Why Do Catholics Venerate the Relics of Saints?
“I see how you Catholics honor the relics of saints – you are so superstitious!” How do we respond to that kind of challenge from our non-Catholic friends? Does our veneration of sacred relics have a biblical basis? Yes! We see numerous examples in the Bible of God using the body parts of His Saints or even articles of their clothing to convey His healing power and grace. For example, in 2 Kings 13:20-21, we can read of a dead man coming back to life after coming into contact with the bones of the prophet Elisha. Moving on to the New Testament, we can read of the miraculous healing of the hemorrhaging woman who touched Jesus’ cloak. (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48). And Jesus once used his own spittle mixed with mud to cure a blind man (John 9:1-7). In the Acts of the Apostles we see two more examples of God healing people using material things associated with His saints. First, the sick were carried out into the streets and were healed when St. Peter’s shadow fell upon th
