What particularly venerated material sacred objects do Christians have?
Christians have the highly venerated relics of the holy Apostles, Prophets, and various saints of God.
What are holy relics?
Holy relics are either completely incorrupt bodies of glorified saints, or parts of the bodies of God's saints—bones and other remains.
How is the veneration of holy relics expressed?
They are reverently kept in consecrated places, they are kissed, they are worshiped before them, and intercession before God is asked from the persons whose relics they are.
Why do Christians keep the sacred remains of God's saints?
Holy relics are precisely kept because they are precious remains for Christians from the righteous ones glorified by the Lord. If people usually keep for memory insignificant objects left and remaining from persons close to them, then should not the sacred remains of God's saints—"friends" (John 15:14) of God, our intercessors and prayerful advocates—be reverently kept to a much greater degree?!
For what do Christians especially venerate holy relics?
Holy relics are especially venerated because they vividly remind us of the holy, God-pleasing life of those whose they are; because they strengthen Christians in faith and are conductors of God's grace: through them the Lord manifests His power, through holy relics many miracles and healings are poured forth.
Does Holy Scripture testify that miracles can come from holy relics?
In the fourth book of Kings, it is told that the relics of the prophet Elisha raised a dead man. "Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet" (2 Kings 13:20-21).
Were there miracles from the relics of saints in the New Testament?
There were, there are, and there will be. The first greatest miracle is that the bodies of some saints do not decompose, do not disintegrate, but remain completely incorrupt. No science can explain why the body of this or that saint, having lain long in the earth and then taken out from there, although it remains in the air and is subject to its influence, does not decompose. This is an obvious miracle of God, by which the Lord glorifies His saint.
Do the bodies of all God's saints remain completely incorrupt?
No, not all, but whatever the remains of the holy saints are, they all have poured forth and pour forth miracles and healings. Such are the numerous miracles, for example, performed at the incorrupt relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov and at the remains of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Hundreds of these miracles are attested by a multitude of witnesses and by secular authorities.
How are miracles from the remains of God's saints possible in the New Testament?
Just as miracles were possible from the shadow of the Apostle Peter (Acts 5:15) and from the handkerchiefs and aprons of the Apostle Paul, which, when placed on the sick, "the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them" (Acts 19:12).
How long has the veneration of holy relics existed in the Church of Christ?
As soon as the Church of Christ began, from that time the veneration of holy relics has been in it. The first Christians always performed their divine services at the graves of the martyrs. In the underground cemeteries of Rome—the catacombs—Christianity developed, and here were the first Christian temples. Therefore, there is a rule in the Church of Christ that all temples of God must necessarily have the relics of God's saints. Without an antimension with relics on the altar, the Liturgy cannot be celebrated, and a temple cannot be consecrated without an antimension with relics.
Why do sectarians reject the veneration of holy relics?
Because they are not Christians and do not have the customs and rules of the Church of Christ. Sectarians do not honor either the saints of God or their relics. And for their justification, they refer to the words of the Apostle Paul: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed... For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Cor. 15:50-51, 53).
Does the Apostle Paul speak here about the uselessness of venerating the relics of God's saints?
No, he does not. Here the Apostle merely explains that all our bodies must be changed, transformed, and in their present form they will not enter the Kingdom of God.
Do Orthodox Christians really believe that the bodies of the holy saints will not be transformed at the general resurrection?
The Church of Christ does not teach thus. According to Orthodox teaching, all at the end of the world must be transformed, and the bodies of the saints will be transformed "that it may be conformed to His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21). The first Christians did not at all think that the handkerchiefs and aprons would inherit the Kingdom of God, and yet miracles from these objects occurred, and Christians, of course, venerated and preserved them. Christians have always done likewise with the grace-filled, wonder-working remains of the holy saints of God. In Rome, the relics of saints were first kept in the catacombs, and later brought out for universal veneration and worship.
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