Most of you may have noticed that over the past year or so, we have started displaying relics in St. Mary Magdalen Church more frequently. This is neither a new practice for Catholics in general, nor for St. Mary Magdalen in particular, but I think the frequency of displaying the relics has become noticeable.

St. Mary Magdalen has been blessed to have been gifted several relics over the years, most of which we keep in the reliquary beneath the St. Joseph statue. On occasion, these relics have been displayed for church tours or solemn events, such as Good Friday’s Veneration of the Cross. Are you aware that we have a sliver of the wood of the True Cross upon which Jesus was crucified? Do you realize that we at St. Mary Magdalen venerate this relic each year on Good Friday and have begun displaying it on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, or that only a few churches in the world (much less in the United States) have a relic of the True Cross? But that is not our only relic. We also have relics of our first Pope, St. Peter; our patroness, St. Mary Magdalene; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John Bosco, St. John Neumann, St. Cecilia, and Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos. 

Maybe you have wondered, or maybe someone has questioned you about why we display relics and venerate them. First and foremost, it is because we believe in the Resurrection and in our understanding that we are created in the image and likeness of God, with a body and a soul. Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection changed not only how we viewed death, but how we treated the body after death. Even in the Old Testament, the people of God knew to bury their dead in the hope of a better resurrection promised by God. Only pagans and those who did not believe in the resurrection of the body had no regard for burials. They would either burn the bodies or leave them for the wild animals. Because of Jesus’ death and burial in a tomb, early Christians buried their dead, usually close to home. They no longer saw the dead body as unclean or feared touching it. Care of the dead became known as one of the seven acts of corporal works of mercy, just like feeding the hungry and tending to the sick.

But, some bodies we know received more attention than others, especially the Apostles and the early church martyrs. These were known as Holy Bones. Whenever a martyr died, Christians would go to extreme risks to rescue the bodies or even just the bones to bury them and keep track of them. As early as 156 A.D., we have a writing that describes St. Polycarp’s death. It says, “We took up his bones, which are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them in a suitable place, where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we are able, in gladness and joy, and to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.” 

(The Martyrdom of Polycarp,18.)

From at least the 2nd century, with the death of Polycarp, the bones of saints and martyrs have traveled from church to church, allowing churches and cities without saints to venerate and ask God for miracles. These bodies were treated as holy objects, pieces of matter, through which God, if he so chose, could work miracles. St. Jerome, writing in the 4th century, in opposition to those who argued that bones, even those of martyrs, were “unclean,” stated, “But we honor the relics of the martyrs so that we may honor them whose martyrs they are… Are the relics of Peter and Paul unclean? Is the body of Moses unclean, the body which, according to Hebrews, was buried by the Lord himself?... If it is not permissible to honor the relics of the martyrs, why do we read: “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints?” If their bones pollute what they touch, how did the dead Elias raise a dead man; how did that body, which according to Vigiliantius is impure, give life [to a corpse]?”

The Catholic tradition of treating the body of a Christian with respect is linked to our belief in the resurrection and our understanding that our bodies and souls will be unified and glorified at the second coming of Christ. God’s use of the relics of saints to dispense Grace and perform miracles, as he sees fit, has been observed since the early church fathers, and we at St. Mary Magdalen have been honored and blessed to continue that tradition. There is so much more that can be, and has been, said throughout the centuries about this subject. Dr. Scott Hahn has written an excellent book called "Hope to Die" if you would like to know more. I hope this brief explanation brings you closer to God, in his loving care for us, and gives you a desire to learn more about not only the relics displayed here, but about all the miracles and graces God has dispensed for our benefit.