Droves of people of faith descended upon Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Tuesday in downtown Medford to venerate a relic that, until last fall, had never left the Vatican.

And they wanted to make sure they saw the remain of St. Jude at its only stop in Southern Oregon.

Darlene Reynolds of Eagle Point was third in line Tuesday morning to see the revered remain that the Catholic Church says was once the arm of St. Jude, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles.

As she sat at the doorsteps of the sanctuary shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday — some three hours before she would see the relic and touch her rosary to the glass reliquary case — Reynolds brimmed with hope and excitement. In the Catholic Church, St. Jude is a patron of hope, and the nationwide tour involving more than 260 stops refers to the saint as “The Apostle of the Impossible.”

“He’s my favorite saint, too, because everything I have is impossible,” Reynolds said.

Two women ahead of her in line handed Reynolds an extra cushion to soften her spot on the church steps, one of them kindly joking, “We saved you a spot.”

By 2 p.m., the line they started had grown to completely surround the exterior walls of the parish hall.

Father Carlos Martins, director of the Detroit-based nonprofit Treasures of the Church, pulled up to the Medford church Tuesday morning in a white Ford Transit van pulling a trailer. He immediately began giving directions to a team of church elders, staff and volunteers and had them unpack in orderly fashion.

According to church Deacon Dennis Macey, the Medford stop was added to the itinerary less than three weeks ago, but the request was most welcome.

Macey along with other parishioners described Martins as a prominent national figure in the Catholic Church — not only for his work at Treasures of the Church but for his work hosting the paranormal podcast “The Exorcist Files.”

“He’s very influential, and we’re graced to have him here,” Macey said. “I’ve been writing for seven years to have him here.”

Ann Brophy, who has been a pastoral associate at Sacred Heart Medford for 23 years, said the quick efforts to add Medford to the tour “speaks highly of the volunteers and parishioners here.”

“This is a rare event, an extraordinary event,” Brophy said. “I don’t recall anything like this.”

Brophy was in awe that a relic of such importance could leave the Vatican and spend a day in Medford. She called it a “most holy day,” a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” and an event “phenomenal to Southern Oregon.”

“That arm probably went around Jesus’ shoulder,” Brophy said. “It’s really powerful — I keep getting chills.”

She voiced Martins’ claims that the relic has been linked to “healing miracles beyond explanation,” be they related to physical, emotional or spiritual health.

“It might be a healing you didn’t know you needed,” Brophy said.

In the Catholic Church, the arm of St. Jude is considered a first-class relic as a human remain from the apostle St. Jude Thaddeus, according to Deacon Macey. Items that touch the relic, such as the container or shrine known as a reliquary, are deemed a second-class relic; items that touch a second-class relic are a third-class relic.

The veneration of relics is a tradition in Catholic and Orthodox churches not typically shared with Protestants. Macey said the tradition is “not without biblical foundation.”

The Church does not worship saints and relics directly, he clarified, but he expressed a belief that God seems to heal people through saints as a way to honor them.

“It gives us hope,” Macey said. “Because we know they were like us.”

Mary Jo Baich, a member of the parish council, had collected the prayers and hopes of a list of people near and far who were unable to attend.

“I have a whole envelope,” Baich said. “We’ll see what God’s mercy does.”

The relic has left the Rogue Valley, but more tours are slated for this week in Portland through Friday. Other Oregon stops in Sherwood, Keizer and Mount Angel are scheduled for mid-September. Find the latest schedule at apostleoftheimpossible.com.