantly, on 16 August 2011, the 196th anniversary of the birth of Don Bosco, and the opening day of the three year period of preparation for the Bicentenary.

Even though the building is still under construction, a welcoming Mass was celebrated, presided over by Archbishop Marjan Turnšek of Maribor. Prayers were offered to Don Bosco to invoke his intercession for the progress of the work and the completion of the shrine – the first in Slovenia in honour of Don Bosco – in time for the Bicentenary.

There is great enthusiasm for the arrival of the relic also in the communities of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. The urn reached Radlje, the second stage of  the pilgrimage, on 2 May. The community, which had been preparing for months for this great event, organized a big celebration at the city Sports Centre, with a very large number of participants.

The convoy transporting the urn continued its journey to the interior of the country. It went from the Salesian Parish of Ig to the Queen of Peace Shrine and then crossed the border into Italy where it visited the Salesian Parish of Opicinia (Opčine) where there is a large Slovenian minority. From there the urn was brought on 3and 4 May to
Ankaran and  Cerknica.  On Sunday 5 May it arrived finally at the National Marian Shrine at Brezje, where Archbishop Stanislav Hočevar of Belgrade, presided at the Eucharist.

The pilgrimage of the urn is continuing through the country with prayer meetings, religious ceremonies and youth festivals. The main celebration of the pilgrimage is planned for Ljubljana Rakovnik, the cradle of the Salesian charism in Slovenia.

Published 09/05/2013