A French Dominican, Fr. François LeHégaret, OP traveled with the relic of Saint Mary Magdalene from the Cave of La Sainte-Baume in Provence to San Francisco for a one-month tour of the State of California. For two weeks the relic traveled to churches in Northern California. Fr. Thomas Michelet, OP arrived from France after the second week of the tour and the Relic Tour continued south, stopping at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater for several hours, allowing the prisoners time for veneration. For another two weeks the relic visited churches in Southern California. The purpose of the Relic Tour was to share the holiness of the relic and to tell the story of the saint who is recorded as the first witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one who is referred to as "Apostle to the Apostles." Thousands of people came to venerate the relic and responded with excitement, joy, very much emotion and often, tears. Mary Magdalene is a saint that many feel close to because she is like the rest of us, she was a sinner. Mary Magdalene gives people the gift of tears. Tears are what she shed when she first encountered Jesus at the house of Simon as her heart was converting, and many people who come to the Relic Tour find themselves in tears as they become overwhelmed with the thought of her spiritual presence. Two thousand years later she is still preaching and continuing to touch souls... It is quite extraordinary.
