A Los-Angeles group will make a pilgrimage through the hurricane-ravaged Gulf States with its collection of relics of Christ’s passion.

The Apostolate for Holy Relics is also calling upon people of faith nationwide to join in one week of prayer, May 13-20, for those who continue to suffer the effects of the hurricane. The theme of the pilgrimage is One Cross, Many Hands.

A relic is an object, especially a bone or a personal item, of someone of religious significance, such as a saint or a martyr. The Church’s doctrine on relics teaches that the bodies or items of martyrs and saints, who were elevated to heaven by Christ, may be venerated by the faithful, for through them benefits may be bestowed by God.

The group’s president, Tom Serafin, said he would like to rally about one million people in prayer and would like one million rosaries to be said.

The group’s collection of relics from the Passion of Jesus Christ will tour Mississippi and Louisiana. The relics will visit St. Charles Borromeo Church in Picuyune, MS; Annunciation Church in Kiln, MS; St. Patrick Church in New Orleans, LA; and St. Anselm Church in Madisonville, LA.