LITURGY MATTERS: Relics: Mysteries of the Faith
By Michael McKenna, Archdiocesan Master of Ceremonies
Matthew’s Gospel records the haemorrhaging woman who touched the hem of Jesus’s garment in the firm belief that touching only His garment she would be healed (Mt 9:20-22). It is this faith that is at the heart of our veneration of relics.
Just as Jesus’ cloak possessed no healing qualities, any good that comes about through a relic is God’s doing and a reflection of faith in Him. In venerating the Saints whom God has worked through in an extraordinary way, we adore and glorify God who worked so superbly in their lives.
In venerating their relics, we acknowledge that the bodies of the Saints, destined for the resurrection, have been on earth the living temple of the Holy Spirit and the instrument of their holiness.
In his fourth century letter ‘Ad Riparium’, Saint Jerome keenly observed that “We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore him whose martyrs they are.”
The Church recognises three classes of these spiritual treasures. The first-class is a piece of the saint’s body and it is coincidentally this type which is placed in an altar stone.
One reason we bow to the altar, even when the blessed sacrament isn’t present, is out of deference to the Saint/Martyr whose relics are installed there.
The second-class is a piece of clothing or something personal of the Saint, while the third-class is an object which has been touched to a first-class relic, either directly or as contained in a reliquary or tomb.
A recent four-part Netflix series ‘Mysteries of the Faith’ presents an informative reflection on the role of relics in the Catholic Church today. Focusing on the relics of Christ’s Passion, although not religious or affiliated with the Church, the series features powerfully moving testimony of those who care for and venerate these sacred objects while making a compelling case that the relics of the Catholic Church are no mere antiquities.
God created the physical world, and He works through matter to bring about grace for us just as he did salvation through the Incarnation of His only son, Jesus Christ.
Even after death, God acts in this world through His Saints. As sacramentals, relics present tangible links to the heavenly communion of the faithful. Venerating the relics of the Saints is a beautiful practice that opens us up through faith to receive God’s grace.
Let us rejoice and be glad!