More than 6,000 Roman Catholics visited a Bristol church to see a holy casket containing the remains of a saint.

St Teresa of the Child Jesus in Gloucester Road North, Filton, was the first church in Britain to be named after St Therese of Lisieux – a French Carmelite nun who died in 1897 at the age of 24.

People came by coach and on foot from all over the West Country and beyond for the chance to pray in the presence of the saint who was canonised in 1925.

Many returned to the church several times during the two days that the relics were in Filton, spending as much time as they could near the golden casket.

There was a candlelit vigil on Wednesday night for those who wanted to stay and by yesterday morning the pews had begun to fill once again with the faithful.

Father Tom Finnegan, priest in charge at St Teresa's, said: "For the 7pm mass we had 1,200 people in and around the church – we couldn't fit everyone in. There were 150 people in the hall next door, which was the original church."

Asked why the remains of St Therese meant so much to so many Catholics, he said: "They point us to something divine. Within those remains is the soul of a great saint. She shows us how we can serve Christ."

When she was 14, St Therese – born Marie Martin in Normandy – wanted to follow her older sisters into a convent but was told by the head of the order to wait until she was 21.

Undeterred, she went to Rome to seek permission from the Pope and became a Carmelite nun, leading an enclosed life.

She died of tuberculosis at the age of 24 but by then she had written her autobiography, in which she wrote of becoming closer to God through selfless acts for others every day.

Father Finnegan said: "Her autobiography has brought many millions of people closer to God."

He said he had never seen so many people except on pilgrimages to Lourdes or Rome.

Christine Walter, of Monks Park, Horfield, was a marshal during the visit.

The retired deputy manager of Bristol Citizens Advice Bureau, said: "This has fulfilled every possible dream. It's been absolutely amazing.

"I arrived at 6am and stayed until 11pm on Wednesday.

"I have a very strong faith but this has strengthened my faith even more. There were more than 1,000 at mass. They were all joyful."

Retired Rolls-Royce engineer Terence Lane, 83, of Westbury-on-Trym, was so moved that he cried when talking about what the visit of the saint's remains meant to him.

He said: "It means everything to me. My grandsons were part of the guard for the casket when it was in Plymouth.

"I was here on Wednesday afternoon and the church was packed. I came back yesterday morning."

Teresa Harris, a retired teacher of Southmead Road, Filton, also visited both days and played the organ at the church.

She said: "I wouldn't miss this. St Therese wrote about what was most important in life."

Around 200 people attended a mass at 9am yesterday before the casket was carried from the church to begin the journey to a church in Liverpool.

The casket containing the saint's remains has been on a devotional world tour for the past 10 years.