Sacred Relics, Holy Friends

Maria Morera Johnson recounts how she came to appreciate the Church's tradition of venerating holy relics.

Relics are an often misunderstood or even unknown gift of the Church. They are powerful tangible reminders of our faith, and especially connect us to the saints who, being just as human as us, achieved holiness on earth.

Growing up in a Catholic home and attending Catholic schools gave me the opportunity to discover a variety of devotions and sacramentals that added a robust layer to living the faith. Those that resonated with me stuck around. The Rosary, Advent candles, holy cards and saint medals—all of these things were easy for me to understand and adopt, and so have been lifelong companions for me as aids or reminders to seek holiness throughout my life.

Relics, on the other hand, had a certain creepy factor that was off-putting to me. I didn’t get it as a child, and as an adult, I suppose any lingering thoughts of strangeness was enough to keep me disinterested. I accepted the little holy cards with third class relics embedded in the lamination, but I didn’t think too much of it.

Enter a little maturity and a lot of education. In the process of becoming a catechist as an adult, I gained an academic understanding of relics. I understood them as holy objects to be venerated. Because first-class relics tend to be bone fragments of saints (or other parts of their bodies) then it is essential that their bodies (which will be reunited with their immortal souls one day) should be treated with the utmost respect, and veneration becomes this process of honoring the saint by the faithful.

The veneration of relics comes from a biblical tradition, too, which was ultimately the information that helped me see the history of honoring relics. The Israelites carried Joseph’s bones with them when they left Egypt (Ex. 13:19). A dead person was brought back to life when Elisha’s bones touched the lifeless body (2 Kings 13:21). This tradition of honoring or venerating the saints extends also to their clothes and other objects they may have used. In Ephesus, Christians used material from cloths touched by St. Paul to help in healing the sick (Acts 19:12). Suddenly, I saw relics in a new light: an opportunity to unite myself physically with the saints.

I didn’t automatically become drawn to relics, but over time I started to become aware of their presence, particularly in churches. I’d see a reliquary, perhaps with a relic of the patron saint of the church, and I’d make my way over and venerate the saint briefly. I discovered churches that had special display cases with many relics, and one abbey I visited in Alabama has an entire wall of relics.

I found myself seeking the saints through their relics. I already have more holy cards and medals than I know what to do with, so somehow “visiting” with the saints in a quiet moment of veneration before the relics seemed simpler. I went from not getting it to not getting enough!

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Relics connect us to the saints who, being just as human as us, achieved holiness on earth. #catholicmom

There are so many opportunities to encounter the saints through their relics. I’ve attended several traveling relic presentations at churches, and recently had the opportunity to experience the largest display in the Treasures of the Church. This beautiful ministry travels to parishes with more than 150 relics of saints and includes relics of the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, and the True Cross. The teaching on relics and their veneration, as well as the graces we can obtain from them, was a powerful presentation. However, when I stepped into the room where all the relics were spread out across two dozen tables, I felt like I was at a family reunion. I planned to methodically visit each table and make my way around the room solemnly reading each little history posted at the relic.

Instead, it was like I was running into old friends at a party! I would be walking past a table and a saint’s name would catch my eye and I would immediately go over to that relic, and then I’d spin around and see another one. It made for a chaotic approach to seeing all the relics, but it was truly enjoyable. I felt that I was among friends, and while I was excited to see those saints with whom I already had a relationship (almost all the saints I had written about in My Badass Book of Saints and Super Girls and Halos), I felt called by a few new-to-me saints. It seems to me that saints are always reaching out to me and initiating a friendship.

Our faith is filled with many beautiful opportunities to grow in holiness and relationship with the Lord. I have found that at various times in my life I was drawn to particular devotions or different ways to experience prayer.

What expressions of the faith or devotions speak to your heart?

Copyright 2022 Maria Morera Johnson
Images (from top): Nheyob, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Eugenio Hansen, OFS, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Jl FilpoC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons