An article explaining what relics are and the use of relics within the Roman Catholic Church
What are relics? Are we, as Catholics, expected to worship a bunch of bones of some saint? The simple answer is no. We only worship our Lord. But before we get into that, let’s start off with what relics are.
Relics can range from the personal possessions of saints, apostles or other holy people to their actual ashes or bones.
A common misconception about relics held by non-Catholics and Catholics is that those items possess mystical powers. This idea actually goes against church teaching. Relics are not magical. Relics by themselves cannot cure the sick, perform miracles or anything else. Instead it is through the intercession of the Saint associated with that relic that miracles are performed by God. In an article dealing with relics, Catholic.com states that “…any effects (obtained as a result of venerating relics) are divine, not natural in their origin.” As such, we venerate relics, we do not worship them. By venerating we are honoring those saints and holy people whose lives and devotion to God we admire and seek to duplicate.
Although relics can be found the world over, Americans got a chance to venerate the relics of six Knights of Columbus when a reliquary containing those six made its tour of over a dozen cities in the U.S. over the past year.
Martyred for their faith in the 1920s the priests, Pedro de Jesus Maldonado Lucero, Miguel de la Mora de la Mora, Jose Maria Robles Hurtado, Luis Batis Sainz, Rodrigo Aguilar Aleman, and Mateo Correa Magallanes, were canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Canonization itself is a lengthy and scientific process. Scientific here means gathering of evidence in a scientific manner to ensure that miracles performed do not have some basic scientific reason for happening. But more on that another time.
“This pilgrimage seeks to promote knowledge of and devotion to the Knights of Columbus priest martyrs of Mexico and all those who sacrificed their lives for their faith during the Mexican persecution,” said Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson.
Viewing and/or venerating relics is a great opportunity for the devout and the curious to witness one of the grand traditions of the Church.
Although you will see Catholics praying before the relic, they are not praying to the relic. They may be honoring the person whom the relic represents. But even in that case, they are praying for that particular Saint to intercede, or make a request, on their behalf to God. Praying in this manner does not guarantee success; after all, God will exercise God’s will. But reaching out to a Saint, someone that was human, just like us, can be a comfort when challenged by the very nature of being human.
