[jagusafr]

Inanimate objects don’t have special powers. The reason the woman with bleeding was healed was that Christ was WEARING the cloak at the time. This worship of talismans saddens me.

[ELS]

Right from the article:

Saints and their relics are not worshiped, but honored in a manner that acknowledges God's work in their lives.

[A.A. Cunningham]

This worship of talismans saddens me.

It's easy to see how you became a colonel. Another manifestation of the Peter Principle.

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, from a strictly Scriptural point of view, consider the dead man who was brought back to life when his body touched the bones of Elisha, and carrying handkerchiefs and clothing of St. Paul to the sick to heal them. Not to mention St. Peter's shadow (although of course he was present at the time, so Elisha and St. Paul are better examples).

The relics of the saints are a time-honored tradition that goes back at least (to my knowledge) to the martyrdom of the saints under the Roman emperors -- when St. Polycarp was burned at the stake around A.D. 165, his followers gathered up his bones as "more precious than gold or precious stones". Fast forward to King Charles I's execution at Whitehall -- bystanders blotted up his blood with handkerchiefs and preserved them. Certain High Anglican quarters revere him as King Charles the Martyr, and miracles have been attributed to his relics, but he's never been canonized in the Catholic church. :-D Then of course there are all the Victorians with their locks of the late lamented's hair woven into mourning brooches, etc.

Point is, souvenirs, even souvenirs that moderns see as rather grisly, are focal points for devotion, affection, and even prayers and pleas for help. Catholic doctrine does not attribute any quasi-magical powers to the relics themselves. Rather, the bodies of the saints are temples of the Holy Spirit and to be bodily resurrected on the Last Day, so they are worthy of honor and respect -- but any miracles attributed to them are due to the Holy Spirit working by and through means of the saint.

After all, God did not simply will redemption, which he could have done purely through divine power without any physical manifestation. Instead, since humans are both body and spirit, He chose to work through the physical - healing with mud, instituting bread and wine as His body and blood, and dying upon the Cross. "But that you may believe that the Son of Man hath the power to forgive sins, take up thy bed and walk!"

Think of a relic as a prism or magnifying glass through which the Light shines . . . if that helps, or not if it doesn't.

[Natural Law]

"This worship of talismans saddens me."

In Israel I have seen Christians of all denominations moved beyond tears by the proximity to Nativity, the Via Delarosa, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Not because of any intrinsic property, but because they are an intense physical reminder of the live and ministry of Jesus. Does that sadden you too?

[Salvation]

Catholics do not worship these relics.

The Church has always been careful to point out that no religious article is miraculous in itself and that salvation always depends upon the life of the wearer.