St. Laurence & the Holy Grail

Illustrations

Cover: The Holy Chalice of Valencia as it appears today in the Cathedral. Back cover: The first-century agate cup of the Holy Chalice, believed to be that used by Jesus to consecrate the wine into his blood. Courtesy of the Spanish Center for Sindonology.

Dust Cover Background: Getty Images / Photo disc.

1.    Map of Spain and detail of the area where the Holy Grail was hidden during the Middle Ages.

2. The Holy Chalice of Valencia as it appears today hi the Cathedral.

3.    The Church of San Pedro de Siresa in the Spanish Pyrenees, where the Holy Grail was first sheltered under the protection of St. Peter after the invasion of the Moors in 711 AD.

4.    Exterior and interior views of the Monastery of San Adrian de Sasabe, a Pyrenean monastery also believed to have sheltered the Holy Grail.

5.    The Last Supper, and capitals from the eleventh-century Cathedral of Jaca, custodian of the Holy Grail until 1071 when the famous relic was replaced with the remains of St. Orosia.

6.    The massive rocky outcroppings of San Juan de la Peña, believed to be Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Munsalvaesche.

7.    The unique cloister of San Juan tie 3a Peña with its freestanding columns.

8.    Capitals from the cloister, renowned for the enormous eyes of personages taken from the Old and New Testaments: The Last Supper, St. Joseph’s dream, and the raising of Lazarus.

9.    Chapel of Sts. Voto and Felix, hiding place for the Holy Grail during the religious fervor of the Middle Ages.

10.   The central arches with a replica of the Holy Chalice, where it was exposed for the veneration of the monks during the Middle Ages.

11.   The Eucharistic miracle of Daroca, associated with the Spanish Reconquest and impetus for the Corpus Christi celebration.

12.   The Cathedral of Valencia, now gloriously restored after the desecration and burning of the Spanish Civil War,

13.   a. The Cathedral of Valencia with the Chapel of the Holy Grail to the right of the entrance, b. The Door of the Apostles.

14.   Interior of the Chapel of the Holy Grail.

15.   a. Close-up of the Tabernacle of the Holy Grail, b. First Communicants listen as a priest narrates how St. Laurence saved the Holy Grail from the Romans.

16.   Painting of the Last Supper by Juan de Juanes, depicting the Holy Chalice of Valencia. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

17.   The Roca del Santo Grial and a photograph of Pope John Paul II blessing it in Rome in 1996. The Holy Father said Mass with the Holy Chalice during his visit to Spain in 1982.

18.   Floral display of the Holy Chalice for the Corpus Christi procession of June 2001, and a detail of the Roca del Santo Grial.

19.   The Corpus Christi procession in Madrid June of 2000, and Valencia, June of 2001.

20.   a. Roman cups in the British Museum, dated 1-50 AD, made of chalcedony and sardonyx, similar in style to the original agate cup of the Holy Chalice. b. Roman fine-ware cup with a sanded surface, from Tharros, Sardinia, about 10 BC to 50 AD. British Museum, London.

21.   a. Roman fine-ware cups made in Italy about 1-70 AD. b. The Crawford Cup of fluorspar, Roman, made about 50-100 AD. The emperor Nero (54-68 AD) is said to have paid a million sesterces for a fluorspar cup. c. Roman kotyle (drinking cup), made in Asia Minor in the 1st century AD. d. A pair of Roman silver cups from Asia Minor, about 1-30 AD.

22.   The Cathedral of Huesca, entryway and details of Sts. Laurence and Vincent, cousins martyred nearly fifty years apart, the first in Rome and the second in Spain.

23.   Representations of Sts. Laurence and Vincent in the Cathedral of Huesca.

24.   The Hermitage of Loreto and detail of the facade depicting St. Laurence, constructed on the family farm of Sts. Orencio and Paciencia, his parents.

25.   a. Cross at the site of the family farm. b. Road sign marking the spot where, according to Huesca’s tradition, the parents of St. Laurence would greet their twin sons Laurence and Orencio as they returned home from school.

26.   San Pedro el Viejo, the parish church of St. Laurences parents and where St. Vincent was baptised, according to tradition. Detail of St. Peter, protector of the Holy Grail for so many centuries.

27.   Altar in San Pedro el Viejo dedicated to Sts. Laurence and Vincent, with details showing the martyrdom of each saint.

28.   Sculpture on the interior rail of San Pedro el Viejo, depicting its patron saints, Justus and Pastor, with St. Vincent in the centre, sometimes confused with Sts. Laurence and Orencio in the company of their father, Orencio.

29.   Basilica of St. Laurence in Huesca. Chapel of St. Hippolytus and representation of Jesus consecrating the wine.

30.   Murals by Echevarría-Bermúdez in the Basilica of St. Laurence: St. Laurence sends the Holy Cup of the Last Supper to Huesca, St. Laurence before the Emperor, and St. Laurence tormented with red-hot steel plates.

31.   Chapel of St. Laurence in the Basilica of Huesca, and details of the gridiron theme prevalent throughout the church.

32.   a. Church of St. Laurence Outside the Walls in Rome, built on the original burial spot of the saint on the Via Tiburtina. b. Representation of St. Laurence in the stone floor, c. The grave of the saint.

Percival and Galahad with the Holy Grail.

Preface

The quest for the Holy Grail is a subject that usually provokes interest and discussion, often evoking images of medieval knights, archaeological digs, and a countless number of chalices with claims of authenticity, as portrayed in the film The Last Crusade. Most Americans imagine that this most sacred relic of Christianity, speaking of it in the most widely accepted meaning of the term,¹ as the cup used by Jesus of Nazareth to institute the Eucharist at the Last Supper, was taken by Joseph of Arimathea to England soon after the crucifixion. Knowledge of its whereabouts was soon lost, which instigated an exhaustive, but unsuccessful, quest for the Holy Grail during the Middle Ages that was carried out by valiant knights in shining armour. In recent times, when someone claims to have unearthed the sacred relic in some unlikely location, the vast majority will follow the story with avid interest, hoping that the elusive cup has finally been found. The same is true for most other relics, such as the recently claimed discovery of the entire crown of thorns that was supposedly buried in Syria with the body of one of the Knights Templar, or the discovery of Jesus’ garden tomb by British archaeologists. The fact that the article concerning the crown of thorns appeared in The National Enquirer did not deter many otherwise intelligent people from accepting its validity, in spite of the fact that its thorns have been in the cathedrals and churches of Europe for centuries. Concerning the popular garden tomb in Jerusalem, a British guide remarked to me at the site that St. Helen² could not possibly have discovered the tomb of Jesus in the fourth century, simply because she was not a British archaeologist. The veneration in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher from the time of Constantine the Great is dismissed as insignificant, in spite of the fact that so many prominent archaeologists have extensively studied the site, and remain convinced that it is the Golgotha of the crucifixion.

The reality is, however, that Christians did not bury the relics of Christ. From the first moments of Christianity, the objects used and worn by Jesus were thought to be sacred and were employed, first by Mary and the Apostles, as part of the Mass and other prayer rituals, and later deposited in the bosom of the Church as its priceless treasures. When necessary for security reasons, relics were hidden, but they were always painstakingly safeguarded by those responsible for their care. Often security demanded the absence of written documentation, but tradition kept alive the knowledge of their whereabouts in the Christian communities. When political, dangers passed, the relics would resurface, to be venerated once again by the faithful as part of the depository of their faith. A relic without a history rich in tradition and veneration would have to pass especially strict criteria to be considered authentic, given the nature of Christianity.

Typical American beliefs about the Holy Grail arc not the case, however, in Spain, a country that because of its geographical isolation and staunch Catholicism has become the final resting place for more than its share of relics. Although it may be true that Spaniards have become more skeptical and indifferent in recent years, perhaps due to the overabundance of relics in their churches and cathedrals, many of them, trivial and rather dubious, as well as the modern belief that such objects are of no importance whatsoever, certain things are taken for granted, one of them being the presence of the Holy Grail in the Cathedral of Valencia. It is venerated daily in a small chapel to the right of the front entrance, called the Capilla del Santo Grial, or Chapel of the Holy Grail. Many visitors seem unimpressed when they view the small agate cup mounted on a medieval base of gold, pearls, and precious stones, perhaps because they do not comprehend exactly what they are seeing, and because the reality of its presence can never quite measure up to the mystical Grail visions of Percival and Lancelot, nor to the idealized notion of the quest, glorified in the legends and films. A concrete object being venerated in a cathedral lacks that indefinable, elusive quality that has turned the Grail into a transcendental symbol of eternal life.

Nevertheless, the Holy Chalice of Valencia possesses a history rich in tradition, complete with tales of greed, bribery and murder, miracles, veneration, and enough historical material to make a Hollywood film capable of surpassing all known classical epics. Its story deserves to be written in English, because although it has been studied in depth by a Spanish archaeologist and its custodians from the Cathedral of Valencia have carefully recorded its history, it has not yet captured the interest of Americans, who are generally unaware of its existence. I discovered the Holy Chalice during my extensive travels in Spain. The first time I saw it, I must admit that I was a bit like the typical American visitor described above, thinking something along the lines of, Why haven’t I heard of it before? After subsequent visits, reading the published material in Spanish, and researching the original sources in the Biblioteca Nacional of Madrid, I am convinced that it is without doubt one of the most interesting, priceless relics of the Catholic Church, along with the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo, the companion cloth believed to have covered the head of Jesus after the crucifixion. I am a member of the Spanish Center of Sindonology (CES), the association responsible for the scientific studies done on the latter cloth and wrote and published a book about their findings, called Sacred Blood, Sacred Image: The Sudarium of Oviedo, New Evidence for the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. The Spanish Sindonologists have also professed an interest in the Holy Chalice, having published several articles in their publication, LINTEUM.

While researching this book, my husband and I travelled to three of the traditional hiding places of the Holy Grail: San Pedro de Siresa, San Adrián de Sasabe, and San Juan de la Pefia, all secluded monasteries in the Pyrenees. The voyage to San Pedro is absolutely breathtaking, along narrow mountain roads over deep gorges that would make an inexperienced driver cringe with terror. The church is one of the oldest in Spain, but has been beautifully restored to its former glory. San Adrián, on the other hand, is a tiny church built over its predecessor, Santa María, in a location that makes one wonder why anyone would ever build a temple at that site. After inching up a pebble road in the rental car to a site high in the mountains, only a small sign next to the road is evidence that a church lies nestled somewhere in the area, because it is invisible from a distance of twenty feet. Constructed at the point where two brooks converge, the monastery is practically inaccessible, except by crossing the rapidly flowing water balancing oneself on the rocks, hoping and praying not to stumble. The monastery is surrounded by a deep trench, the reason why it is nearly invisible to passersby, not that there are many, or ever were. The inside is flooded, at least in the springtime, and its dark interior evokes a deep sense of mystery. The camera flash later revealed mysterious shadows on the walls, strangely reminiscent of human forms, that with a bit of imagination could be perceived as the ancient Knights Templar in procession. San Juan de la Peña, on the other hand, is truly a marvel of architecture, a monastery built into a cave under a massive rock at the top of a mountain that has always been shrouded in legend, tradition, and history. Entering into its sacred enclosure, the visitor is immediately transported back in time, reminded of its former inhabitants by the mounds of skulls and bones, as well as the replica of the Holy Grail that adorns a long table under the central arched vault.

The histories of the Holy Chalice of Valencia, published in Spanish, claim that a letter, written by St. Laurence himself, accompanied the relic to Spain, but that it was lost. Reference to the original, however; is made in an existing manuscript found at the monastery of San Juan de la Peña. This is supposedly the only written documentation of the tradition that St. Laurence, days before his martyrdom in Rome in 258 AD, sent the Holy Grail to Spain. I have found another manuscript, however, in the Biblioteca Nacional of Madrid, which contains a direct reference to the fact that St. Laurence was entrusted with the relic by Pope Sixtus II, and that very shortly before his martyrdom, Laurence in turn surrendered it to Precelius, a Spaniard who was in Rome at the time. The manuscript was first written in Latin by St. Donato, an African monk from the second half of the sixth century, who lived in the area of Valencia and founded a monastery on the promontory near Jávea. It was translated in 1636 by a priest from. Salamanca, using the pseudonym of Fr. Buenaventura Ausina. Because this document contains many details of the life of St. Laurence that have never been published, it is completely translated into English. I have made the same attempt to preserve the flavor and tone of the original as was made by its seventeenth-century translator, who declared that he changed only what was absolutely necessary for comprehension from the Latin original.

Donato’s manuscript will be compared with other versions of the life of St. Laurence, such as the Prudentius’ poem and the Passio Polychronii, long considered as two of the major biographical sources for St. Laurence. They differ markedly, especially in style, but also in the sense that Donato’s account contains unknown details of the life of St. Laurence, from the period before his family left Spain, to their life in Italy. It clarifies many of the contradictions and mistakes that are still being published, such as the notion that Laurence was born and raised in Huesca, left for Italy with his cousin Vincent as a young adult, and sent the Grail back to his parents. I have been able to verify the facts of this manuscript with information from the early seventeenth-century manuscript, Armies del Reyno de Valencia, written by Francisco Diago, which confirms that Laurence was born in Valencia, not Huesca, and also records the historically significant surrender of the Holy Cup of the Last Supper to St. Laurence.

Because the St. Laurence tradition is central to the story of the Holy Chalice of Valencia, I will dedicate the final chapter to veneration of the saint in Huesca, the city in Spain where Laurence’s family originated. Huesca has many churches dedicated to St. Laurence, among them the sanctuary of Loreto, built on the site believed to be the former farm of his parents; the Basilica of St. Laurence, where special veneration takes place every year on August 10, the feast day of the saint; and San Pedro el Viejo, which tradition maintains was where the family worshiped so long ago. Huesca has developed their own tradition concerning the martyr that conflicts somewhat with historical reality, but it is interesting nonetheless.

The Corpus Christi procession in Valencia is perhaps one of the most impressive in Spain, with its countless floats and costumed participants that flow from the Cathedral’s Door of the Apostles into the streets, where the entire city, visitors and inhabitants alike, gathers to welcome them. It culminates with the priceless Monstrance of the Blessed Sacrament, which is greeted with prayers, applause, and genuflections. Central to the procession, is the Roca del Grial, a float depicting the Holy Chalice of Valencia, which was taken to Rome in 1996 to be blessed by Pope John Paul II. Every year the Holy Chalice is also represented in a unique floral display. Many of these images of the priceless relic will also be discussed, which form an important part of its patrimony, as well as the relationship between the Eucharistic Miracle of Daroca and the Holy Chalice of Valencia, and their connection to the Corpus Christi celebration.

Drawing of the Holy Chalice

This book does not attempt to narrate the story of the Holy Cup in the form of a novel, but is instead a documentation of its traditions and history in English, with references to historical sources. I will present the information in a manner that is as interesting as possible to the non-scholarly reader, with the hope that the human mind and imagination will be capable of providing the rest.

Janice Bennett

Littleton, Colorado, January 2002

Part 1

THE RELIC PAR EXCELLENCE

In like manner, after He had supped, taking also this excellent chalice into His holy and venerable hands, and giving Thee thanks, He blessed, and gave to His disciples, saying: Take and drink ye all of this, For this is the Chalice of My Blood of the new and eternal Testament, the Mystery of Faith; which shall be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins.

The Canon of the Mass

Chapter 1

IN SEARCH OF THE HOLY GRAIL

Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade is a modern personification of Percival and the Knights of the Round Table in the legends of the medieval grail cycle. Jones is an archaeologist who sets out in search of the Holy Grail, conquering numerous obstacles along the way just as did the legendary knights, until he finally finds the grail in Jordan’s ancient city of Petra. But, alas, it is mixed in with a collection of chalices, and only the wise man can discern which one is authentic. Indiana reasons that the cup of a carpenter would have been very simple and humble, and instead of reaching for one of the more elaborate chalices encrusted with jewels, he takes the wooden one. This, of course, is one of the fallacies of the film, because wood was never used for drinking vessels in ancient Israel. It was too porous, and considered to be impure, especially for the very religious and holy ceremonies of Passover. In fact, even clay cups, the most common first-century drinking vessel, were not generally used for the special Seder meal for this reason, at least by those families rich enough to afford the more expensive stone cups in vogue at that time.

The Holy Chalice of Valencia is an ancient agate cup that fits this description perfectly. In the 1960s, the Spanish archaeologist from Zaragoza, Antonio Beltran, determined that the upper cup, but not the golden chalice on which it rests, dates to the first century. The golden chalice, encrusted with jewels and pearls, on which the agate cup is mounted, was joined to the original relic in the Middle Ages, from the time when the Holy Chalice was in San Juan de la Peña, added in order to make the original agate cup seem more worthy of what it really is: the cup used by Jesus to consecrate his blood at the Last Supper. In fact, this agate cup also perfectly matches the description of two first century Roman cups in the British Museum, dated from 1-50 AD and made of chalcedony and sardonyx, similar stones.

The Holy Chalice of Valencia, as already mentioned, is a relic rich in tradition, history, legend, archaeological interest, and art. Tradition affirms that St. Peter, the first Pope, used it to say Mass, and that after the death of the Virgin Mary, he took it to Rome where the first Popes continued the tradition for more than two hundred years. During the Roman persecution of Valerian, the Church was no longer permitted to have property and possessions of its own. So when the Romans demanded the goods of the Church from Pope Sixtus II in the year 258 AD, he entrusted his deacon and treasurer, Laurence, with all of the ecclesiastical money and possessions, including the Grail. When the Romans arrested Laurence and demanded that he turn over the goods, Laurence devised a plan: he asked for a period of three days to collect everything, and used the time instead to disperse it, knowing that he would be martyred just as the Pope had been. He entrusted the Holy Cup of the Last Supper to a compatriot in Rome at the time, with orders to send it immediately to Spain, their homeland. The Romans were so angry at their loss that they did not martyr Laurence in the same way they had killed the Pope, by beheading him. Instead, they devised a torture that was the most hideous and painful ever employed until that time: they tortured him in every way possible, and then condemned him to a slow death over hot coals. The martyrdom of Laurence was so special that it was later immortalized in poems, stories, architecture and art, and the same can be said for his surrender of the Grail to the Spaniard, a most heroic action that cost the saint his life.

In Spain the relic is just as rich in tradition and history. Although there is no extant written documentation of the Holy Chalice until 1399, when it was turned over to King Martín el Humano (the Humane) from its home in San Juan de la Peña, tradition strongly maintains that it was in many locales prior to being safeguarded by the monks in their monastery, built into a natural cave in the mountains. There is evidence of it having been at Huesca, Jaca, the cave of Yebra, San Pedro de Siresa and San Adrián de Sasabe, where it was venerated and kept free from danger before and after the Moorish invasion of Spain in 711 AD. Even after the Holy Chalice was surrendered to the Cathedral of Valencia, it was still not sale from greed and plots to steal it. During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) the precious relic was protected from the riotous crowds of revolutionaries only moments before they burst into the sacred enclosure of the Cathedral. A woman carried it in her arms, wrapped in a newspaper, through the throngs of Communists, and hid it in a secret compartment that was built into a wardrobe. The Marxists later ransacked her apartment trying to find it. Although they were only inches from its hiding place, the relic remained undiscovered, and the merciless revolutionaries would have killed her if it were not for the kindness of one of them, who risked his own life by urging his companions to spare hers. The chalice was then hidden in other unlikely places, including a trash cupboard in the kitchen of the home of this woman’s brother, under the cushions of a sofa, and finally in a niche hollowed out in the stone wall of another home, whose owner had no idea of what it contained until the end of the war when it was removed and restored to the Cathedral.

The stories are amazing tales of saintly courage versus ruthless, satanic greed and hatred, and all point to the authenticity of that simple agate cup. It is not very likely that Romans, Moors, Crusaders and Marxists would all have so much interest in a fake relic of Christianity, because they destroyed so many religious objects of much greater material value. It is even reported that a group of jews from Holland offered large sums of money to obtain the cup, with the threat of death for non-compliance to their wishes, but all to no avail because those responsible for its safekeeping, like St. Laurence, would have rather suffered martyrdom than surrender their precious relic.

Veneration of the Holy Chalice is another important and moving testimony to authenticity, with devotions, Masses, processions and other rituals that have been carried out through the centimes, without interruption save for the brief periods when the relic was hidden during the War of Independence and the Spanish Civil War. In 1959 the Holy Chalice embarked on a very special journey to the cities and monasteries of its past, greeted by all with inspiring displays of affection and reverence. Aside from the solemn and majestic Corpus Christi procession, the Holy Cup has its own special feast day in October when it is once again paraded through the streets of its beautiful city to be venerated by nearly every resident and visitor capable of standing in the crowds.

The Holy Chalice of Valencia has also had its share of archaeological interest, similar to that shown in the Grail by the world famous archaeologist Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade, but without the pitfalls. Antonio Beltrán from the University of Zaragoza was granted permission in the 1960s to conduct an exhaustive study of the relic, which led to the publication of his findings. He emphatically affirms that the upper cup could have been on the table of the Last Supper, and that even if someone were to question some of his affirmations and hypotheses, the likelihood that the upper cup of the Holy Chalice is that of the Last Supper would still remain on firm ground. Even today, the Cathedral receives many proposals for study from scientists all over the world, who like Beltrán, would love the opportunity to examine the cup. As the Spanish writer Salvador Antuñano Alea humourously remarks, "If Indiana Jones had visited Valencia instead of paying attention to ancient medieval legends, he would have avoided all of the dangers of The Last Crusade.³"

As this same writer has pointed out, the Catholic Church has always venerated relics, from the very first days of Christianity, but this veneration is now criticized by many people, especially since the Protestant Reformation. Today some Catholics scorn the veneration of relics as a medieval and passe practice that should be abandoned in favour of a faith that they believe must be limited to pure spirituality, free from dependence on material objects for inspiration. As a member of a Spanish organisation that is dedicated to studying the relics of Christ, I am sometimes asked why we are wasting our time, and what our studies have to do with belief in Jesus. Isn’t faith enough? they ask.

The answer is, Of course. But as someone who has spent a great deal of time during the past five years investigating and writing about relics, I would add that although faith is sufficient when speaking about salvation, studying the history of relics has been one of the most enlightening, fascinating, spiritual, and faith-filled experiences of my entire life. Prom a historical perspective, through the study of relics I have penetrated into the mindset of the early Christian Church, beginning from the time of the Apostles. Relics for the early Church were a concrete link to Jesus, and a reminder of what he had suffered. As such, they were used in worship as a way of keeping his memory alive. When we understand the heroism of a saint like Laurence, who died a very slow and painful death in order to protect the Church’s possessions, it is impossible to say that relics are not important. Today, the relic he saved with his life reminds us of the value of his martyrdom, and of that of so many other saints who died rather than compromise with the forces of evil. The Roman persecution of Christians ended shortly after Laurence’s death, which strengthened the Catholic Church all over the world. Meditating on his life and on what he and his family considered important has been a deeply spiritual experience for me. It has taught me that we all too easily blend in with the anti-Christian values of modern society, instead of being willing to face the consequences of standing up for our beliefs and values with courage and conviction. I don’t know any Christians who are quite like Laurence, his parents, and his cousin Vincent, all martyred for what many would claim today was not important enough to merit the sacrifice of their lives. The heroism of the twentieth-century Spanish martyrs, killed during the Civil War of 1936-1939, is generally ignored, in spite of the fact that many are now being canonized.

In the case of the Sudarium of Oviedo, another impressive relic believed to have covered the head of Jesus after the crucifixion, the scientific investigation of the bloodstains has revealed so much information about the pain that Jesus suffered for our salvation: the wounds he suffered, the nature of crucifixion, and the manner of death. It corroborates the Gospel of John 20:5-8, which has never been completely understood, offering a very concrete explanation for what John was talking about when he mentioned the cloth that had been on the head of Jesus. I cannot believe that this is useless. On the contrary, studying this relic has strengthened my faith considerably, enabling me to understand the value and importance of the Crucifixion to a much greater extent, and contributing to a deeper appreciation for the care and veneration this linen has received in the Catholic Church throughout the ages, in spite of the fact that its caretakers didn’t really understand what it was. The Sudarium of Oviedo also authenticates the Shroud of Turin, with its incredible image of the face of Jesus, because the stains and their position are so identical that the possibility that they did not cover the same person, Jesus, is perhaps two million to one. The painting done from the image that appears on the Shroud is now the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning, a vivid reminder of Jesus and his great love for all of us. When I look at it, I remember the great pain he suffered, and know that he is still alive. It is a beautiful gift for mankind, the only sign we should ever need to survive life’s challenges to our faith. Relics can be a wonderful means of leading Christians to prayer and a greater love for Christ.

Concerning the veneration of relics, the Church maintains that it is a form of piety for the religious sense of the Christian people, which has always found expression in various forms of devotion surrounding the Church’s sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals; etc. They extend the liturgical life of the Church, but do not replace it.⁴ We can understand the Church’s esteem for relics in the Canon Law that prohibits selling them under any circumstances, or transferring without permission from the Holy See those being widely venerated, as well as asking that the ancient tradition of placing relics of the saints under the altar of churches be preserved.⁵ No one would argue the value of a pilgrimage, the rosary, or the Stations of the Cross, because they are all popular forms of piety in the Church today. Likewise, the Christian community has always felt great esteem for relics and has used them as a means of catechesis and worship.

The word relic, reliquia in Latin, originally meant what had been, as Salvador Antuñano Alca explains.⁶ The first Christians collected the remains of what had been of their brothers and sisters who were thrown to the lions, or burned as Laurence, just as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus, in order to bury the mortal remains, but not in the sense of a normal burial. A martyr was a witness to Christ—the meaning of the word in Greek—and the bodies of those who had sealed their faith with their blood and who had been faithful to the end, like Jesus, were a symbol of faith in the Resurrection for the early Christians. For that reason, they began to celebrate Mass over the tombs of the early martyrs, as a sign of communion and veneration, and of the inspiration that their example, or their testimony, gave them in those times of turbulence. The catacombs of Rome are filled with small chapels and altars that were placed over the tombs of the martyrs.

Later, during times of peace, churches were built over the tombs of the saints. This veneration of relics was always joined to its catechetical meaning, to remind us of the testimony of faith given by the saints, and the mysteries of our redemption. When the Church exposed relics for veneration, it was always so that, as Christians on a journey to our homeland, we would unite ourselves with those who have gone before us and who have already arrived safely in Heaven. Veneration of the relics of the saints was above all, done on the feast day of the saint’s death to this life and rebirth in the next, accompanied by a meditation on the example that was left to us of his or her heroic love for Jesus, asking the saint’s intercession in the liturgy of the Mass, and commenting in the homily of the virtues that were shown during life. Veneration of relics was never meant to be an exposition of mortal remains as in a. museum.

Therefore, as the Catholic Church has always maintained, we can say that relics are meaningful only to the extent that they help us to comprehend the mystery of Christ, as catechesis, or as a means to elevate the spirit to the reality of the Savior. By way of