Treasures of the Church

Sunday, September 26, our parish will have a rare opportunity to have present some 150 relics as part of a program called Treasures of the Church.  The program will be presented by Fr. Carlos Martins, CC, a member of a community of priests called the Companions of the Cross, a Society of Apostolic Life.  This is a special opportunity for veneration and prayer and sacramental confession, moved by the sacred relics that will be visiting our parish on that day.

Some think that the Church has relegated its teaching on relics to a bygone era.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  But first, what are relics?  The word relic comes from the Latin relinquo, meaning “I leave.”  They are items left behind by a saint.  First class relics consist of the body of a saint or a part of the saint’s body.  Second class relics are items that a saint personally owned or used.  Third class relics are items (usually a bit of cloth) that has been touched to a first or second class relic.

We learn from Scripture that God frequently acts through the things of this world.  Instances include the bones of the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 13:20-21); the cloak of Jesus (Matthew 9:20-22); Jesus using spittle (Mark7:31-37, 8:22-26; John 9:6); the shadow of St. Peter (Acts 5:12-15); and the cloth touched to the Apostle Paul (Acts 19:11-12).  We also see the Church relying on physical items in the celebration of the sacraments – most notably, bread and wine, water and oils – and in its various sacramentals (holy water, palms, ashes, scapulars, rosaries, medals, etc.).  Of course, these objects do not have magical powers.  To attribute magical powers to an object would be superstition and sinful.  Rather, in each case, it is God choosing to act through the material object.

The veneration of sacred relics has a long history in the Church, going back to the martyrdom of St. Polycarp in the year 156:

“We took up the bones, which are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them in a suitable place, where the Lord will permit us to gather . . . to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.”

The Fathers of the Church note the reverence accorded to sacred relics as early as the fourth century.  By the twelfth century, relics were being venerated in numerous shrines and churches that were often the favorite destinations of pilgrims.  The Council of Trent taught that the bodies of saints were to be honored by the faithful.  Until recently, altars were required to have relics embedded in them (as they are in our altars here at Our Lady of Mount Virgin), recalling the practice in the early Church of celebrating the Eucharist in the catacombs above the tombs of the saints.           

In the words of Father William Saunders,

“The relics of the saints and their veneration is just another in the long line of treasures which Jesus Christ has given to His chaste bride, the Church.  These relics summon us to appreciate more profoundly, not only the heroic men and women, boys and girls, who have served the Master so selflessly and generously, but especially the love and mercy of the Almighty who called these, His followers, to the bliss of unending life in His eternal kingdom.”

Please plan to visit the church to venerate the relics of these holy men and women of God who have gone before us and who intercede for us before the throne of God.