Exclusive | St. Bernadettes ribs and kneecaps touring US in curious, centuries-old Catholic tradition

These are no bones of contention.Various body parts of beloved St.

Bernadette Soubirous — who at the age of 14 had 18 visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France in 1858 – are on a 140-stop US tour.The Journey of Grace features a 132-pound, 24-karat gold-plated reliquary containing fragments of her fifth and sixth ribs, kneecaps, strands of hair, muscle from her right femur and pieces of her skin.While it might seem morbid to some, the Catholic tradition of venerating relics, or the remains of saints, dates back to 156 A.D.Rev.Patrick Flanagan, chair of St.

John’s University’s theology department, explained to The Post why the body parts are significant to Catholics.“Roman Catholics believe in the sanctity of human life and concurrently value the body.The body is not merely a shell that contains the soul but an essential part of who the human person is,” he said.“A bone, a fragment of skin, or perhaps even a heart .

..

It is essentially the saints’ presence among us once again.It is comforting and encouraging to realize that heaven has come to Earth in the presence of these relics.”Flanagan debunked the notion that Catholics worship saints.“We do not.

We venerate them as holy, virtuous, really remarkable people who served as intercessors for us,” he said.The patron saint of illness in the Catholic Church, the teenaged Bernadette had her series of famous visions of the Blessed Mother across several months in the small French town of only 4,000 inhabitants.She died in 1879 at the age of 35, partly due to tuberculosis.The Catholic Church has since recognized 72 miracles related to the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The town is now the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world.The American tour of St.Bernadette’s reliquary, which will visit basilicas, shrines, cathedrals, parishes, hospitals and universities, kicked off in Washington, DC, on Sept.

18, and this weekend, it will be at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in West Harl...