The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-09-06
THE vENERArIoN OF RELICS.

To honor the relics of the saints is
one of the pious practices, and is at
the same time conformable to reason,
and authorized by the Church. The
relics may consist of the entire body
or any portion of it. Either the dust
that remains of the body of the dead,
or the ashes from the relics that may
have been burned, are regarded as
worthy of veneration. Of course the
body of a saint or the important parts
of that body are placed in the church
in reliquaries of gold and silver and
precious stones, to mark the honor
paid to the mortal remains of Gods
saints. But it is only when there is
moral certainty of the commences of
the relics that the Church permits
honor to be paid to them on account
of the sanctity of the life of the one
who is marked by the Church as
saint of God. The recognized sane
tity of life is not sufficient to war
rant public veneration until the Church
publicly declares the canonization or
beatifcation of a saint. There is
second class of relics which the
Church permits us to venerate, and
this consists of the garments which
the saints have worn or the things
which they have used. Then again
we honor the holy places,-Jerusalem
Calvary, Bethlehem, and Homemade
illustrious by the saints who passed
their lives there, or by the fact that
they are resting places of their holy
bodies. Hence we honor with venera-
ton and respect the spots made holy
by Christ, the Divine Saviour, as also
those whose sands have been sancti-
fed by the blood of His martyrs, and
the sacrifices of His saints.
To honor the relics of the saints is
perfectly conformable to reason and
authorized by the Church. We know
the respect we have for the things
made sacred by the touch of beloved
parent. The antiquarian goes far to
find the tombs of illustrious men, their
writings, or perhaps the urns which
contained their ashes, and our muse
ums are filed with these antiquities
toward which the people have more or
less veneration and respect because of
their association with men whose
names are prominent in the history
of the world. If then it is natural in
us to honor the bodies of the dead,
who, while on earth, were nations
heroes, why should we not honor
those heroes of God, who by the con-
quest of SELF have honored our hui
mainly and have won for themselves
a place near the throne of the great
God in heaven whom they have
served 1t is not surprising, then, to
find the Church authorizing a practice
of honoring the relics of the saints.
The Council of Trent tells us that the
faithful should have respect for the
holy bodies of the martyrs, and the
other saints who are in heaven with
Christ and it condemns those who OPP
posed the honor and generation
paid to the relics of the saints. 1t is
strange how people go into ecstacies
over the homes of illustrious men and
women, the clothing which they have
worn, the letters they have written
and consider it perfectly natural tC
pay respect to their memories in this
way, yet these same people will fine
fault with the Christian who loves
the spots made sacred by the humble
and sanity lives of Gods servants
They accuse us of idolatry for rever
emily kissing the sacred relics of the
saints and martyrs, forgetful that in
doing this, we are paying tribute tc
Christ, our Divine Redeemer, through
whose Precious Blood, the saints have
sanctified their bodies and made il
proper for us to venerate them be
cause of their fidelity to the Holy Will
of God. These relics are not idols
they are simply what remains o.
bodies that have been sanctified b!
the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ
and in honoring them we honor thu
saint whose remains they are and W,
honor God through whose grace the.
houo hoop Cono+iGod