The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-27
THE HEROES OF The CHURCH.
THE REV. DIR. WHITE on THE
CATHOLIC VIEW or RELICS.
A Discussion Suggested by tho Removal
Of Paul Jones's Remains Two Saints
Bodies in New York-Tho True Gross
mn Precautions to Insure Authenticity.

Bodies in New York-The True Cross
M Precautions to Insure Authenticity.
The care taken to insure the proper
Identification OF the remains Of Paul Jones
led the Rev. DR.. William j. White, pastor
NJ 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 say:
"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 or to be exposed outside
their cases or shrines and prohibited the
public veneration Of new relics till their
Authenticity had been approved by the
Pope.
.'rhe Council OF Trent renewed these
prohibitions and further required Bishops
10 decide on the authenticity OF new
relics after careful consultation with theo-
logians 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 107 the bones
Of st. Ignatius of Antioch were gathered In
a linen cloth as a precious treasure When
'Polycarp's body was burned, in 1877, the
Christians exhuned the bones they could
find az more precious than costly stones
and more valuable than gold
-In the fifth. sixth and seventh centuries
the tombs of the martyrs in the Catacombs
outside Rome became places OF pilgrimage
and were enlarged into chapels whose walls
,,,tt In, ut
the visitors.
About this time a movement to bring
the remains of the martyrs from the Cata-
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.
$50 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.
Saviour and the Virgin Mary supposed to he
painted by st. Luke or by the angels are OF
byzantine origin; they were brought from
the East during the iconoclastic heresies.
The Holy Face which Is preserved in st.
Peters and exposed for veneration on Holy
Thursday of each year belongs to this
class,
THE Crusaders brought many relics from
Palestine and Constantinople, the anthem
ITCHY of some of which is doubtful.
The annals of the Venetian republic fire.
quently make mention Of saints bodies
brought from the East by traders. The
remains of st. Mark the Evangelist. found
their way to Venice in this way. They
were taken in s20 by Venetian merchants
from a 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, ef1gy and
winged lion occur everywhere in that city.
The city Of Benevento was besieged
during the Middle Ages because it would
the Apostle, who is now inferred In the
church Of his name on an island in the Tiber.
st Francis Of Assist was buried without
witnesses to prevent his body from being
stolen by neighboring towns. 1t was not
found until 1878, eco years after his death;
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 cross, the largest
portion Of which is preserved in the Church
Of the Holy Cross in Rome. Each Bishop
has portion of the true cross in his pectoral
cross. SO scarce has this relic become that
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
obtained from the Lipsanoteca. a chapel
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 warship 5000
miles to bring back to American soil the
remains of man who fought her battles
when she needed fighters is the same
spirit that prompts the Catholic Church
to venerate the relics of martyrs and saints.
They are her heroes.
Doubt NAV be cast on the authenticity Of
some of the relics AS it is still open to question
whether we really have inferred the remains
olcs do not pray to Bit Of bone or a tuft
Of hair; they venerate and pray to the saint
to whom it is supposed to belong, just as
the patriotic American who ma kes pill
grlmages to Annapolis honors the brave
American Captain, whether, his bones are
Inferred there or still lie undisturbed in the
Protestant cemetery in Paris
There are in the 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 Paurs 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.
Louiss Church in Buffalo has two more
relics.
The relics Of st. Anne are scattered all
over the world but possibly the largest por-
lions outside Of Europe are at the Church
OF st. Jean Baptiste here and the Chapel
Of st. Anne de BeaupTe, Canads.