I visited St. Anthony's Chapel in Pittsburgh, PA recently. The Chapel houses five thousand relics, which are tucked away in glass cases, with books nearby that describe which saints' relics are displayed. St. Anthony's Chapel is quite beautiful, and efficient in the way it displays the volume of relics. It is named after St. Anthony of Padua and has a relic of one of his teeth. The site contains the most relics outside of the Vatican and includes a bone fragment relic from all of the Apostles according to the volunteer that I talked to while there. There is a full skeleton of St. Demetrius among many popular saints' relics.
Relics are used to honor the saints that went before us. They may consist of a bone fragment, hair, or blood of a saint or even a piece of clothing that the saint wore.
The term relic comes from the Latin reliquiae which basically means remains of the dead. Interestingly I found out that there were relics in human history long before Christianity came into being. The supposed remains of Oedipus (a mythical Greek king) and Theseus (a mythical Greek god) were honored. There is a famous story about the distribution of the relics of Buddha as well. The human history of honoring heroes therefore made the rise of honoring relics of saints appealing for many. The early Church experienced the desire for relics early in its history.
From around 156 A.D. a letter was written by the inhabitants of Smyrna describing St. Polycarp's death by being burned at the stake and the desire of his followers to create relics of his remains. It is recorded in the letter:
”we took up his 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 ourselves together as we are able in gladness and joy, and to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.”
St. Jerome gave us his opinion about relics as well. He remarked:
“We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order to better adore Him whose martyrs they are.”
St. Thomas Aquinas stated:
“God fittingly does honor to such relics by performing miracles in their presence.”
The Christian Museum of the Louvre has slabs of stones dating to the fourth century from Northern Africa which contains a list of the relics that were most likely housed in the cave from which they were discovered. The inscription reads:
“A holy memorial [memoria sancta] of the wood of the Cross, of the land of Promise where Christ was born, the Apostles Peter and Paul, the names of Datian, Donatian, Cyprian, Nemesianus, Citinus, and Victoria. In the year of the Province 320 [i.e. A.D. 359] Benenatus and Pequaria set this up" ("Corp. Inscr. Lat.", VIII, n. 20600).
The Council of Trent (1545-1563) issued the following statement about venerating the relics of saints:
“...which enjoins on bishops and other pastors to instruct their flocks that “the holy martyrs and others now living with Christ—which bodies were the living members of Christ and 'the temple of the Holy Ghost' (1 Corinthians 6:19) and which are by Him to be raised to eternal life and to be glorified are to be venerated by the faithful, for through these many benefits are bestowed by God on men...””
Even in our modern times the Catholic Church officials were thinking of relics when Pope Benedict XVI's organ donor card was revoked.
In a church I attended a few years back there is a relic of St. John Paul II. His blood, taken for medical tests before his death, is now supplying relics for various places. The church I attended loaned out its Pope John Paul II relic to other churches because of St. John Paul's popularity and the scarcity of his relics.
In fact, every Catholic church's altar has a relic of a saint in it. Usually it is a first-class relic which means it is a piece of the actual remains.
Third-class relics are easier to obtain than first-class relics. A third-class relic is an object (like a piece of cloth) that has touched a first-class relic. Still, a third-class relic is a wonderful item to have for personal devotion, especially if someone has a devotion to a particular saint.
The reason relics of the saints are relevant in today's world is because we need real, authentic lives to imitate. Most of us can relate to a particular saint that might be a lot like us. Or perhaps a saint may have helped us during a challenging time in our lives. The relic of our favorite saint is a tangible way to feel connected to them.
Relics remind us that in this life we are never alone. We are blessed by God with real friends who have already won the prize of eternal life. The relics of the saints also comfort us during our own battles to become new saints in the Kingdom of God.
I was fortunate to see the relics of St. Jude and St. Theresa the Little Flower when they toured the US. It was very exciting to see so many other Catholics come together in a celebratory atmosphere during these national tours.
As for the value of relics, they are vessels of spiritual graces God wants us to have.
Sources:
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12734a.htm
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/pittsburgh-church-greatest-collection-relics-outside-vatican-180963680/
https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-02/theres-good-reason-why-benedicts-not-organ-donor
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/altars-dedications-and-relics-4906
