The long, orderly line outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral Sept. 17 made a statement. Droves of reverent faithful waited seemingly without complaint Sunday morning and afternoon to show their devotion to St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina whose relics inside the cathedral’s Lady Chapel were on display there through Sept. 18 and had been at other locales in the archdiocese Sept. 16.

Cardinal Dolan celebrated Mass officially welcoming the relics at 10:15 a.m. Sunday at the cathedral. The Sistine Chapel Choir provided resplendent music throughout the liturgy. After the Mass, the line for the relics extended to the front steps of the cathedral’s Parish House, at 51st Street and Madison Avenue. The cathedral is located at Fifth Avenue and 50th Street.