An Experience of Holy Relics
This evening, our parish in Wylie, TX hosted a presentation of over 150 holy relics by Father Carlos Martins, who is based in Detroit, and whose ministry is sponsored by the Holy See. You can learn more about the details here.
My bride convinced me to attend despite my previously expressed ack of enthusiasm for the Church’s teaching on the subject of relics and their veneration. For some reason, although I am aware of the theology of relics, the fact that they have been venerated since the earliest days of the Church, and that numerous miracles connected to relics have been approved over the centuries, using relics as a personal devotional aid had never seemed like something I wanted to do. In any case, having heard Fr. Martins’ presentation, after which we had the chance to view and venerate what is a truly impressive collection of first- and second-class relics, my attitude has completely changed. In the course of the hour or so following the conclusion of Father’s remarks, we had the privilege of viewing, venerating and briefly touching, among many others, the reliquaries of fragments of the True Cross, the Crown of Thorns, the lance used to pierce Our Lord’s side after his death, and a veil worn by Our Lady at her home in Ephesus. My bride, who has suffered most of her life with a serious medical condition which, thankfully, is mostly under control thanks to various medications, randomly approached one of the dozen or so reliquary tables, and the very first one she examined turned out to hold a first-class relic of the patron saint of sufferers of her exact condition. Divine Providence is an amazing thing. For my part, I was able to touch and pray over relics of my personal patron, St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of lawyers, St. Thomas More (I am a retired lawyer), and, forgive the metaphor please, an All-Star lineup of other great saints such as Catherine of Siena, St. Benedict, St. Paul the Apostle, our parish patron St. Anthony of Padua, and many others. I encourage readers to visit the website linked above, which includes the schedule of upcoming presentations of this traveling exhibit, and to do whatever you can to attend one. I cannot hope to do justice to Fr. Martins’ informative and inspiring introductory remarks (which lasted over 90 minutes, but didn’t seem nearly that long), nor can I adequately describe the spiritual impact of the evening. All I can say is, if you are anything like my bride and me, you will be deeply affected by the experience. To paraphrase Mother Angelica, if this exhibit shows up anywhere near where you are, don’t miss the opportunity!
Laudetur Jesus Christus!
In Ministerium Maiorum 