Free Press staff report

The actual heart of a French priest, who died in 1859, is in metro Detroit this weekend as part of a national tour.

St. John Vianney, "who is held up as the ideal for Catholic priests," is said by the Archdiocese of Detroit to have an "incorrupt heart" that "has resisted decay for more than 150 years," according to a news release.

The major relic is to be displayed Sunday, from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, 2701 Chicago Blvd. in Detroit. On Saturday, it was at St. John Vianney Parish in Shelby Township.

“I know many priests and lay faithful are very excited for the opportunity to pray with the incorrupt heart of St. John Vianney,” said Father Stephen Pullis, director of evangelization, catechesis and schools at the archdiocese, who helped arrange for the relic to visit southeast Michigan. “We are in the midst of a time of great trial and purification in the Church. What better model of priestly holiness and dedication to priestly service can we have than the patron saint of all priests?"

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Vianney's heart is normally kept at a shrine in France, and it was entrusted to the Knights of Columbus for the tour.

The news release describes relics as physical objects associated with saints that are signs, but not proof, of a person's holiness. "Incorrupt" refers to a human body part that has avoided the normal decomposition process after death, according to the news release.

More information on the tour is available on the Knights of Columbus website.