THOUSANDS of worshippers are expected to converge on Holy Rood Church in Swindon next month to see an image of one of the Catholic Church’s most revered holy relics.

The picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe is believed to have been given by an apparition of Jesus’ mother Mary to an Aztec Indian in 1531. In 1979 Pope John II blessed 220 digital replicas of the relic so they could be distributed around the world.

Now one of the images is making a six-day pilgrimage to Swindon from September 8.

“People are very excited, it will be greatly welcomed,” said assistant parish priest Fr Dominic Findlay-Wilson. “It is a beautiful thing to remind us of how important Mary is to us.”

He said one of the reasons Holy Rood was chosen for a visit was probably the huge congregation – it is one of the biggest Catholic churches in the country.

The five weekend masses usually attract a total of between 3,000 and 4,000 people.

Up to 200 will also turn out for weekday services. Many of the worshippers are Goans, but English, Italian, Polish and Irish people are among the diverse congregation.

“I think they are very happy about it,” said Fr Dominic.

“Goans are very devotional.”

The pilgrimage announced by Bishop Declan Lang is part of a national tour for the image, which is usually kept at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Bedford.

The parish priests will welcome it into the church on the Thursday afternoon before a service of reception, a feast day mass and then veneration until 9pm.

Services, talks and reflection continue through the week. It will leave on September 13 following a mass at 10.30am and a visit by local schools.

The original relic was given to Bishop-elect Fray Juan de Zumarraga more than 400 years ago by a poor man called Juan Diego who said he had been walking in hill country and seen a woman surrounded by a ball of light. She had told him that she wanted a church built in that location.

She is known as the Patroness of the Unborn and her shrine is now one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage destinations in the world, attracting millions of people every year.