FRIDAY POTPOURRI - A GRAVE MATTER

I like snooping around churches. At my first assignment I was going through the basements seeing what I might find down there hoping to find some valuable or at least interesting thing long forgotten. The most startling find was a couple of marble slabs on top of which were stacked paint cans. The paint cans were stacked on them to protect the cement floor lest they leak.

The stones were about a foot square, had crosses carved into them and a round space that had something plastered into them. These were not random pieces of marble but the altar stones from the old church. The spot in which something had been plastered were the relics of some martyr! And these were being used to protect the cement floor from paint!

The altar at that church was not considered a canonically permanent altar and so did not have relics in it. I was hoping to be able to use these relics in that altar but was told that until the altar was replaced with a permanent one it could not contain relics and so the relic stones must be returned to the diocese for proper storage.

It is an ancient custom that Masses in usual circumstances be said over the grave of martyrs. Even St. Peter Basilica’s altar is built directly over the tomb of St. Peter. This is a tradition going back to the very early Church and eventually became law.

There are not martyrs tomb’s on every street corner – particularly in the United States so the practice of placing relics in the altar became the norm. The altar then is a kind of tomb and on that martyr’s tomb we pray the Mass. This is a wonderful reminder of the one Body of Christ, how we are all united – heaven earth – when we celebrate the Mass.

If you go to a Pre-Vatican II altar and find the place where the priest stands you might be able to see under the altar cloth the place where a martyr’s relics are. Post Vatican II there is the practice of placing the relics in the floor (like a grave) and constructing the altar over it. There is supposed to be on record somewhere who the martyr is in a particular altar but I have found unfortunately that many parishes have lost this information.

SYMBOLIC SATURDAY - TIME TO BONE UP ON RELICS

Before Vatican II it was necessary to celebrate mass on an altar with a relic of a martyr. It is not absolutely necessary any longer but still highly encouraged. This stems back to the early Church when the Christians celebrated mass in the catacombs on the tombs of the faithful. When the Church emerged from the catacombs the tradition continued by way of having a relic of the faithful as part of altar. This ties us together not only with the ancient Church, but with those who are members of the Body of Christ but no longer with us corporally.

In order to be used in any official way there are certain things that need to be in place for a relic to be considered authentic. Relics are usually kept in some sort of container such a reliquary as seen here. To the left the rear of the reliquary has been opened (I do not recommend doing this) and you can see a wax seal with a bishop’s coat of arms on it which testify to the authenticity of the relic. Through the wax are two red stings. All this works together to signify that the relics have not been disturbed. Once the seal or strings are broken the relics can no longer be authenticated and cannot be used in an official manner such as being placed in an altar. This happened locally when someone discovered some small metal boxes inside an altar they were moving and out of curiosity removed the seals and strings to see what was inside. At that point the relics were no longer able to be used in the altar though they are still on display in a respectful fashion.

There is often also a letter of authenticity that accompanies a relic. This is the letter in Latin that accompanies the above relics.

In no way can relics be bought or sold. There are those who try to get around this by not selling the relics but the reliquary in which they come. “Buy a reliquary and get a free relic.” This is a practice of the lowest degree.

It should be held in mind that first class relics of saints are part of their bodies and are deserving of proper care and respect. They should be kept and used in a way fitting of the dignity of the human body. Having one in your home in a box that gets shoved around on a closet shelf is not fitting. In fact, the one above was discovered in a mailbox at a local Church, being given to the Church so that it might be properly cared for.

SYMBOLIC SATURDAY - GIVE ME A HAND (OR A FOOT OR WHAT HAVE YOU)

That was quite enough of heraldry I would say though I wanted to go through at least the twelve Apostle’s coats of arms this site did it so well I do not feel a need to repeat it here.

For two weeks however we will touch on the Church’s use of relics. Pictured here in this little reliquary are the twelve apostles and a piece of the true cross. Eleven of the twelve are first-class relics and Saint Peter is a second-class relic.

As you have already picked up there are several classes of relics. There are first class relics that are the bodies or parts of the body of a saint, a second class relic which is something that the saint directly used such as clothing, and a third class relic is something that was touched to a first class relic.

Now at first this might sound a bit odd especially to a non-Catholic. “What are these guys doing messing around with dead people’s things?” Actually in society we do such things all the time.

For example, one time I went to an Engelbert Humperdinck concert (don’t ask) and at one point he wiped his brow and threw his sweat soaked handkerchief into the audience where a bevy of mature ladies practically tore each other a part for a chance to claim a scrap of the material as her own. They were excited to have this token of something that he had used.

There was that brouhaha recently over Steven Levy’s discovery of Einstein’s Brain. He went to the office of the doctor that was last reported to have possession of it and there it was, kept in Mason jars. “It was almost a religious experience,” he reports. “In those jars were the brains the changed the world.”

Victorians saved locks of hair and even weaved them into little braids and kept them in lockets feeling nearer to the one they loved whether they be dead or alive. Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and thousands of people go there yearly just to look at what one of their favorite rock stars once used through a plate of glass, paying big bucks for the privilege of doing so.

I have my grandpa’s brass knuckles from his union days. That in a way is a second-class relic. I can feel his own big rough hands in the finger holes and imagine him using them to gain worker’s rights. Quite inspiring.

The Church has relics for a couple of reasons. One is for the remembrance and inspiration. Can you imagine if these really are a part of those saints? Wow! Like Einstein’s brain they remind us that they were real people that lived and died and changed the world. This was not just some story. Additionally they are reminders of the intercession of the saints. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the earliest reference and interest in relics were that of St. Polycarp in A.D. 156. “The common belief that graces could be obtained through relics is mentioned by the Church Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries. By the tenth century, relics were placed in shrines, and in reliquaries of churches, which became centers of pilgrimage.”

More on relics next week.