Andi Borucke and Liz Brousil became good friends when they met each other line dancing over a decade ago.
Boruck, of Orland Park, and Brousil, of Tinley Park, have shared a lot together, including their passion for praying in the presence of holy relics.
In 2015, the duo attended a viewing of the remains of St. Maria Goretti at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Orland Park. In 2023, they attended St. Julie Billiart in Tinley Park to pray in the presence of the arm of St. Jude.
They made it a trifecta on Sunday when they took the opportunity to pray at the first-class relic of St. Francis of Assisi as a fragment of his bone was on display at his namesake parish in Orland Park.
“There’s a lot going on in my life right now and I believe in the saints,” Borucke said. “I feel like praying to them helps me in a way that my heart feels better. It means a lot.”
She said she recently lost her sister, and her sibling was on her mind as she prayed to St. Francis of Assisi.
Brousil said each time she is in the presence of the relics, she uses the opportunity to pray for a growing list of people in her life.
“It helps me because I have people that I pray for as well as myself,” she said. “I keep praying for the same people and I’m adding new people to the list.”
The relic was on display for close to four hours Sunday at St. Francis, which ended the event visit at 5 p.m.with solemn vespers. Deacon Michael Pindelski led the church in prayer prior to allowing people to approach the relic with reverence and spend time praying and reflecting.
The visit is a part of a worldwide jubilee year observing the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, who was a founder of the religious order of the Franciscans.
And to have the relic at one of his namesake churches made it even more special.
“To have it here at St. Francis is quite incredible,” Pindelski said. “We’ve been blessed to be able to come out and venerate.”
Pindelski said there is comfort to be found in the presence of the relic.
“When I meet with people, what I find very humbling is people come in with some of their deep darkest fears,” Pindelski said. “They just want to speak.
“It’s not so much providing counselling as it is sometimes just listening. All people want to do is be heard. When you come to a place like St. Francis and you speak with someone like that, it takes the burden off and, and there is some sense of relief.”
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He added that having others around praying to the relic also can be therapeutic.
“They know they are not the only ones going through this,” he said.
Sunday was a big day at St. Francis. At the 10 a.m. Mass, Bishop Robert Fedek said his final Mass as the parish’s pastor. After a reception for Fedek, he left for a trip to his native Poland and when he returns, he will serve as a vicariate over several parishes and concentrate on working with Polish parishioners.
On Wednesday, the Rev. James Donovan will take over for Fedek. Donovan spent the last nine years as St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Church’s pastor. In April, Donovan presided over a Mass at the Beverly neighborhood in Chicago church and broke down a few times when he announced he was leaving the parish.
Donovan told the Daily Southtown in April that he was told St. Francis needed an experienced pastor.
“Bishop Fedek is a wonderful man,” Pindelski said. “Unfortunately, he will not be here as our pastor, but he will still be present.
“Father Donovan is from St. Barnabas and I know they are very upset for him to be leaving. But we’re very excited to have him on board.”
The next St. Francis jubilee event at the Orland Park church is planned for 7 p.m. July 17, when it will show the movie “The Sultan and the Saint.”
It centers on the meeting of St. Francis of Assisi and the sultan of Egypt on a battlefield during the bloody conflict known as the Crusades. It is narrated by Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.