The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-27
THE HEROES OF THE CHURCH.
TIE REV. Dr., WHITE on THE
CATHOLIC VIEW OF RELICS.

A Dlscusslon Suggested BY the Remoya
Of Paul Jones's Remains- TIVE saints
I,odies in New York--The True Cross
- Precautions TO Insure Authenticity.
The care taken to insure tho proper
Identification OF the remains OF Paul Jones
led the Rev. DR.. William j. White, pastor
If the Church OF the Visitation In Brooklyn.
10 speak the other day on the attitude OF
the Roman Catholic Church toward relics.
After discussing me ans OF proving the
authenticity OF relics, he went on to cay:
THE question OF the authenticity OF relics
has always been open to wide discussion.
In 1915 the Fourth Lateran Council forbade
relics to be sold OF to he exposed outside
their cases or shrines and prohibited the
nubc veneration OF new relics I'LL their
Authenticity had been approved by the
Pope.
The Council OF Trent renewed these
prohibitions and further required Bishops
"a decide on the authenticity OF new
relics after careful consultation with theo-
10 CLANS or the Bishops Of their respective
PROVINCES. In 1881 the Cardinal Vicar OF
Rome warned Bishops against spurious
relics.
The custom Of honoring the remains
of martyrs is very ancient. In i07 the bones
of St. Ignatius of Antioch we're gathered In
a linen cloth as precious treasure When
poycarp's body was burned. In 1877, the
Christians exhumed the bones they could
find as moro precious than costly stones
and more valuable than gold
an the ffth, sixth and seventh centuries
the tolnbs Of the martyrs In the Catacombs
outside Rome became places Of pilgrimage
and we're enlarged into chapels whose walls
are still covered with pious invocations Of
the visitors.
About this time a movement to bring
the remains OF the martyrs from the Csta-
combs into the city began, caused by the
desire Of the Popes to protect the subter-
ranean cemeteries from dissertation at the
hands Of barbarian invaders. and also
because they wished to consecrate new
churches that were then being built. In
the Church OF St. Prassede alone $500
bodies were inferred.
so keen was the search for relics and
bodies Of saints that abuses began to creep
In at the beginning OF the eighth century.
The sale Of relics became common, but was
condemned by the Popes. The Deacon
Deusdona, who had charge Of the Cemetery
OF SITS Peter and Marcellinus, seems to have
been the chief offender. He sold bodies
from this cemetery beyond the Alps. In
what is now southern Germany.
The many paintings in Europe OF the
Saviour and the Virgin Mary supposed to be
painted by st. Luke or by the angels are Of
Byzantine orr gin; they were sI brought from
The Holy Face which Is preserved In st.
Peters and exposed for veneration ON Holy
Thursday Of each year belongs to this
aThe Crusaders brought many relics from
dcity of some Of which is doubtful.
-The annals Of the Venetian republic fire.
uuently make mention OF saints bodies
brought from the East BY traders. The
remains of st. Mark the Evangelist. found
we're taken in see by Venetian merchants
from church in Alexandria, Egypt, which
the Arabs were about to destroy, St.
Theodore, the early patron saint Of Venice.
was deposed and the place OF honor given
to the, evangelist whose name. enjoy and
The city Of Benevento was besieged
during the Middle Ages because it would
not give up tho body Of st. Bartholomew
the Apostle, who is now inferred in the
church Of his name on an island In the Tber.
st. Francis OF Assist was buried without
stolen by neighboring towns. 1t was not
found until 1918, 600 years after his death.
There are two classes or grades OF relics
in the Church The first Is the body Of the
saint then come the garments. vestments
and worldly belongings.
The greatest and most authentic relic In
the Church is the true GROSS, the largest
portion Of which is preserved in the Church
Of the Holy Cross in Rome. Each Bishop
has a portion Of the true cross in his pectoral
l. - H.. l. Al
Leo MIL; in letter to the Bishops Of the
Church, asked them to will their pectoral
crosses to their successors.
Each student who has made his final
studies in Rome is entitled to six different
relics upon his leaving there. They are
where many relics from the Catacombs are
preserved. These relics are generally Of
the second class.
The spirit that has prompted the Ameri-
can Government to send q warship 5000
miles to bring back to American soil the
when she needed fighters IL the same
spirit that prompts the Catholic Church
to venerate the relics Of martyrs and saints.
They are her heroes.
Doubt NAV he cast on the authenticity Of
some OF the relics ,as it is still open to question
whether we really have inferred the remains
Of John Paul Jones at Annapolis but Cath
olics do not pray to bit Of bone or tuft
Of hair; they venerate and pray to the saint
to whom it is supposed to belong. just a.
the patriotic American who ma kes pill
grimage to Annapolis honors the brave
American Captain, whether his bones are
Inferred there or still lie undsturbed in the
Protestant cemetery in Paris"
There are in tho United States and Canada
five bodies of saints of the first class. The
remains of st. Peregrinus are in st. An
selm's Church in The Bronx. st. Vincent
de Paul's Church in Detroit has the remains
Of one Of the $500 martyrs from the Church
Of St, Prassede in Rome. st. Alphonsus's
Church in Windsor, Ont, has the remains
Of another one OF the martyrs, and st.
Lous's Church in Buffalo has two more
relics.
The relics OF st. Anne are scattered all
over the world, but possibly the largest por-
tions outside Of Europe are at the Church
OF st. Jean Baptiste here and the Chapel
OF st. Anne de Beaupre. Canada.
REMARK RyE EAgIVrINATIONS