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History of Relic Veneration. The veneration, or honoring, of sacred relics, is as old as the church itself. When St. John the Baptist was martyred, his remains were recovered by his followers and taken to be buried in a safe place where they could be honored. In the second century a bishop named Polycarp was burned at the stake for his religious views. His flock gathered his burned bones and place them in a tomb where they gathered to celebrate Mass and the life of their martyred pastor. During the years of persecution church members buried the remains of the martyrs in the catacombs of ancient Rome and gathered there secretly to celebrate Mass on the tombs of the saints. From that practice grew the custom in the Catholic Church of placing a small relic in the altar of each church. Until recent years this was continued. Older churches still have an altar stone built into the altar in which relics have been embedded. During the Middle Ages religious often traveled the countryside with relics of the saints and told stories about their heroic lives. Major relics were usually held in churches in larger cities throughout Europe and it was often difficult, or impossible, for the common man to travel and view these precious items. These traveling priests and monks brought the relics to the people.

There Are Three Classes of Relics

First Class Relics are instruments of Our Lord's Passion or body parts of those declared blessed or saints by the Church.

Second Class Relics are items used by the saint during life (or after death). Included would be articles of clothing, a book, a rosary or even a fragment of the saint's coffin.

Third Class Relics are items, usually pieces of cloth, that have been touched to a first or second class relic.

(Some add a forth class of relics which are objects, usually cloths, that has been exposed in the shrine of a saint. An example would be a piece of cloth exposed in the Shrine of St. Michael the Archangel.)

Any bishop or leader of a religious order may produce relics. The small piece of relic material is usually enclosed in a locket-like container called a theca which has frequently been highly decorated by nuns. The relic is tied into the theca with red thread and then sealed with red wax. While the wax is still soft it is imprinted with the seal of office of the person authorizng the preparation of the relic.

Starting in the Middle Ages many abuses grew out of an illicit trade in relics, many of which were counterfeits. The Church declared that any relic that would be used for public veneration must be accompanied by a document of authenticity. The document describes the relic and is signed by the authorizing official or his representative. Below are a couple examples of these "authentics."

Relic Descriptions
The relic document as well as the relic itself will have a Latin phrase describing the relic. Below are some of the more common phrases:

First Class Relics ex ossibus - from the bone ex carne - from the flesh ex corpore - from the body ex praecordis - from the stomach or intestine ex cineribus - from the ashes ex tela imbuta sanguine - from the cloth imbued with the blood ex tela imbuta cineribus - from the cloth imbued with the ashes. Ex Lignum Crucis D.N.J.C. - from the Wood of the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Second Class Relics ex pallio - from the cloak ex velo -from the veil ex habitu - from the habit ex indumentis - from the cloth ex arca sepulerali - from the coffin ex veste - from the vestment

Third Class Relics are frequently described as ex indumentis (from the cloth) and this is misleading as the cloth is not a second class relic but, rather, a piece of cloth touched to a first or second class relic.

Canon law absolutely forbids the sale of first and second class relics. This, however, has not stopped dealers from from profittng from this business. They simply state that they are not selling relics, only the thecas. The relic is to be considered as a gift. Yeah, right! A person is going to pay hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for a simple theca that can be purchased for a couple dollars. The office preparing the relic is, however, allowed to charge a small fee, usually less than $20.00, to cover the costs of materialsand labor.

Unfortunately, the Church turns a blind eye to this shady business and is frequently indirectly complicit in it. When bishops or other clergy members die,their estates often contain sacred relics. More often than not, these relics are turned over to brokers to sell so that the estate can be settled. A similar fate oftens happens to relics held in churches, monasteries and convents that are closed for one reason or another.

Purchasing relics, however, is not forbidden by Canon Law if the purchase is meant to prevent the sacred relics from falling into the wrong hands and possible desecration.