Relic. This word, from the Latin reliquiae , signifies what remains of a saint – bones, ashes, clothes – and which is respectfully preserved to honour the saint’s memory. But a Benedictine scholar writes that if we were to examine these objects with even a little care and attention, we might find that many false relics have been offered to the piety of the faithful for reverence, and that bones have been consecrated which, far from belonging to one of the blessed, were perhaps not even the bones of a Christian.

In the fourth century, it was believed that there were relics of martyrs beneath every church altar. This was soon considered so important that St Ambrose, in spite of the protests of the people, refused to consecrate a church because he said it contained no relics . This ridiculous opinion became so widespread that the Council in Trullo in Constantinople ordered the demolition of all altars under which no relics were found.

The practice originated because believers would often gather in cemeteries where martyrs lay buried; on the anniversary of their deaths, divine service was held and the Eucharist was celebrated. The doctrine of the intercession of saints and the miracles attributed to their relics encouraged the transfer of martyrs’ bodies from the cemeteries into the temples. A figurative passage in Revelation , 6: 9,

also lent authority to the practice of keeping relics beneath the altar. Scaliger establishes all these facts in his work on Eusebius's chronicles.Before going any further, let us briefly consider the importance of putting a stop early on to certain human practices related to religion, however harmless they may seem in the beginning. The custom of preserving relics could have had its uses if it had been kept within reasonable limits. Christians wished to honour the memory of martyrs, and to this effect they kept as much of what remained of their bodies as possible; the anniversary of the martyr’s death was celebrated, and was called the day of his or her birth , and believers would gather in the places where these holy remains were buried. This is all the honour that was shown such relics in the first three centuries of our era. No one thought that over time the ashes and bones of martyrs should become the object of a religious cult or that temples should be raised to them; that relics should be placed on the altar; that the remains of a body should be divided up; that they should be transported from one place to another; that one bone should be taken from one body, and another bone from another, and that they should be displayed in reliquaries; that a commerce could grow up that would excite greed and fill the world with so-called relics . However, from the fourth century, abuses occurred so openly and to such an extent that many evil effects were produced.Vigilantius of Calagurris was rightly scandalised by the superstitious cult that common people paid to the relics of martyrs.

Here we see that pagan customs were practically being introduced in the name of religion. Vigilantius calls the relics that were worshipped I know not what, I know not whose ashes to make clear that false relics were being presented as the ashes of martyrs; and therefore the people who venerated these relics ran the risk of worshipping something quite different from what they imagined. These pious or impious frauds, which became so widespread in the centuries that followed, were already quite common.

St Jerome himself gives us a striking example that is enough to justify the views of Vigilantius, whom nonetheless he criticized so harshly on the subject. Can one really believe, without being strangely blinkered, that more than fourteen centuries after the death of Samuel and after so many upheavals in Palestine, the site of the prophet's tomb could be located in Rama ( Samuel 26)? Yet we are told that the Emperor Arcadius had Samuel’s bones transferred from Judea to Constantinople, that bishops carried them wrapped inside a silk cloth in a golden vase, followed by a cortege of people from all the churches, who, as joyful as if they were in the presence of the living prophet, walked before the relics , accompanying them from Palestine to Chalcedon while singing the praises of Jesus Christ. This is enough to show how far deceit and gullibility had already gone, and how Vigilantius was right in saying that by worshipping relics , people were worshipping I know not what . The fear of being duped by the avarice of churchmen who used relics to attract offerings should have been enough to cool the ardour of those running after relics . Vigilantius therefore encouraged the distinction between true and false relics , but thought that even the honours paid to true relics should be diminished.

It would have certainly been better to follow Vigilantius’s advice concerning relics , since material interest sometimes kept up and promoted superstition. The common people are superstitious and it is by superstition that they are kept in chains. The miracles thought to be performed using relics were like a magnet attracting wealth from all sides to the churches where they were kept. If St Jerome had considered the matter more deeply, he would have strongly opposed a superstition that had already gone too far to root out. He should at the very least have been grateful to Vigilantius for his courageous determination, and far from making him the target of public hate, he should have seconded his efforts.

In fact, in 386 AD Emperor Theodose the Great was obliged to proclaim a law forbidding the transfer of buried corpses from one place to another, as well as the dividing up of a martyr’s relics , and their illicit traffic. Fifteen years later, the fifth council of Carthage ordered bishops to destroy the altars that were being raised everywhere in fields and on large roads in honour of martyrs, whose false relics were being buried in places according to the dreams and vain revelations of all kinds of people.

St Augustine himself recognized frauds of the kind carried out by many monks, and the false miracles they proclaimed. The above-mentioned council of Carthage feared the disorder resulting from the superstition that had seized the spirit of the people. The bishops turned a blind eye to it; and the author of The City of God naively declared that he did not dare to speak freely about many such abuses so as not to scandalise pious individuals, or spread confusion. The love of relics was such that churches and altars without them were no longer deemed acceptable; it was therefore necessary to find some at any cost, so that in the absence of real relics , false ones were created.

Here then was the occasion for a good deal of fraud, writes Father Fleuri in his third Discourse ; for, to make sure that the relics were genuine, it would have been necessary to trace them back to their origin and to know all the hands through which they had passed; but after several centuries, it was quite easy to fool not only the people, but also the bishops who had become less enlightened and less attentive. Since the practice had been established of not consecrating churches and altars without relics , the necessity of finding some made it very tempting not to examine them too closely. The material interest of attracting offerings was another temptation that was hard to resist.

Consequently, it is not surprising that relics acquired merit in the minds of the people and kings. We read that ordinary oaths of the early French people were made over the relics of saints. Thus, when the kings Gontran, Sigebert and Chilperic shared out the territories of Clotaire, and agreed to rule Paris together, they swore an oath on the relics of St Polyeucte, St Hilaire and St Martin. But Chilperic broke his vow, and took the precaution of having a reliquary filled with relics , which was carried like a talisman at the head of his troops. He hoped that the protection of these new patrons would shield him from the punishments resulting from his perjury. It is worthwhile mentioning here that our first two royal houses kept a large number of relics in their palaces, notably the cape and coat of St Martin. The palace relics were carried in their train, and even in their armies. They would also be sent to the provinces when it was necessary to swear allegiance to the king, or to sign a treaty.

I do not propose to recount all the excesses, superstitions and frauds regarding relics that occurred in the centuries that followed, but I do think he should note what Gregory of Tours says ( hist. l. IX. c. vi) , that in one saint’s reliquary were found roots, mole’s teeth, rat’s bones and fox’s claws.

On the subject of Tours, Hospinien observes that in this town people superstitiously worshipped a silver cross decorated with precious jewels, in the middle of which was an engraved agate. It was taken to Orleans and closely examined, and found to represent Venus weeping over the dying Adonis.

This anecdote reminds me of an agate mentioned by Father Montfaucon ( Antiq. Expliquée, supplement. vol. I. book 2, ch. iii ), and which is now in the king’s possession. On it, Jupiter and Minerva stand on either side of a tree. It was however supposed to illustrate the earthly paradise and Adam’s sin, and was kept for centuries in one of the oldest churches in France, from which it was removed nearly one hundred years ago. People were a little less attentive in those simple times, adds the Benedictine scholar. The large agate in the Holy Chapel depicting the apotheosis of Augustus was thought for centuries to be the story of Joseph, son of Jacob. An onyx representing the heads of Germanicus and Agrippina... was worshipped for 600 years as the ring given by Joseph to Mary at their marriage. The faithful kissed the ring on certain days every year. This went on until it was noticed towards the end of the last century that a Greek inscription in tiny letters called Germanicus ‘Alpha’ and Agrippina ‘Arethusa’.

Readers wishing to have further examples of errors concerning relics can consult Chemnitius, Concil. Trident ., Hospinien, De Origine Templorum , and especially a memoir included in the Biblioth. Histor. Philolog. Théolog. by Mr de Hare, class. vii. fascic. vi . art. 4, with the title: Jo. Jacob. Rambachii Observatio, de Ignorantiâ Exegeticâ Multarum Reliquiarum Sacrarum, Matre & Obstetrice .

Strabon points out that it was highly unlikely that several wooden images were brought out of Troy, yet in Rome, Lavinium, Luceria and Siris, people boasted of having the real Trojan Minerva. Strabon is right, since when one hears several towns claiming to possess the same relic or the same miraculous image, then we can safely assume that all their claims are false, and that the same artifice and material interests led them to publicise their traditions.

Mr de Maroles, a priest from Villeloin, makes the same point in his memoirs, published in 1641 (p. 132).

The author of the Nouvelles de la République des Lettres , when speaking about a book dealing with the Holy Shroud, cites the words of Charles Patin:

That is perhaps enough concerning the insane credulity of men, and the errors that have accumulated in the veneration of relics . I am not at all interested in looking into the question of whether the origin of the practice is pagan, as conceded by St Cyril, lib. X. p. 336 , in his reply to Emperor Julien, who was the first to criticize the Christians’ cult of the dead and their relics . I recognize with greater pleasure that the spread of enlightenment in the last century checked the advance of the commonplace superstition regarding pious frauds of this kind, but at the same time it must be admitted that there are still too many traces of it in many parts of Christendom. This is certainly what has inspired many talented people of the Roman Catholic faith to criticize false relics with such courage. Mr Thiers, whom I must not omit to name, discusses in his writings the state of the places in which martyrs’ bodies are kept. In particular, he has published criticisms concerning the Holy Tear of Vendome and the relics of St Firmin. Father Mabillon also felt impelled to comment on the true understanding of relics . It seems to me that they should both have been listened to. But the Chief Justice of France did not see things this way, and by a decree banned the work of Mr Thiers on St Firmin, and the order of St Benedict condemned Father Mabillon. The witty saying of a sub-prior of St Antoine is well known on the occasion of these condemnations. Moribus antiquis, etc ( The Roman state is founded on its ancient mores , etc ).

However I do not believe that it is wrong today to condemn with the priest, Mr. Fleury, without irony or irreligion: