The number of pilgrims flocking to the relics "shows the faith and devotion people here have to Lourdes”

A Derry school boy revealed a 'first class' connection to the relics of St Bernadette at a ceremony welcoming the saint's reliquary to St Eugene's Cathedral yesterday.

Evan Curran, a Year 13 pupil at St Joseph's Boys School, said his family shared a "deep personal bond" with St Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes.

"My granny always had great devotion to St Bernadette and Mary. Her cousin, Fr Cathal McGonagle, was serving in the Diocese of Westminster when he was given a first class relic of St Bernadette and he passed it onto our family in 2010."

A piece of the saint's hair, the relic has been associated with a number of blessings including the recovery of a close relative of Evan's when he was dangerously ill.

"My little nephew had a very very serious bowel complication when he was an infant. He was blessed with the relic and he was cured through the intercession of St Bernadette and Our Lady.

"Now we pass the relic around to anyone who is in need of it. Fr Sean O'Donnell has great devotion to St Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes and he too treasures the relic. When he was in the Waterside he took it to a lot of people – in fact I don't think he wanted to let go of it."

St Eugene's parishioner Don Moore said the number of pilgrims flocking to the relics "shows the faith and devotion people here have to Lourdes. It's amazing, Unbelievable."

Cupcake Ipsum, 2015

Mrs Pat McLucas was Baptised on St Bernadette's Feast Day, April 16^th. "I was born just the day before, on April 15^th. My mother had great devotion to St Bernadette – she was her favourite saint. I was Christened Patricia Bernadette. I retained that devotion she had. So it is very special for us, myself and my brother, to be here in the presence of St Bernadette's relics today."

Father Gerard Mongan, Adm St Columba's Church Long Tower, said the relics are a connection between heaven and earth: "Being in the presence of St Bernadette's relics, her earthly remains, brings us in touch with what lies beyond this world, indeed with the visit of Our Lady to this world.

"What a great experience for people across the diocese to feel that presence and especially for school pupils. The memory of this occasion will stay with them for the rest of their lives. We noticed today in the Long Tower that all the Mass bulletins were gone, snapped up! – such was the desire to participate in the visit of St Bernadette to the city."

She had visited St Bernadette's shrine in Nevers just this year, but Peggy Canavan said it was "simply beautiful to see St Bernadette come to us". "If found it very moving to see the convent where she was lived. She had been rejected by different orders, and found it difficult to be accepted into one. It was wonderful to see the garden where she walked and prayed and the oratory where she died."

St Eugene's parishioner Don Moore said the number of pilgrims flocking to the relics "shows the faith and devotion people here have to Lourdes. It's amazing, Unbelievable."

Travelling with the sick on the annual Derry Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes for many years, Lead Nurse Maeve Brown, and a group of dedicated nursing colleagues were also in the queue to honour the relics.

"We've been privileged to care for the sick going to Lourdes every year for many years. But this time St Bernadette is coming to us! For people who can't make the journey to Lourdes, this is a very special opportunity for them."

The presence of St Bernadette's relics stirred mixed emotions, of both comfort and loss, in Veronica Hamilton

"I came here today on behalf of my sister Rosaleen Conway who died suddenly in January of this year. I miss her terribly and she would have loved to have been here. She had an extremely deep devotion to Lourdes. She went every year on pilgrimage with Fr Michael McCaughey and she loved every minute of it. She had incredible devotion to the Rosary too. And I wanted to be here today for her. I'm so grateful to my daughter Jude and my granddaughter Maria – who was born just a day after Our Lady's birthday - for coming with me. I felt very close to Rosaleen when I was before the relics. It really did mean a lot and it's a day Maria will always remember."