IMPHAL, April 28: Manipur will be the country’s first state to receive the casket containing the relic of Saint John Bosco – popularly known as Don Bosco at Imphal airport on April 29.
It will be received by the friends and followers of Don Bosco and official functions will be held at Little Flower School Imphal and Don Bosco School Langjing on April 29. It will be taken to Don Bosco Tamenglong on 30th and the official function to honour the great friend of youth will be held in Don Bosco Chingmeoirong on May 1.
On May 2 the relic will be taken to Pangmol, Maram, Mao en route to Kohima, Wokha, Mon, Dimapur etc in Nagaland.
The relic inside the casket is the skeleton of the right hand of Don Bosco, which is inserted in the chest of Don Bosco’s statue.
The casket with the relic of Don Bosco, which began a 130-nation pilgrimage on January 31, 2009, will be taken to different Salesian institutions in the North-East during its two months’ tour in the region.
The relic will also be carried to various centres in Moran, Doomdooma, Tinsukia, Naharkatia, Amguri, Jorhat, Dergaon and later to Guwahati and other Salesian institutions in the region.
The pilgrimage is part of the preparation for the 2015 bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth and also to mark the 150th year of the founding of the Salesian congregation.
The casket began its journey on April 25, 2009, from Italy’s Valdocco, Turin, in the Basilica of ‘Mary Help of Christians’ and is set to cross five continents, where Salesian members are serving the youth in particular.
Salesians of Don Bosco, the congregation founded by Don Bosco, have schools, colleges, vocational training institutes and social organizations spread in the entire North-East.
