My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Lord, God, and Savior JESUS CHRIST,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
The Veneration of Holy Relics in the Orthodox Christian Holy Tradition
In giving veneration to the Saints of God who have departed with their souls into heaven, the Holy Church at the same time honors the holy relics of the Saints of God which remain on earth.
In the Old Testament there was no veneration of the bodies of the righteous, for the righteous themselves were still awaiting their deliverance. Then also the flesh (of the dead) in itself was considered unclean.
In the New Testament, after the Incarnation of the Savior, there was AN ELEVATION NOT ONLY FOR THE CONCEPTS OF MAN IN CHRIST, BUT ALSO OF THE CONCEPT OF THE BODY AS THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE Holy Spirit. The Lord Himself, the Logos/Word of God, was incarnate and took upon Himself a human body, Christians ARE CALLED TO THIS THAT NOT ONLY THEIR SOULS BUT ALSO THEIR BODIES, SANCTIFIED BY Holy Baptism, SANCTIFIED by the reception of the Most Pure Body and Blood of Christ, might become TRUE TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you?" (1 Corinthians 6:19). And therefore THE BODIES OF CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE LIVED IN A RIGHTEOUS LIFE OR HAVE BECOME HOLY THROUGH RECEIVING A MARTYR’S DEATH, ARE WORTHY OF SPECIAL VENERATION AND HONOR.
The Holy Orthodox Church in all times, following Holy Tradition, has shown HONOR TO THE HOLY RELICS. The honor has been expressed: (a) in the reverent collection and preservation OF THE REMAINS OF THE SAINTS OF GOD, AS IS KNOWN FROM ACCOUNTS EVEN OF THE SECOND CENTURY, and then from the testimonies of latter times; b) in the solemn uncovering and translation of holy relics; c) in the building over them of churches and altars; d) in the establishment of feasts in memory of their uncoverning or translation; e) in the pilgrimages to holy tombs, and in adorning them; f) in the constant rule of the Church to place relics of holy Martyrs at the dedication (consecration) of altars, or to place holy relics in the holy ANTIMENSION UPON WHICH IS PERFORMED THE DIVINE LITURGY.
This very natural honor given to the holy relics and other remains of the Saints of God has a firm foundation in the fact that God Himself has deigned to honor and glorify them by innumerable signs and miracles–something for which there is testimony throughout the whole course of the Church’s history.
Even in the Old Testament, when Saints were not venerated with a special GLORIFICATION AFTER DEATH, there were signs from the bodies of the Righteous. Thus, the body of a certain dead man, after being touched to the bones of the Prophet Elisha in his tomb, IMMEDIATELY CAME TO LIFE, AND THE DEAD MAN AROSE (IV Kings 13:21). The body of the holy Prophet Elijah was raised up alive into heaven, and the mantle of Elijah, which was left by him to Elisha, PARTED BY ITS TOUCH THE WATERS OF THE RIVER JORDAN FOR THE CROSSING OF THE RIVER BY ELISHA.
Going over to the New Testament, we read the Book of the Acts of the Apostles that handkerchiefs and belts ("aprons") from the body of the Apostle Paul WERE PLACED UPON THE SICK, AND THE DISEASES OF THE SICK WERE CURED, AND EVIL SPIRITS DEPARTED FROM THEM (Acts 19:12). The Holy Fathers and Teaches of the Church have testified before their hearers and readers OF THE MIRACLES OCCURRING FROM THE REMAINS OF THE SAINTS, AND OFTEN THEY HAVE CALLED THEIR CONTEMPORARIES TO BE WITNESSES OF THE TRUTH OF THEIR WORDS. For example, Saint Ambrose says in his homily AT THE UNCOVERING OF THE HOLY RELICS OF SAINTS GERVASIUS AND PROTASIUS: "You have known and even seen yourselves many who have been DELIVERED FROM DEMONS, AND EVEN MORE OF THOSE WHO HAD NO SOONER TOUCHED THE GARMENTS OF THE SAINTS WITH THEIR HANDS THAN IMMEDIATELY THEY WERE HEALED OF THEIR INFIRMITIES. The MIRACLES of antiquity have been renewed from the time when, through the coming of the Lord Jesus, there has been poured out upon the earth a most abundant grace! You see many WHO HAVE BEEN HEALED AS IF BY THE SHADOW OF THE SAINTS. This was witnessed by believers who "brought the sick out into the streets and had them on beds and couches, that least THE SHADOWOF PETER PASSING BY MIGHT FALL ON SOME OF THEM…BRINGING SICK PEOPLE AND THOSE WHO WERE TORMENTED BY UNCLEAN SPIRITS, AND THEY WERE ALL HEALED" (Acts 3:14-16). How many garments, laid upon the sacred remains and from the mere touching BECOMES A SOURCE OF HEALING, DO BELIEVERS ENTREAT FROM EACH OTHER! All strive at least a little touch (them) and the one who touches BECOMES WELL." Similar testimonies may be read in Saint Gregory the Theologian, Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Saint John Chrysostom, Blessed Augustine and others.
Already from the beginning of the Second Century there is information ON THE HONOR GIVEN BY CHRISTIANS TO THE REMAINS OF SAINTS. Thus, after describing the Martyr’s death of Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer, Bishop of Antioch, a person who witnessed this death states that "OF WHAT REMAINED FROM HIS BODY (HE WAS TORN TO PIECES BY BEASTS IN THE CIRCUS), only the firmest parts were taken away to Antioch and placed in a linen AS AN INVALUABLE TREASURE OF THE GRACE WHICH DWELT IN THE MARTYR, A TREASURE LEFT TO THE HOLY CHURCH." The residents of the cities, beginning Rome, RECEIVED THESE REMAINS IN SUCCESSION AT THAT TIME, AND CARRIED THEM ON THEIR SHOULDERS, as Saint John Chrysostom later testified, "to the present city (Antioch), PRAISING THE CROWENED VICTOR AND GLORIFYING THE STRUGGLER." Likewise, after the Martyr’s death of Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, and the burning of his body by the Proconsul, the Christians "GATHERED THE BONES OF SAINT POLYCARPOS AS A TREASURE MORE PRECIOUS THAN PRECIOUS STONES AND PURER THAN GOLD, AND PLACED THEM…FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE DASY OF HIS MARTYRIC BIRTH, AND FOR THE INSTUCTION AND CONFIRMATION OF FUTURE CHRISTIANS."
The REMAINS of the Saints (Greek, ta LEIPSANA), meaning what is "left") ARE REVERED WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE INCORRUPT, OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE HOLY LIFE ON THE MARTYRIC DEATH OF THE SAINT, AND ALL THE MORE WHEN THERE ARE EVIDENT AND CONFIRMED SIGNS OF HEALING BY PRAYER TO THE SAINTS FOR THEIR INTERCESSION BEFORE GOD. The Church Synods many times (for example, the Moscow Council of 1667) have forbidden the recognition of the reposed as Saints solely by the sign of the incorruption of their bodies. But of course the INCORRUPTION OF THE BODIES OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS ACCETPED AS ONE OF THE Divine signs of their SANCTITY.
Revering holy relics, we believe not in the power of the might of the remains of the Saints in themselves, but RATHER IN THE PRAYERFUL INTERCESSION OF THE SAINTS WHOSE HOLY RELICS BEFORE US AROUSE IN OUR HEARTS A FEELING OF THE NEARNESS TO US OF THE SAINTS OF GOD THEMSELVES, WHO ONCE WERE THESE BODIES. (Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology)
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 