Relics: Why are they important to Catholics?

Last Sunday, we celebrated the Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul, Apostles. We were blessed to have relics of both St. Peter and St. Paul in our midst. But why even venerate relics?

“In order to develop a proper understanding of the place of relics in the Christian tradition, it might be helpful to consider them within the context of family. It’s not uncommon for many people to honor the memory of their loved ones by keeping pictures of family around the house. Nor is it uncommon to keep cherished belongings of our deceased loved ones, like grandma’s jewelry or grandpa’s Bible. These belongings likely are treasured and treated with honor and reverence. They’re kept in safe and honorable places. They’re well packaged when we move. They’re often handed on from one generation to the next. These secular “relics” assist us in recalling the person and his or her life, and the memories that remind us of who they were and what they were about. It is not rare to honor remnants of relatives’ bodies, or those of notable people. Often parents will keep first teeth that are lost or save clippings of their child’s first haircut. We build monuments to great men and women and set up grave markers to memorialize them. And so, it seems almost second nature for us to honor members of our family and those dear to us as well as the objects that belonged to them. And so why wouldn’t a similar reverence translate into our family of the Church? The saints are those men and women from our family who are deserving of our honor for their life of spiritual greatness. Moreover, they have put on Christ in baptism and become members of his body.”

Source: Simply Catholic