Dead Saints on display

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jeanannemarie said:
There is a relic of a Saint in the altar of every Catholic Church.
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Yes and in my parish before evening mass, there often is an opportunity for the people to venerate the relic of one Saint or another. That involves people going up to the altar rails and kneeling and waiting for the priest to present the relic, which is in a case of some sort (reliquary?) for them to kiss.

I usually pass.
 
TrueLight said:
Yes and in mynparish before evening mass, there often is an opportunity for the people to venerate the relic of one Saint or another. That involves people going up to the altar rails and kneeling and waiting for the priest to present the relic, which is in a case of some sort (reliquary?) for them to kiss.

I usually pass.
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I would pass too:o
 
Luvtosew said:
I would pass too:o
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I did do it once. I basically kissed a plastic case. And I was careful not to peer into the case , but it was probably something small, like a sliver of bone.

I do not in any way want to put down those who honor relics. It is a pious practice that I just don’t feel called to do for now.
 
TrueLight said:
I did do it once. I basically kissed a plastic case. And I was careful not to peer into the case , but it was probably something small, like a sliver of bone.

I do not in any way want to put down those who honor relics. It is a pious practice that I just don’t feel called to do for now.
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Recently, my archdiocese had an exhibit of relics tour the area. Treasures of the Church

There were over 150 relics. We were asked not to lift 12 of the reliquaries from the tables, the rest we could handle. I didn’t see anyone kissing the reliquaries with good reason, cold and flu season abounds!:eek: I did see a lot of people use the reliquaries to touch their bodies in the sign of the cross, touch their rosaries, medals, prayer cards, photos, etc, or touch a certain portion of their bodies with them—i.e.-the lady in front of me touched her hip.

I understand how you feel about relics. 😉 Go ahead, peer, I did, most of them look like a lab sample smear on a glass slide.
 
The_Scott said:
Canon 1237 §2. “The ancient tradition of placing relics of martyrs or other saints under a fixed altar is to be preserved, according to the norms given in the liturgical books.”

vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4K.HTM

There is a relic of a saint or martyr within every Catholic altar.
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According to this (very unauthoritative) source, there are slightly over 270 thousand Catholic parishes in the world. According to this (somewhat more reliable) source, “45.5 million of the estimated 70 million Christians who have died for Christ did so in the last century.” Of course they were not all Catholic, but surely the 20th century gave us more than enough martyrs to lay one to rest beneath every altar, without the need to break them apart.
 
Luvtosew said:
this has nothing to do with the saints themselves. I feel sorry for them being on display.
Personally I have faith in Jesus and what he did at the cross and that he rose from the dead , I don’t need to have faith in the Saints.

Thank you.🙂
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Yes, that is true…but…you do ask other people to pray for you? Your family, or your friends?

The Saints in heaven are VERY close to Our Lord. They are still VERY much our friends as well. We ask (supplication) for their prayers for us because they are very close to God and He hears their prayers as well as ours.

This is what we mean by the Communion of Saints: The faithful on earth ask for help from the Saints in heaven, the faithful on earth also say prayers for those in purgatory…when the faithful in purgatory go to heaven they, in return, pray for us.

THAT being said…ALL Catholics know we do not have “faith” in the saints. The Triune God is the only ONE we have FAITH in. We also have faith that our prayers are heard by God, and God hears our prayer from the faithful in heaven, the faithful on earth and the faithful in purgatory.

A saint’s relics are venerated on earth because they remind us of several things. The first being that the saint that is being venerated was a holy person that actually lived. We have a consolation that this person suffered the same wants, needs and trials that we ourselves face everyday. This person sees God face to face…it’s an amazing thing and because there is a physical reminder of them (the relics that are left) we are given a physical reminder that we too will be brought to God’s glory.

Most people being human in nature seem to require physical reminders of God’s promises. This is just another one.

Don’t feel sorry for saints whose relics are on display because #1 They are in heaven and could care less about what happens to their bodies. they would be the first to tell you the body is only a shell and then, after all, we will all be resurrected completely and whole at the end. #2 They themselves often venerated saints’ relics. Remember, it is a reminder of others’ faithfulness) #3 The Catholic Church wants this from the faithful. Otherwise it would not be this way.

jen
 
This site is by far the best site for the explanation behind the veneration of relics:

fisheaters.com/relics.html

It’s very catholic in how it explains it and I couldn’t do it better.

Read it. It’s not a hard read.
 
DihydrogenOxide said:
This site is by far the best site for the explanation behind the veneration of relics:

fisheaters.com/relics.html

It’s very catholic in how it explains it and I couldn’t do it better.

Read it. It’s not a hard read.
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Fisheaters always has great articles. The verses on there don’t explain dismembering bodies, however. Moses carried Joseph’s bones whole out of the country of their enslavement.
 
Luvtosew said:
Oh really so your able to touch them too, I see.:eek:
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It proves God’s existence. When a body is not corrupt, it shows the impossible done. No scientist can explain it, and it leads many to the Faith.
 
TrueLight said:
Fisheaters always has great articles. The verses on there don’t explain dismembering bodies, however. Moses carried Joseph’s bones whole out of the country of their enslavement.
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Here is another article about relics, with this being an excerpt: (NewAdvent Catholic Encyclopedia)
We may note also that, while this and other passages suggest that no great repugnance was felt in the East to the division and dismemberment of the bodies of the saints, in the West, on the other hand, particularly at Rome, the greatest respect was shown to the holy dead. The mere unwrapping or touching of the body of a martyr was considered to be a terribly perilous enterprise, which could only be set about by the holiest of ecclesiastics, and that after prayer and fasting.
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