At all times relics have been kept in honor in the Church. As early as in the second century, the Christians in Antioch and Smyrna, as they testified themselves, honored the relics of their holy bishops, Ignatius and Polycarp, who had suffered death for Jesus Christ.
52. Whence do we know for certain that the veneration of relics is pleasing to God?
From this: that God has frequently been pleased to work great miracles through their means, as we read in the Holy Scripture and in the history of the Church.
'When the man [whom they were burying] had touched the bones of Eliseus, he came to life, and stood upon his feet' (4 Kings xiii. 21). 'And God wrought by the hand of Paul more than common miracles; so that even there were brought from his body to the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the wicked spirits went out of them' (Acts xix. 11, 12). St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, and others, give us an account of the miracles which were wrought at the graves of St, Stephen, St. Felix of Nola, St. Gervasius, and of many other Saints.
The authenticity of a relic which is exposed to the veneration of the faithful is not a matter of faith, but rests simply on human, but nevertheless credible, testimonies.
Application. Honor the Blessed Saints in Heaven with great devotion, especially the Most Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and your Patron Saint. Diligently read their lives, and faithfully imitate their examples. Keep in your dwellings no immodest pictures, but have, by all means, holy images, and, above all, an image of your Crucified Redeemer. Do not help to circulate unauthorized prayers, or aid unauthorized persons to promote what are called chain prayers, as abuses may easily arise from these practices. (Feast of All Saints.)
THE SECOND COMMANDMENT OF GOD.
'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.'
I. What does the Second Commandment forbid?
The Second Commandment forbids all profanation of the holy name of God.
