Relics

RELICS. - In Greek λαίφανα. Etymologically it is what remains, and it is understood as the human body or a part of it; in a broader sense, objects that were in contact with a person are also called r., because they have almost absorbed his outstanding virtues.

I. CULT OF RELICS

From its earliest origins the Church accepted and permitted the veneration of the relics of martyrs as a sign of the Christians' piety toward the brethren who had shed their blood for Christ. If the relic comprises the entire corpse, the current designation is corpus; if a part of it, ex ossibus. Relics obtained by contact were called by the ancients brandea (v.), memoria (v.), nomina, pignora, sanctuaria. The Church of Smyrna considered the remains of its martyred bishop Polycarp more precious than gold and resolved to celebrate his anniversary at his tomb (Martyrium Polycarpi, 18, 1, 2). In the second half of the 2nd century the presbyter Gaius, refuting the Montanists, pointed out at the Vatican and on the Ostian Way the "trophies," that is, the tombs of Peter (v.) and of Paul (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., II, 25), a sign therefore that they were frequented, that is, venerated. From antiquity the Church placed the altar above the tombs of the martyrs. In the Apocalypse are indicated "subtus altare animas interfectorum propter verbum Dei et propter testimonium quod habebant", that is, the martyrs (Rev. 6:9), and St. Jerome exclaims: "Male facit ergo Romanus episcopus, qui super mortuorum hominum Petri et Pauli, secundum nos ossa veneranda, secundum te vile pulvisculum, offert Domino sacrificia et tumulus eorum Christi arbitratur altaria?" (Advers. Vigil., 8: PL 23, 361-62); and Prudentius describes the mensa adiposita at the tomb of St. Hippolytus, noting however that it is dicata Deo (Peristephanon, XI, vv. 169-74). But the idea is more clearly developed by St. Augustine; speaking of Bishop Theogenes, who was on the chair of Hippo in 255-56, he exclaims: "But when we offer the Sacrifice at the tombs of the martyrs, is it not to God that we offer it? Without doubt the holy martyrs have a place of honor. Note it: in the readings made before the altar of Christ, an honorable mention is made of them. Yet they are not adored in the place of Christ. Have you ever heard it said at the memorial of St. Theogenes by me or by one of my brothers and colleagues or by any priest: I offer you the Sacrifice, O St. Theogenes? or: I offer you the Sacrifice, O Peter; or: I offer you the Sacrifice, O Paul? You have never heard such expressions, because this is not done and is not permitted" (Sermo, 273). And in the treatise against Faustus he repeats the same concept: "Not to the martyrs but to God we raise altars. What bishop is there who in the presence of holy bodies has dared to say: We offer to you, Peter or Paul or Cyprian? What we offer is offered to God, who crowns the martyrs" (Contra Faustum, 20, 21: PL 42, 384). The basilica erected at Milan by St. Ambrose near the Porta Romana, called that of the Apostles, bore the following dedication: "Conditit Ambrosius templum dominoque sacravit nomine apostolico munere reliquiis" (G. B. De Rossi, Inscript. christ., II, t. Rome 1888, pp. 161, 3; 177, 1); Paulinus notes that the basilica of St. Felix at Nola was dedicated "in nomine domini Christi Dei" (Ep., 32, 10, ed. CSEL, XXIX p. 286). St. John Chrysostom affirms that the tombs of the servants of the Crucified are more brilliant than palaces, not only for the size and splendor of the construction, which indeed they surpass, but, what is more important, for the ardor of the devotees who frequent them (In ep. II ad Cor. hom., 26, 5: PG 61, 582). All these buildings erected over the tombs of the martyrs may be called basilicae or ecclesiae ad corpus, that is, erected right on the place of the tomb of the witness of Christ and therefore situated beyond the inhabited enclosure; the faithful indeed loved to be buried near them, and the basilicas were therefore cemeterial.

But sometimes the place of the martyr's burial is not the original one, as occurs in certain cases. Duchesne, Profumo and many others accept the tradition of a translation in 258 of the relics of the apostles Peter and Paul to the Catacumbas. The Liber Pont. attests that the bodies of Pope Pontian and of the priest-doctor Hippolytus, who died in exile in Sardinia, were brought back to Rome; indeed the Depositio martyrum indicates the respective liturgical stations in Callistus for the former, where his epitaph was found, on the Tiburtina for the latter; also the bodies of the popes Cornelius and Lucius, who died in exile, were translated to Callistus, where G. B. De Rossi found their sepulchral inscriptions, that of the former in 1849 and 1852 and that of the latter in 1854; later the body of Pope St. Eusebius, who died in exile, was translated to Rome from Sicily into Callistus, as Pope Damasus documents (A. Ferrua, Epigrammata Damasiana, Vatican City 1942, p. 129 ff., n. 18); in 555 likewise from Sicily there came to Rome into Priscilla the remains of Pope Vigilius, who died at Syracuse during the return journey from Constantinople (Lib. Pont., I, p. 299). Moreover Pope Damasus testifies to the translation carried out by a pious Lucilla of the remains of the martyrs Marcellinus and Peter into the cemetery inter duas lauros; they had been thrown into two pits that the executioner had had dug by the Saints themselves.

In Rome Pope Damasus sought out and found many bodies of holy martyrs, adorned their tombs, and promoted their veneration (Lib. Pont., I, p. 212). He himself recalls the finding of the remains of St. Eutychius (A. Ferrua, Epigrammata Damas., cit., p. 145 ff. n. 21). In the 5th century the relics of the bishop St. Quirinus and of the Sts. Four Crowned Martyrs were translated from Pannonia to Rome to remove them from the profanations of the invading barbarians. In Rome, in order not to touch the body of the martyr in its tomb, Constantine built the basilica of St. Lawrence at the Verano above ground; sometimes architectural norms were sacrificed, as is observed in the basilica of St. Alexander (v.) on the Via Nomentana, in which the tomb and the altar of the beginning of the 5th century are not aligned with the building, just as occurred at St. Pancras, where the martyr's tomb, until the time of Pope Honorius I (625-38), "ex obliquo aulae iacebat" (G. B. De Rossi, Inscr. Christ. cit., II, 1, p. 24, n. 28). At Ravenna too the body of the martyr bishop St. Apollinaris was brought into the basilica in his honor at the time of Bishop Maurus (642-71). St. Ambrose found at Milan the bodies of the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius and transferred them to the basilica of Fausta and from there to his own, the Ambrosian (Ep., 22, 2: PL. 16, 1063).

The cult of relics brought about the spread of the cult of the saints; the place where the relics were placed was considered as the tomb, which led to the multiplication of sanctuaries; moreover, the belief that objects placed in contact with the tomb of the saints became as it were so many holy bodies extraordinarily facilitated the possibility of having relics, and these were sought especially for the dedications of churches. H. Grisar emphasizes that "the dedication of churches is nothing but a burial of the saints" (Roma alla fine del mondo antico, II, 3rd ed., Rome 1930, p. 202). In an Ordo Romanus of the 9th century preserved in the codex known as that of St. Amand (Cod. Paris, 974) and in another edited by F. Bianchini (Vitae pontificum, III, Rome 1728, p. 48) the title of the dedication ceremony is "Ordo ad reliquias levandas sive condendas". This rite, as L. Duchesne observed, is exclusively funerary; the bishop deposits the relics in a stone vessel called a sepulchrum, after anointing its corners with chrism, and closes it with a marble slab on which he repeats the anointings, just as it was customary to scatter perfumes on tombs. The Gelasian Sacramentary has preserved a formula of convocation with the title "denuntiatio cum reliquiae ponendae sunt martyrum". In Africa, however, things were exaggerated; altars were set up almost everywhere, in the fields, along the roads "tamquam memoriae martyrum". Therefore in 401 a council held at Carthage decreed that such "memorials" could be erected only where the body of a martyr or a relic of his was to be found, or where an absolutely certain tradition (fidelissima origine) established his house, a property of his, or the place of his martyrdom. But altars erected as a result of dreams and "per inanes quasi revelationes" were explicitly condemned. Among the crowds drawn to the divine Master there were those who sought to touch his garments to obtain healing (Mk 5:28; 6:56); the first faithful did the same with the garments of the Apostles (Acts 5:15; 19:11). Still in the apostolic age we learn that the faithful of Ephesus brought to the sick the handkerchiefs and belts of St. Paul, and the sick obtained healing (Acts 19:12). Eusebius relates that in Jerusalem the chair of the apostle St. James was displayed (Hist. eccl., VII, 19). One of the jailers of St. Cyprian wanted the tunic of the martyr soaked with sweat (Vita Cypriani, in CSEL, III, 3, p. cviii); the faithful of Carthage threw cloths on the place where St. Cyprian was to be beheaded, to draw them back soaked with his blood (Acta proconsularia, in CSEL, ibid., p. cxiii). St. Basil admonished that "by touching the relics of the martyr one participates in the holiness and the Grace contained in them" (Hom. in Ps., 115, 4: PG 30, 112); indeed the relics sanctify the place and those who frequent it (Hom. in Martyr. Iulittam, 2: PG 31, 241). St. Augustine recalls a miracle worked through the application of the oil of a sanctuary of martyrs (De civitate Dei, 22, 8, 18). The dedication of the Roman basilica of Milan carried out by St. Ambrose before 386 was done by means of pignora of the apostles Peter and Paul, brought from Rome (St. Ambrose, Ep., 22); in the same way it must have happened for the basilica dedicated to the same Apostles by Rufinus near Chalcedon. The brandea, or relics by contact, are also worthy of note, as appears from the list of the names of saints in the dedicatory inscription of 550 of the basilica of St. Stephen erected in Ravenna by Bishop Maximian (Codex Pont. Eccl. Ravennatis, ed. A. Testi-Rasponi, p. 191). In the region of Constantine an inscription recalls the "depositio crucis sanctorum martyrum qui sunt passi sub praeside Floro in civitate Melevitana", that is, at Mila in Numidia in the year 304 (CIL, VIII, 1935); P. Monceaux, Enquête sur l'épigraphie chrétienne d'Afrique, Paris 1907, p. 103 ff.; no. 293). The custom of considering as relics objects placed in contact with the tombs of martyrs is already found in the 4th century in Roman Africa and in Gaul, precisely for basilicas erected in honor of Sts. Peter and Paul. In Africa, cloths and flowers placed near the tombs of the martyrs, earth, wax, fringes of altar cloths, fragments of wood taken from the doors of basilicas (St. Augustine, De civitate Dei, 22, 8). St. Gregory the Great wrote to the empress Constantina, who had asked him for the head of St. Paul or at least some other relic of his body, that "Romanis consuetudo non est, quando sanctorum reliquias dant. ut quicquam tangere praesumant de corpore. Sed tantummodo in buxide brandeum mittitur atque ad sacratissima corpora sanctorum ponitur. Quod levatum, in ecclesia, quae est dedicanda, debita cum veneratione reconditur, et tantae per hoc ibidem virtutes ac si illic specialiter eorum corpora deferantur" (Registr., IV, 30, in MGH, Epist., I, pp. 264-65). The same Pontiff sent to Paul, deacon of Rieti, who had asked for relics of the martyrs Hermes, Hyacinth and Maximus, sanctuaria, that is, cloths that had touched their relics (Registr., IX, 49); other sanctuaria he sent to Constantius, bishop of Milan, who had requested relics of St. Paul, St. Pancras and St. John (Registr., IX, 83). A great impulse to the veneration of relics came from the invention of the Holy Cross, particles of which, most highly venerated, spread throughout the Christian world, from the identifications of the places sanctified by the Redeemer in Palestine, from which pilgrims carried away as precious relics earth, stones, oils that burned there; and also from the invention of the bodies of the martyrs, especially in the East and from the East.

An African inscription of the year 359 attests that the great native chief Alavius Nubel, formerly commander of the equites armigeri inniores, had brought from Palestine for the church of Rusguniae, near Cape Matifou in Algeria, built by him in fulfillment of a vow, "de ligno crucis de terra promisionis ubi natus est Christus, apostoli Petri et Pauli" (CIL, VIII, 9255; P. Monceaux, Enquête sur l'éprig. cit., no. 317). The division of relics was such that Theodoret declares that in the basilicas the whole body of a martyr is not preserved, but only αμυεροτάτων λειψάνων, that is, relics of little importance (Ep., 130); elsewhere he adds that the relics, although ex-though divided and scattered in several places, Grace remains there entirely; Gregory of Nazianzus affirmed that a few drops of blood had the same efficacy as the whole body (Contra Iulianum, 1, 69; PG 35, 589). Paulinus of Nola also wrote that «magna est in exiguo sanctorum pulvere virtus» (Carm., 27, v. 447). Bishop Gaudentius of Brescia (d. ca. 410) received a little of the blood found by St. Ambrose in the tomb of the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius and declared: «tenemus sanguinem qui testis est passionis» (Sermo, XVII; PL 20, 963). The same, after having obtained relics of St. John the Baptist, of the apostles Andrew and Thomas, of the evangelist St. Luke, of the martyrs Gervasius, Protasius, Nazarius, Sisinnius, Martirius and Alexander and of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, erected a basilica which he called «concilium sanctorum» (PL 20, 959-71). In Rome pieces of cloth that had touched the tombs of the martyrs were distributed; ampullae containing oils from the lamps burning (v. AMPOLLA; MONZA) near the said tombs, keys of the gates placed to close the tomb of St. Peter, filings of the chains or of the gridiron of St. Lawrence. St. Gregory of Tours relates that whoever managed to penetrate onto the tomb of St. Peter would introduce a piece of cloth into it which he then kept as a relic (In gloria martyrum, 28).

II. TRANSLATION OF RELICS

The practice of translating and distributing the relics of martyrs is of Greek origin; "secundum morem Graecorum" wrote Pope Hormisdas in 519 to the emperor Justinian (Hormisdae epist., 77, in A. Thiel, Epistulae Pontif. Rom. [Braunsberg 1868], pp. 873-75). Constantine himself, however, in the church dedicated to the Apostles at Constantinople, contented himself with cenotaphs (Eusebius, Vita Constantini, IV, 60, 13). The first mention of a translation of relics of which we have record is that of the relics of St. Babylas at Daphne near Antioch in the time of Gallus Caesar (351-54; Sozomen, Hist. eccl., V, 19; Gregory of Nazianzus, Contra Iulianum, 1, 25; PG 35, 552; P. Franchi de' Cavalieri, in Note agiografiche, fasc. VII, pp. 147-48). There followed in 356 at Constantinople the translation of the relics of St. Timothy; in 357 that of the apostle St. Andrew and of the evangelist Luke (A. Heisenberg, Grabeskirche und Apostelkirche, II, Leipzig 1908, p. 112); then those of the martyr St. Phocas (St. John Chrysostom; PG 50, 799); under Theodosius (379-95) those of the bishop Paul, who died in exile at Cucusus (BHG, 1172), of the martyrs Terentius and Africanus (Theodorus Lector, Hist. eccl., II, 62; PG 86, 213), of the head of St. John the Baptist (Sozomen, Hist. eccl., VII, 21). Under Arcadius the body of the prophet Samuel was brought to Constantinople (St. Jerome, Contra Vigilantium, 5; PL 23, 352). In 438, in the time of Theodosius II, the body of St. John Chrysostom (Socrates, Hist. eccl., VII, 45; Theodoret, Hist. eccl., V, 36); under Leo I the body of St. Athanasius (Theodorus Lector, Hist. eccl., II, 64; PG 86, 216); and still in the 5th century the relics of St. Thyrsus (Sozomen, Hist. eccl., IX, 2); in 550 under Justinian the so-called sanctuaria were brought into the basilica of Constantinople; the emperor Justinian wished the patriarch Menas to carry the reliquaries through the city on an imperial cart of gold enameled with precious stones (G. B. De Rossi, La capsella africana, Rome 1888, p. 32). The Jeronymian Martyrology records under Sept. 3 the Ingressio reliquiorum of Andrew, Luke and John, who together with John the Baptist were also in the basilica of Concordia (P. Paschini, Note sull'origine della chiesa di Concordia, in Memorie storiche forogiuliesi, 7 [1911], pp. 9-24). Relics of the martyr Euphemia of Chalcedon were translated to Milan, to Nola, to Aquileia, to Rouen. From the East came the relics of the apostles Andrew, Thomas and Luke, obtained by the bishops Gaudentius of Brescia, Victricius of Rouen and Paulinus of Nola; the relics of Sts. Andrew and Luke were brought to Fondi (St. Pao-

Paulinus of Nola, Ep., 32: CSEL, XXIX, pp. 292-93). In Milan the relics of Luke, Andrew and John. Paulinus of Nola obtained for the basilica of S. Felice relics of St. John the Baptist (Carm., 27, v. 403). Relics of the same John were venerated at Emesa by the anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza at the end of the 6th century (Itinera Hierosolymitana, ed. Geyer, in CSEL, 39, p. 120). It is not known when the body of St. Ignatius of Antioch was brought back from Rome to his see, where St. Jerome saw it in 392 outside the gate of Daphne (De viris illustr., 16). At Constantinople the translations were carried out with great solemnity and were attended by a multitude of the faithful, together with the Emperor himself (St. John Chrysostom: PG 50, 799; Socrates, Hist. eccl., V, 9; Sozomen, Hist. eccl., VII, 10). For the translation of the relics of the prophet Samuel, St. Jerome wrote that the crowd lined the way without interruption from Palestine as far as Chalcedon (Contra Vigilantium, 5: PL 23, 338). St. Gregory of Nyssa attests that he possessed part of the ashes of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and deposited the bodies of his dear ones beside them (Homilia in XL martyres: PG 46, 784). The relics of St. Babylas were brought back to their original tomb at Antioch in 362 and again, a few years later, to the Basilica erected by the bishop Meletius beyond the Orontes. Antioch received in 459 the relics of St. Simeon Stylites (H. Delehaye, Les saints stylites, Brussels 1923, pp. 33-34) and in 482 those of the bishop St. Eustathius (BGH, 644). At Caesarea in the time of St. Basil the relics of the martyr St. Sabas were brought (St. Basil, Ep., 164-65: PG 32, 633-40); at Alexandria in 396 the relics of St. John the Baptist; at Menuthis, near Canopus, those of Sts. Cyrus and John.

The ivory plaque, reproduced at col. 749, of the 6th century, preserved in the Treasury of the cathedral of Trier, represents the solemn translation of relics carried in a casket on a richly decorated carriage, preceded by a procession in which the Emperor himself takes part amid the crowd of people who have climbed even onto the roof of the Basilica, at whose door the Empress waits (F. X. Kraus, Die Geschichte der christlichen Kunst, I, Leipzig 1872, p. 501). L. Duchesne proposed to recognize in it the transport of the relics of St. Irene to Galata, which took place in 551, and the two figures on the carriage would be the two patriarchs Menas of Constantinople and Apollinaris of Alexandria (Les origines du culte chrétien, 5th ed., Paris 1920, p. 437, n. 3). The bodies of the forty Martyrs of Sebaste were thrown into the flames and then their ashes into water, but many took possession of them, as appears from the homily of St. Basil (PG 31, 521); Gaudentius of Brescia in fact received from two nephews of St. Basil himself some of their relics (Serm., 17: PL 20, 965). The relics of St. Stephen were discovered in 415 at Caphargamala near Jerusalem by the priest John and deposited in the church of Lyon (PL 41, 809-15). As early as 417 they reached the island of Minorca in the Balearics (BHL, 7859-60: PL 41, 833 ff.); and soon afterwards they are found spread throughout Africa, at Uzalum, at Calama, at Hippo, at Aquae Thibilitanae, at Castellum Sinitense near Hippo (St. Augustine, De civitate Dei, XXII, 8: 20-21). They are found very soon also at Ancona (id., Sermones, 322-23: PL 38, 1444-45). The head of St. John the Baptist was deposited at Constantinople by the emperor Theodosius in the church of the Hebdomon built by him (Sozomen, Hist. eccl., VII, 21).

In Rome the first translation of entire bodies of martyrs recorded by the Liber Pontificalis (I, p. 342) is that of the bodies of the martyrs Primus and Felicianus, which pope Theodore (642-49) placed in the basilica of S. Stefano in Caelio monte; a few years later pope Leo II (682-83) extracted from the Portuense the bodies of the martyrs Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrice and placed them in the church of S. Paolo near S. Bibiana (ibid., I, p. 349). When the invasions of the Lombards and then of the Saracens began, the popes extended the translations of the relics of the martyrs from their tombs into the interior of the city. Paul I (757-67) transported them not only into the Basilica and monastery erected in his ancestral home in the Campus Martius (today S. Silvestro in capite), but also for "titulos ac diaconias seu monasteria et reliquae ecclesias" (Lib. Pont., I, p. 464); Paschal I (817-24) into S. Prassede and S. Cecilia (ibid., II, pp. 54, 56); Gregory IV (827-47) into S. Pietro (ibid., II, p. 74); Sergius II into S. Silvestro, and Martino ai Monti and the Lateran (ibid., II, p. 91); Leo IV (847-55) to the SS. Quattro Coronati (ibid., II, p. 115). But the popes at the same time transferred into the Lateran Patriarchium, and precisely into the chapel dedicated to the martyr deacon Lawrence, the heads of the most distinguished Roman martyrs, that is, of the apostles Peter and Paul, of the martyrs Lawrence, Agnes, Sebastian, Pancras, Praxedes, etc., which were preserved within the great cypress chest offered by Leo III (795-816: v. RELIQUIATO). However, from the catalogues of relics, still in not a few ancient churches of Rome, dated from 1072 to 1196, one cannot obtain an exact idea of the translations of relics in them, given that the same names of martyrs appear in several places. The lists are reproduced in A. Silvagni, Monumenta epigraphica christiana saec. XIII antiquiora, I, Rome (Vatican City 1943, pls. 20-26). The relic of the head of St. John the Baptist was transferred under Innocent II (1150-1143) into the title of S. Silvestro, whence the surname in capite for the church itself. Still later the relic of the Holy Lance came to S. Pietro, in the time of Innocent VIII (1484-92), and that of the head of St. Andrew under Pius II (1458-64).

III. ABUSES AND TRADE OF RELICS

Already in the Theodosian Code there appear sanctions against the theft and trade of relics: « nemo martyrem distrahat, nemo mercetur » (book IX, title 17). St. Augustine mentions certain monks who « membra martyrum, si tamen martyrum, venditant » (De opere monachorum, 28; in CSEL, 41, p. 585). The Lateran Council of 1215 imposed grave penalties against traders in relics. The bishop of Toulouse, Exuperius (ca. 410), was authorized by imperial rescript for the translation of St. Saturninus (BHL, 7406). A first theft of relics in Rome was carried out by the sect of the Novatians; it is documented in the Depositio martyrum for the body of the martyr Silanus: « hunc Silanum martyrem Novati furati sunt », a theft that H. Delehaye considered to have occurred shortly after the martyrdom (Les origines du culte des martyres, cit., p. 65). Gregory of Tours relates that an impostor, claiming to come from Spain, went about carrying a cross to which were hung small phials containing, according to him, oils collected from the tombs of the martyrs Vincent the deacon and Felix. But the most notoriously infamous forger of relics was in Rome, in the first half of the 9th century, the deacon Deusdona, belonging to the titular church of St. Peter in Chains; he sent several times to Germany, and himself brought there, bodies taken from the cemetery « inter duas lauros » which he made pass over into those of illustrious Roman martyrs (G. Guiraud, Le commerce des reliques au commencement del Xᵉ siècle, in Questions d'hist. et d'archéol., Paris 1906, pp. 225-61). After the discovery of cemetery galleries on the Via Salaria in 1578, and after the explorations in the ancient underground cemeteries begun with P. Ugonio and A. Bosio, these places were ransacked for the extraction of "holy bodies," recognized as such by the presence of the blood ampulla (v.) above or in the tombs themselves, or by the symbols of the palm or the monogram. This extraction was then delegated to the pontifical sacristan and to the custodian of the r. in the vicariate; Clement IX instituted a congregation "indulgentiis sacrisque reliquis praeposita" on 6 July 1669, after having issued a decree the previous year to regulate the extraction and repress abuses. A translation truly authentic in its circumstances and documentation is that carried out by Fr. G. Marchi (v.) on 21 March 1845 of the body of St. Hyacinth from the cemetery of Bassilla. The Congregation of Rites, having heard the opinion of the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology, has prohibited since 1881 the extraction of "holy bodies" from the catacombs.

Enrico Josi

IV. SURVEY OF RELICS

The authentication of a relic always presupposes a certain examination of its genuineness. The true and proper recognition, however, is that carried out in juridical form by the competent ecclesiastical authority, which is the Ordinary or, in the case of the relics of a servant of God or of a blessed whose cause of beatification or canonization is pending before the Sacred Congregation of Rites, the Holy See.

Such recognition may be made on the occasion of the renewal of the tomb, of the transfer or extraction of the relics, or when the body of a saint, whose trace had been lost, comes once more to light. During the apostolic process on the virtues of a servant of God, the recognition of his relics is also prescribed (can. 2096), which falls to the Apostolic Tribunal and is carried out by virtue of remissorial letters of the Sacred Congregation of Rites and on the basis of a specific instruction of the promoter general of the faith. In this recognition, besides the members of the Tribunal, two physicians take part as experts, along with the personnel needed for the opening of the tomb (mason, blacksmith, tinsmith). It is at this moment that the relics are extracted, which are then customarily distributed on the occasion of the beatification.

Ferdinando Antonelli

V. LEGITIMACY OF THE CULT OF RELICS

The cult by which relics are honored is called relative cult, insofar as the object is honored for the relation it had with the person of the Saint. A similar cult is found also in the civil and profane sphere, directed to mementos and remains of illustrious men and heroes, and it is as ancient and widespread as the human race; and therefore it is legitimate in its principle and forms part of the laws of humanity.

Nor does any difficulty arise from the fact that these objects are something material and therefore in themselves and for themselves something inferior to us, living beings, endowed, besides matter, with spirit. The object of the cult is not, as it may be in fetishism or idolatry, the res in itself and for itself; but if relics are the term of the cult or even, if one wishes, the direct object, they are such only by virtue of the contact they had with the person and therefore they recall to us the excellence of the person himself, to whom in the last analysis our cult is directed.

VI. CURRENT DISCIPLINE CONCERNING THE CULT OF RELICS

The current discipline is gathered in the CIC and in the decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites.

In regulating the relative cult of dulia due to the relics of the saints, the Church is concerned, as is natural, with public worship, and above all and to this end the jurisprudence of the Sacred Congregations of Sacred Indulgences and Relics and of Rites, consecrated and gathered in can. 1281 § 2, distinguishes notable and non-notable relics.

Notable relics of the saints or of the blessed are the body, the head, the hand, the knee, or that part of the body in which the martyr suffered, provided it is entire and not small (can. 1281 § 2). If these relics are notable, all the more so are those of the Passion and Redemption of Our Lord Jesus Christ and also those of the Most Holy Virgin.

This premised, here are the norms given for the discipline of the cult of relics. 1) Any non-notable relic, ancient or recent, may be venerated with private cult, not only in the case of canonized or beatified saints, but also of persons who died in the fame of sanctity, even if the relic is not officially recognized and approved. It is enough that the one practicing this cult be morally certain both of the sanctity of the person to whom the relic is connected and of the authenticity of the relic. Therefore non-notable relics may, with due honor, be kept even in private homes and carried by the faithful (can. 1282 § 2). Not so the notable relics of saints and of the blessed, without the permission of the local Ordinary (can. 1282 § 1).

2) For admission to the public cult of relics, the prior intervention of ecclesiastical authority is always necessary, pronouncing on the authenticity of the relic to be exposed for public veneration. Accordingly: a) with public cult in churches and public oratories, even exempt ones, only those relics may be venerated which are established as genuine either by the authentic document of a cardinal, of the local Ordinary (excluding, however, the vicar general without special mandate), or of some ecclesiastic who by apostolic indult has the faculty of authenticating (for example, postulators general; can. 1283 §§ 1-2). b) The approval of the local Ordinary must be given according to the mind of the Council of Trent, that is, the Ordinary will take his decisions after having consulted theologians and prudent men, and always inspired by criteria of truth and piety. In doubtful questions, before settling the controversy, the Ordinary will await the judgment of the metropolitan and of the comprovincial bishops in the provincial Council. Where this does not take place, recourse must be had to the Holy See (Council of Trent, sess. XXV; AAS, 18 [1926], p. 262). c) When relics already approved for cult are transferred to another diocese, they must be verified by the local Ordinary, not for a new approval but so that he may take account of the approval already given; and after this he will give license for exposition to cult. d) Local Ordinaries are prudently to remove from cult a relic which they know to be certainly not authentic (can. 1284). e) Relics whose authentic document has been lost are not to be exposed to the public except after the judgment of the local Ordinary, excluding the vicar general without special mandate (can. 1285 § 1). f) Nevertheless ancient relics are to be maintained in cult, as in the past, unless from certain arguments it is established that they are false or counterfeit (can. 1285 § 2). g) Whoever knowingly makes or sells, distributes, or exposes to the public veneration of the faithful false relics incurs ipso facto the excommunication reserved to the Ordinary (can. 2326). The reason for this severity of the Church is to be sought in the intent to close the way to abuses which ignorance, self-interest, and superstitious faith could favor in this very delicate matter. But if the Church gives proof of such prudence and wisdom on the one hand in the choice of relics, she cannot on the other fail to condemn exaggerated and unseemly criticisms against the authenticity of relics, especially if made in books or periodicals destined to foster Christian piety (can. 1286). By this she in no way intends to forbid the discussions of scholars, animated by a spirit of sound, constructive, and prudent criticism.

3) The Church then goes on to determine also the acts of cult permitted according to circumstances toward the relics of the saints: a) the principal acts of cult are: to expose the relics for veneration, to show them to the people, to give them to be kissed, to carry them in procession, to bless the people with them (can. 1287). But with regard to exposition it is to be observed that, in order to be licit, the relics must be enclosed in sealed cases or boxes, to avoid the danger of theft or fraud. They cannot be placed above the tabernacle, where the Most Holy Sacrament is kept (Sacred Congregation of Rites, 31 March 1826 ad 6, Decreta authentica, n. 2613), nor above the altar where the Most Holy is exposed (id., 2 Sept. 1741 ad 1, ibid., n. 2365) even only with the pyx (id., 19 May 1838, ibid., n. 2779), and not even before the closed little door of the tabernacle (id., 6 Sept. 1845, ibid., n. 2906). To proceed then to the exposition and procession of the relics of the blessed, outside the places where Mass and the office are celebrated for them by concession of the Holy See, a particular apostolic indult is required. b) Other norms regulate the custody and translation of relics. Thus the bodies of saints cannot be kept in urns above the altar, but under the ground or under the table of the altar, and they cannot be clothed in new vestments without the permission of the Sacred Congregation of Rites (Benedict XIV, De servorum Dei beatificatione et beatorum canonizatione, IV, part 2, chap. 26).

The translation of the bodies or notable relics of saints from one place to another within the same church may be done with the permission of the bishop: for translations from one church to another the license of the Holy See is required (can. 1281 § 1). The same is to be said for the alienations of notable relics. The relics of the blessed cannot be carried in procession, nor can they be exposed, except in the place where the Holy See has granted that Mass and the Office be celebrated (can. 1287 § 3). c) Any trafficking or any fraud occurring in matters of relics is contrary to the cult; the transfer of relics, even authentic ones, for the purpose of simoniacal sale (can. 1289), of theft, or of robbery is forbidden. To these acts is attached the excommunication reserved to the Ordinary (can. 1289). So that such acts may not occur, the vigilance of Ordinaries, of vicars forane, and of parish priests is urged, who are also exhorted to prevent relics from passing into the hands of non-Catholics on the occasion of alienations or hereditary successions (can. 1289). Thus for the relic of the Cross, which is found in the bishop's ring, at the moment of his death (can. 1288). This is one of the ways in which relics can be profaned, but not the only one. Other ways of profanation can be negligence in guarding them, which can reach the point of their loss. To avoid these things belongs to the rector of the church and to the others to whom their custody has been entrusted (can. 1289 § 2).

With special care the Church watches, through the vicariate of Rome, over the relics that are extracted from the Roman catacombs (cf. motu proprio 11 Dec. 1925 with the annexed Regolamento: AAS, 17 [1925], p. 619). On the use of relics in the consecration of the altar v. ALTARE.

Pietro Palazzini

VII. CULT OF RELICS IN NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS

Even in non-Christian religions, whatever belonged to a real person (the whole body or a part of it, clothing, utensils, weapons) is an object of veneration and worship. Sometimes the attribution of such objects may also refer to a mythical being, a god or hero, considered as real by the imagination of the people and immortalized by myth. The veneration and use of relics is based on the principle that the contiguous acts upon the contiguous; and therefore contact with or use of things that belonged to or were connected with a person particularly rich in supernatural power will produce the same effects of strength, intelligence, and preservation from evil influences of which the person to whom they belonged was capable.

Primitive peoples believe that wearing on one's person, on the arm, around the neck, on weapons, hair, teeth, or bones of a powerful figure, or ingesting his heart, liver, kidney, or eye, helps one to assimilate his qualities and to secure his protection in cases of sorcery and his aid in the various undertakings of hunting, war, and preservation in cases of illness. Even places made sacred by the memory of mythical ancestors who left imprints of hands, feet, etc. there are venerated to the point of becoming destinations of pilgrimage, as happens among the Arunta (central Australia) for the rocks and stones where the mythical ancestors left traces of their passage.

Egypt. — The veneration of the ancient Egyptians for the 14 pieces of the body of Osiris scattered throughout Egypt by his killer Seth is well known. Sanctuaries were erected on the site of each discovery; particularly famous was that of Abydos, where the head was kept. The Serapeum of Alexandria contained the mummy of the bull Apis, considered as the relic of the otherworldly Osiris (= Serapis).

Greece. — In Greece the cult of heroes is essentially the cult of their tomb (ἡρῶν), which is the most effective protection for the city that possesses it. The exaltation of the tomb-relic is evident in the closing of Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, where Theseus, king of Athens, declares in the name of Oedipus that if the latter's tomb is respected by human footsteps and voices, perpetual safety will come to the land.

Besides the heron, famous relics in Greece were the head of Orpheus at Lesbos and at Smyrna, his lyre in various places, the bones of Theseus in Athens, of Orestes at Sparta, and so on; the spear of Achilles at Phaselis, the scepter of Agamemnon at Chaeronea; and then the sandals of Helen, the eggs of Leda, the clay with which Prometheus fashioned Deucalion and Pyrrha, etc.

Rome. - In Rome notable relics were the Palladium of Aeneas, the tomb of Romulus in the Forum and his house on the Germalus, the tomb of Acca Larentia, the pila Horatia with the armor of the three Curiatii, the tigillum sororium, the sandals and distaff of Tanaquil, etc.

Universal religions that have had a historical founder, such as Buddhism and Islam, have greatly accentuated the cult of relics relating to the founder.

Buddhism. - The places sanctified by the relics of the Buddha are those where his cult is particularly practiced. After his death at Kusinara, his ashes, divided into eight parts, were distributed to the peoples who attended the funeral, who had them preserved in specially built sanctuaries (v. STUPA). Three have been rediscovered: at Piprawa in Nepal, at Bimaren near Kabul, and at Peshawar; in Ceylon one of his teeth is venerated; in Burma and northern India there are localities where relics of the Buddha are venerated.

Islam. - Even among Muslims, although the religion is opposed to the veneration of relics, these are venerated in those countries that were disposed to it by their own ethnic tradition. Thus a hair of Muhammad's beard is venerated at Bijapur in the Deccan, a hair at Rohri in Sind, the imprints of his feet at Ahmadabad, Gaur, and Delhi; in North Africa the relics of famous Muslim holy men are venerated in special sanctuaries (marabouts).

Nicola Turchi