Catechesis/Announcements/Stories

Saved by the Relics: How Preserving Relics Preserved a Parish

Laura Ruberto

18 Aug 2026 • 8 min read

St. John Gualbert Parish in Cheektowaga, NY is the official Buffalo Diocesan Relic Shrine. Image Credit: Taken by Laura Ruberto for The Relic Project.

The unassuming exterior of St. John Gualbert Church holds an interior treasure, literally alongside the treasure of our Eucharistic Lord, secured in a side altar. That is because this small church, located in the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, claims to house the second-largest collection of relics in the United States.* It has its own Atlas Obscura entry for this very reason. Far from staying in obscurity though, about two years ago, these saintly remnants rose to local prominence.

Exterior of St. John Gualbert Church in Cheektowaga, NY. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

What began as a personal collection of holy relics, carefully gathered, authenticated, and finally entrusted to the Diocese of Buffalo, became a decisive factor in preserving St. Gualbert’s, a parish that had been marked for possible closure due to the Diocese’s 2024 sweeping overhaul of all parishes and properties. The relics did not merely survive a Diocesan reorganization—they helped save the parish that houses them.

A Permanent Home and A Special Stipulation

Reverend Michael Burzynski, a native son of Cheektowaga, spent decades collecting, verifying, and caring for relics of saints, blesseds, and venerables. After housing these sacred remains in various settings as he was assigned to different parishes, when he became pastor of St. John Gualbert’s in 2011, he brought them all along. That same year he donated the entire collection—eventually more than 1,250 relics, over 91 percent of them first-class—to the Diocese. The gift carried one non-negotiable caveat: the relics would have their permanent resting place at St. John Gualbert.

Likeness of Fr. Michael Burzynski (1954-2023), former pastor of St. Gualbert's. Image Credit: Created by Grok Imagine (xAI).

The Diocese accepted this stipulation, and in 2016 Bishop Richard Malone formally established St. Gualbert’s as the Diocesan relic shrine. Among its treasures are fragments connected to the life of Christ (wood of the True Cross, pieces of the Crown of Thorns, a splinter of the manger, a stone from the Tomb), a portion of the Blessed Virgin’s veil, and many other saints' remains. Pilgrims from the United States and Canada visited this modest Polish parish though the relic repository remained relatively unknown even to locals.

Vestige of the Virgin’s veil at St. Gualbert’s. Image Credit: Laura Ruberto for The Relic Project.

Relic of St. John Vianney at St. Gualbert’s. Image Credit: Laura Ruberto for The Relic Project.

Close-up of relic of St. Catherine of Siena at St. Gualbert’s. Image Credit: Laura Ruberto for The Relic Project.

Reliquary holding numerous relics at St. Gualbert’s. Can you identify them all? (Reading Latin helps!) Image Credit: Laura Ruberto for The Relic Project.

Relic of the apostle St. Bartholemew (also called Nathanael/Nathaniel) at St. Gualbert’s. Image Credit: Laura Ruberto for The Relic Project.

The Crisis of 2024 and the Parish Response

Like many Dioceses, the Diocese of Buffalo faced distressing realities forcing the need to “right size” the number of parishes: fewer priests, declining Mass attendance, and the financial weight of abuse settlements. In June 2024, under current Bishop Michael Fisher, the Diocese released recommendations for widespread mergers and closures. St. John Gualbert appeared on the list—slated to merge with nearby St. Stanislaus—with the clear implication that the building itself might close.

The parish took action. Led by David Killian and Jane Roland, the Trustees and Parish Council decided to submit a counterproposal. It was reviewed, along with 52 other counterproposals from newly created “Parish Families” across the Diocese, in a series of meetings. The final decisions, announced in September 2024, reflected changes in 26 of the 36 “families.”

Buffalo Bishop Michael Fisher, seen here in a still photo from an October 2025 interview with WGRZ-TV, was unaware that St. Gualbert parish was the official Diocesan relic shrine prior to efforts to save the church. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

For St. John Gualbert, the outcome was a win: rather than full closure, the church would merge with St. Stanislaus Parish but remain open as a secondary worship site. Regular Masses, including daily Mass, would continue, and the Diocesan relic shrine would stay in place.

The permanent-home condition attached to the 2011 relic donation, the official status of the collection as the Diocesan shrine, and the spiritual significance of housing so many authenticated relics, as well as the parish’s financial standing, all strengthened the case for keeping the church building open.

From Doomed to Saved: A Timeline

2011 — Fr. Michael Burzynski brings his relic collection to St. John Gualbert and donates it to the Diocese of Buffalo with the explicit condition of it having permanent home at the parish.
2016 — Bishop Malone issues a decree formally designating the collection as the Diocesan Shrine of the Holy Relics of the Saints.
September 2023 — Fr. Burzynski dies. (To read about this accomplished Polish priest, look here and here and for a more in-depth article, look here.)
June 2024 — Under Bishop Fisher, the Diocese publishes its initial merger and closure recommendations; St. John Gualbert is listed among the churches to merge/close.
July 15, 2024 — St. John Gualbert parish council and trustees share the decision to submit a written counterproposal to the Diocese with parishioners.
August 5, 2024 — St. John Gualbert submits its counterproposal to the Diocese by the deadline.
August 12, 2024 — Representatives from the parish meet with the Diocesan review team.
September 2024 — Final decisions are announced. St. John Gualbert is retained as a secondary worship site of St. Stanislaus rather than being fully closed.
March–April 2025 — ”Heritage Masses” are celebrated; on April 27 St. John Gualbert formally becomes a secondary worship site of St. Stanislaus. Regular Masses continue. The shrine remains fully active.
2025–present — The Adopt-a-Relic Initiative launches, guided tours and seasonal pilgrimages draw new visitors, and the shrine continues its mission under the Greater East Buffalo Family of Parishes.

Explanation of a Heritage Mass. Image credit: Infographic generated by Grok (xAI).

“Adopt A Relic” at St. John Gualbert church. Image credit: Laura Ruberto for The Relic Project.

David Killian, longtime Parish Trustee and Parish Council member, is the contact for arranging visits and guided tours of the relic collection. Image Credit: Laura Ruberto for The Relic Project.

A Living Shrine Today—and Tomorrow

Today St. John Gualbert continues as an active secondary worship site. Weekend Masses (including one in Polish), weekday Masses, confessions, and regular opportunities to venerate the relics go on. The Adopt A Relic Initiative invites the faithful to sponsor the care and more visible display (outside of their locked side altar) of these holy objects so that future generations may encounter them. Guided tours showcase the remarkable relics and also highlight the church’s stunning stained glass, murals, and Polish heritage. One event that exemplifies the parish's creativity is an opportunity for relic veneration called “Journey with the Magi,” a self-guided Christmas pilgrimage through the “relics of Christmas.”

The story of the saving of St. Gualbert's is a reminder that when saints are cherished through preservation and veneration of their relics, sometimes they might bring about gifts other than spiritual kind. Of course, the relics did not prevent most hardships of the painful Diocesan restructuring. Those wounds are still fresh and deep as mergers continue and parish doors close forever. They did, however, give the powers that be a compelling reason to keep one particular door open to the treasures inside—permanently–thereby fulfilling the promise made to Fr. Burzynski.

St. John Gualbert, pray for us!

St. John Gualbert. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

*However, this distinction as "second largest" relic collection is disputed, as other sites, including the Maria Stein Shrine of the Holy Relics, the Shrine of All Saints in Morton Grove, and the University of Notre Dame, are also considered contenders for the title.