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What is a relic, and why do we venerate them?

WINTER 2019–2020

FOR SIX YEARS I WAS FORTUNATE TO LIVE IN THE HEART OF ROME, at the Casa Santa Maria of the Pontifical North American College. My neighbors there included apostles and saints: Behind the Casa Santa Maria, at the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles, is the tomb where the apostles Philip and James are located, and in other tombs and churches around the city, the relics of many other saints are housed.

In the Catholic Church, the term relic refers to bodily remains of a saint or objects associated with a saint or with Jesus himself. The most important relics are known as “first class,” and the most important of these are objects related to Christ – pieces of the True Cross, for example, or the Shroud of Turin.

The physical remains of a saint are also classified as first-class relics, and can be as small as a hair or a piece of bone; inanimate objects owned or frequently used by a saint, such as a book or piece of clothing, are known as second-class relics. Relics help keep alive the memory of the men and women who established and enriched the Church so that we, their descendants, may attempt to follow in their footsteps and witness the faith handed on to us.

In our modern age, the veneration of relics may seem strange, but if you think about it, it’s not so different from some of our personal practices. Many of us retain and treasure objects that once belonged to someone we love: a piece of clothing, a lock of hair, their rosary. We hang photos of our deceased loved ones in honored places in our homes. These physical “relics” remind us of the love we still share with that person. I remember how my heart was torn when, after my parents’ deaths, I had to consider disposing of personal things that evoked memories but also reminded me that my parents were still a part of my life. In a similar manner, Catholics treasure the relics of saints, who are the holy instruments of God.

There is a Scriptural foundation for the use of relics both in the Old and New Testament. In the Second Book of Kings (2:9–14), we read how the prophet Elisha picked up the mantle of Elijah after Elijah had been taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. With this “relic,” Elisha struck the water of the Jordan, which then parted so that he could cross. In a later passage (2 Kings 13:20–21), some Israelites place a dead man in the tomb of Elisha, but “when the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.”

In the Acts of the Apostles (19:11– 12), we read, “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

Miracles were connected with these relics not because they possessed magical power. In each of these instances, it was God who brought about the healing or the miraculous event. Just as His work was done through the lives of these saints, so it continued after their deaths when their relics were used by believers. The fact that God chooses to use relics of holy people to work his wonders tells us that he wants to draw attention to the saints as “models and intercessors” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 828).

The Church has always reminded believers that the use of relics must be kept in proper perspective. In his Letter to Riparius, St. Jerome (d. 420) wrote that we do not worship or adore relics, “for we may not serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Still we honor the relics of the martyrs, that we may adore Him whose martyrs they are.”

Relics allow us to remember the holiness of a saint and his or her cooperation in God’s work. At the same time, they inspire us to ask for the intercession of that saint and to beg the grace of God to live a faith-filled life.