Salesians everywhere are excited to learn that the saint’s relics will be coming to the United States next month:

More than 16 months after it began a world tour touching over 100 nations, a casket containing relics of St. John Bosco is scheduled to visit the United States and Canada beginning in mid-September.

The pilgrimage of the relics began April 25, 2009, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesians of Don Bosco and is to continue until shortly before the 200th anniversary of the saint’s birth near Turin, Italy, on Aug. 16, 1815.

For the tour, the bones and tissues of the right hand and arm of the 19th-century Italian saint have been placed within a wax replica of St. John Bosco’s body, which is being displayed in a glass box mounted on a large wood and metal cart.

The display — weighing more than 1,800 pounds and measuring approximately 8 feet long, 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall — has been transported around the world by plane and in specially designed and built trucks.

Its scheduled stops in North America include California, New Orleans, Florida, Washington, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal and Surrey, British Columbia.

According to the Salesian News Agency, the relics have been receiving an enthusiastic welcome and yielding spiritual fruits at every stop.

There are more details at the link, including the itinerary.