Relics
Relics are the bones, clothing or possessions of the saints, honored by the Church and sometimes associated with miracles. The Church does not claim they have magical power; God may choose to work through them, as Scripture shows with Elisha's bones, Jesus' cloak, Peter's shadow and Paul's handkerchiefs.
In three points
- Objection to relics stems from old dualist heresies that separate spirit and matter
- Sacraments and relics are the opposite of magic, since God is the cause
- Saints' bones were often divided, and the "True Cross" fragments would make less than a third of a cross
- Most relics are genuine, and the Church honors those reasonably authentic
- Scripture and the early Church venerated relics
Spirit and matter
Many non-Catholics dislike the giving of grace through physical things. This stems from old heresies, Dualism, Marcionism and Manichaeism: Marcion taught that the Old Testament God was evil for making matter. That fits neither the sacraments nor the Incarnation. Sacramentals such as medals, palms, holy water and ashes can lead people to receive or respond to grace; the Church does not teach that they themselves give grace.
Ex-priest Bart Brewer claims that relics have long "bothered Catholics," that they are said to have "magical powers," that Germany claims twenty-six apostles, that the pieces of the cross would fill a ten-ton truck, that most relics are frauds, and that the Bible does not support venerating them. Each claim is a blunder.
Not magic
It is non-Catholics, not Catholics, who have been bothered by relics. And the Church claims no magic for them; Brewer cites no Catholic source saying so. Magic expects a lower, material cause to produce a higher effect, overpowering God. The sacraments, and derivatively sacramentals and relics, depend on God, who established their effect. When Jesus healed the blind man with mud and spittle (John 9:1-7), it was not a magic potion. The Lord made matter and became matter himself.
Twenty-six apostles?
The Bible names at least sixteen apostles, counting Paul, Barnabas, James the Just and Matthias. And saints' bones were usually divided among communities, so several cities can rightly claim relics of one saint.
A truck full of the cross?
In 1870 Rohault de Fleury catalogued all relics of the True Cross, including lost ones, and found they would make up no more than a third of a cross. The scandal is not too much wood but that most of the cross, found in Jerusalem in the fourth century, was lost again.
Most are frauds?
Some frauds exist, but most relics are known or reasonably thought to be genuine, since most are bones of well-known saints whose remains were never lost. Scientists examining the Shroud of Turin say they cannot prove it is Christ's burial cloth but may be able to rule out forgery. The Church has never declared any particular relic genuine, but approves honoring those reasonably probable to be authentic.
The Bible and relics
- Christ's own body was honored: Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for it (Mark 15:43; John 19:38) and gave his own tomb (Matthew 27:60); Nicodemus brought about a hundred pounds of spices (John 19:39), an amount used only for the most honored dead; the women came to anoint it (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1).
- A dead man touching Elisha's bones came back to life (2 Kings 13:20-21).
- A woman was healed by touching Jesus' cloak (Matthew 9:20-22), the sick by Peter's shadow (Acts 5:14-16), and diseases left those touched by handkerchiefs from Paul (Acts 19:11-12).
The Church says only that relics may be the occasion of God's miracles. Whoever rejects all relics as frauds should reject these accounts too.
The early Church
The Martyrdom of Polycarp (156) records that Christians gathered his bones, "more valuable than precious stones," to celebrate his martyrdom. Even the anti-Catholic historian Harnack admits no reputable Church doctor restricted the veneration of relics. Jerome wrote that Christians do not adore relics but venerate them "in order the better to adore him whose martyrs they are."
Key Scripture
Read online with linked Scripture: catholic.id/tracts/relics/