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| Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Deacon Christoph Sandoval |
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has expressed his joy to receive from a group of Friends of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption the beautiful reliquary, crafted in Sicily, displaying the replica of the Holy Face of Manoppello which had been blessed and touched to the original Holy Face during a celebration on September 13 in the Basilica of the Capuchin Franciscans in Manoppello.
The presentation of the reliquary to the Archbishop took place in the private chapel of his residence, adjacent to the Cathedral, on October 4 the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of the Archdiocese of San Francisco,
Deacon Christoph Sandoval, who led the delegation from San Francisco which participated in the rite of September 13 at the Shrine of Manoppello gave a short talk on the meaning of the Holy Face and his hopes for the furthering of devotion to the Holy Face, The reliquary was presented to thank the Archbishop for his service to the Archdiocese on the occasion of the twelfth anniversary of his installation as Archbishop of San Francisco.
The presentation to the Archbishop was especially meaningful as the Archbishop has visited the Shrine of Manoppello and describes the opportunity he had to pray and spend time alone before the Holy Face as one of the most moving experiences of his life and led him to encourage all the faithful to cultivate a devotion to this holy image.
At the end of the short ceremony the Archbishop led the group in the prayer to the Holy Face composed by Pope Benedict XVI and imparted his blessing to those gathered.
An article from the archdiocesan publication Catholic San Francisco, accompanied by a video and photos, is available on the website of the Archdiocese 12th-anniversary-of-his-installation/
Archbishop Cordileone also posted on X/Twitter about receiving the reliquary of the Holy Face
https://x.com/archcordileone/status/1844841739976323276?s=51
