The story of the miracle performed by St. John Berchman at Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau has been told throughout the years.
The relic, the heart of St. John Berchman, will leave Belgium for the first time on Dec. 7 to head for Shreveport.
On Dec. 14 the relic will be in Grand Coteau all day available for viewing and veneration at Berchman's shrine at the Academy of the Sacred Heart.
The relic's arrivable will mark the 150 anniversary of the commemoration of the apparition and the miracle.
The miracle at Grand Coteau involved a young woman who was studying at Sacred Heart to become a nun. She had been battling health problems and was on the brink of death when Berchman allegedly appeared before Wilson and eased her suffering. The Vatican deemed the miracle authentic and on Jan. 15, 1888, John Berchman was canonized a saint by Pope Leo XIII.
St. John Berchmnan was the eldest of five children to a shoemaker in Belgium. While a teenager he decided to enroll in a Jesuit college and began his spiritual education and in 1616 became a Jesuit novitiate. He took his vows in 1618. He died at 22 years old of the Roman Fever in 1622.
For more information on the relic traveling to Louisiana or on Berchman, visit sjbdevotion.org.