|
why do we venerate the relics of the saints?
Relics deserve our veneration because the bodies of the saints were temples of the Holy Spirit, and instruments whereby He worked; and they will rise glorious from the grave… We honor the relics of the saints by preserving them with reverence, and visiting the spot where they are deposited. (Click to view full story in CBCP news)
|
WE OBTAIN MANY BLESSINGS FROM GOD BY VENERATING the RELICS
Relics are a source whence spiritual benefits come to us from God. St. John Damascene says: “As water gushed from the rock in the wilderness at God’s command, so by His will blessings flow from the relics of the saints.” Where the remains of saints or martyrs are interred the snares of the devil lose their potency and obstinate maladies are healed. St. Augustine relates numerous cures effected by the relics of St. Stephen in Africa, besides the raising from the dead of two children. In the Old Testament we read of a dead man restored to life on coming in contact with the bones of the prophet Eliseus (4 Kings xiii.21) Even in their lifetime the bodies of the saints were instrumental in working miracles. By the shadow of St. Peter (Acts v. 15), and by the handkerchiefs or girdles worn by St. Paul (Acts xix. 12), the sick were delivered from their infirmities. But it must be remembered it is not by the relics themselves that these miracles are wrought , but by God. Hence, it is not a superstitious act on the part of pious persons when they visit places of pilgrimage, where God is pleased to work wonders by means of relics or images of the saints. (The Catechism Explained by Spirago and Clarke)
|