Over the period 7th/8th October 2009, the relics of St Therese of Lisieux rested at the church of St Aloysius, the Oxford Oratory, for pilgrims to visit. During that period a Service for the Sick, lead by Fr Aldo Tapparo, Chaplain at the John Radcliffe Hospital, was held at which more than 60 sick people were anointed, and more than 500 people came to pray.

[During the 20 hours or so that she was here at least 6,500 queued to see the relics. If you click the link below - the photograph that appears was taken was taken at 11.41pm.]

Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him
and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed, in terrible distress."
And he said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion answered, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.
For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it."
When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you according to your faith." And the servant was healed in that hour.
When Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever;
he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.
That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick.
This was to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases."

At the Mass last night after Father Robert had addressed us, he concluded with a prayer of St. Therese. In imitation of him I conclude this short homily also with a prayer:
St Therese, teach us to follow your way of confidence and trust. Help us to realise that a Father’s love watches over us each day of our lives. Obtain for us the light to see, in sorrow as in joy, in trials as in peace, the loving hand of our Father. Give us your own faith and trust so that we may walk in darkness as in the light holding fast to the way of love, knowing as you did, that everything is grace. Amen

Our preacher at the Service for the Sick.
Fr Aldo is Parish Priest for St Anthony of Padua, Oxford.
Also he is Chaplain at the John Radcliffe Hospital and also at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford.