THE FEAST OF HOLY RELICS
November 5
by Dom Prosper Gueranger, OSB
Death prepares us for heaven
Had we angels' eyes, we should
see the earth as a vast field sown with seed for the resurrection. The death of
Abel opened the first furrow, and, ever since, the sowing has gone on
unceasingly the wide world over. This land of labour and of suffering, what
treasures it already holds laid up in its bosom! And what a harvest for heaven,
when the Sun of justice, suddenly darting forth His rays, shall cause to spring
up as suddenly from the soil the elect ears ripe for glory! No wonder that the
Church herself blesses and superintends the laying of the precious grain in the
earth.
The Glory of the Saints
But the Church is not content
to be always sowing. Sometimes, as though impatient of delay, she raises from
the ground the chosen seed she had sown therein. Her infallible discernment
preserves her from error; and, disengaging from the soil the immortal germ, she
forestalls the glory of the future. She encloses the treasure in gold or
precious stuffs, carries it in triumph, invites the multitudes to come and
reverence it; or she raises new temples to the name of the blessed ones, and
assigns him the highest honour of reposing under the altar, whereon she offers
to God the tremendous Sacrifice.
'Let your charity understand,'
explains St. Augustine (Discorso
CCCXVIII su santo Stefano, V): 'it is not to Stephen we raise an altar
in this place; but of Stephen's relics we make an altar to God. God loves these
altars; and if you ask the reason: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is
the death of His saints" (Psalm 115: 15). In obedience to God the
invisible soul has quitted its visible dwelling. But God preserves this
dwelling; He is glorified by the honour we pay to this lifeless flesh; and,
clothing it with the might of His divinity, He gives it the power of working
miracles' (Discorso CCLXXV su san
Vincenzo, martire, II). Hence the origin of pilgrimages to the shrines
of the saints.
'Christian people,' says St.
Gregory of Nyssa, 'wherefore are you assembled here? A tomb has no attractions;
nay, the sight of its contents inspires horror. Yet, see what eagerness to
approach this sepulchre! So great an object of desire is it, that a little
piece of dust from around it is esteemed a gift of great price. As to beholding
the remains it conceals, that is a rare favour and a enviable one, as those can
testify who enjoy the privilege: they embrace the holy body as though it were
yet alive, they press their lips and their eyes upon it, shedding tears of love
and devotion. What emperor ever received such honor? (Su san Teodoro Martire).
'Emperors!' rejoins St. John
Chrysostom; 'as the porters at their gates, such have they become with regard
to poor fishermen. The son of the great Constantine deemed he could not pay a
higher honour to his father, than to procure him a place of sepulture in the
porch of the fisherman of Galilee.' (Comm.
della Seconda ai Cor. Om. XXVI). And again, concluding his commentary on
St. Paul's admirable Epistle to the Romans, the golden-mouthed Doctor exclaims:
'And now, who will grant me to prostrate myself at Paul's sepulchre, to
contemplate the ashes of that body which, suffering for us, filled up what was
wanting in the sufferings of Christ? The dust of that mouth which spoke boldly
before kings, and, showing what Paul was, revealed the Lord of Paul? The dust
of that heart, truly the heart of the world, more lofty than the heavens, more
vast than the universe, as much the heart of Christ as of Paul, and wherein
might be read the book of grace graven by the Holy Spirit? Oh! that I might see
the remains of the hands which wrote those Epistles; of those eyes which were
struck with blindness and recovered their sight for our salvation; of the feet
which traversed the whole earth! Yes: I would fain contemplate the tomb where
repose these instruments of justice and of light, these members of Christ, this
temple of the Holy Ghost. O venerable body, which, together with that of Peter,
protects Rome more securely than all ramparts!' (Omelia XXXII)
Church’s teaching on relics
The Council of Trent on
relics: "Veneration ought to be shown by the faithful to the bodies of the
martyrs and other saints, who live with Jesus Christ. For they were His living
members and the temples of the Holy Ghost; He will raise them up again to
eternal life and glory; and through them God grants many blessings to mankind."
"Considering the unequal distribution of relics throughout the
world, Rome has not fixed one universal feast for the essentially local cultus
of these precious remains. She leaves the particular churches free to consult
their own convenience (Concilio di Nicea II, c. VII), reserving it to herself to bless and
sanction the choice of each." (Concilio di Trento, Sess. XXV)
