Outlines relic devotion

By KATE BLAIN- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Rev. Peter Sullivan of the Albany diocesan Tribunal noted that we honor the relics of saints "the same way we honor a picture of our mother and father on the mantel: It's a concrete link with the person that brings the reality of the person close in a way that isn't quite done with a photograph."

At one time, he said, every church had a small space in its altar that contained relics of several saints. The Church no longer preserves this tradition except in a case where the entire body of the saint is present; for instance, an altar may be built over the grave of a saint.

But the canon lawyer noted that the Church is "not in the relic business any more," that Catholics had gone overboard in the past in creating saints' relics and "the Church has ceased carving up these bodies."

Father Sullivan also cautioned that well-intentioned Catholics can "start getting magical" about their devotion to saints, "saying that `if I touch this relic of St. Anne to my knee, my gout will go away.' It can become superstitious."

He reminded those interested in praying with the relics of St. Therese during their visit to the Albany Diocese that "when more attention is being paid to bones than to the Eucharist, you're going too far." (KB)

(10-14-99) [[In-content Ad]]