Thursday, June 19
Liturgical Color: Green
Today is the optional memorial of St.
Romuald. In his youth, St. Romuald
witnessed a killing causing his
conversion. He attempted to atone for the
killing by becoming a monk, spreading
the Gospel and founding monasteries
until his death in 1027.
Day 186 - Is it permissible to venerate relics? // What is the purpose of a pilgrimage?
Is it permissible to venerate relics?
The veneration of relics is a natural human need, a way of showing respect and reverence to the persons who are venerated. Relics of saints are properly venerated when the faithful praise God's work in people who have devoted themselves completely to God.
What is the purpose of a pilgrimage?
Someone who goes on a pilgrimage "prays with his feet" and experiences with all his senses that his entire life is one long journey to God. In ancient Israel people made pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem. Christians adopted this custom. And so this developed, especially in the Middle Ages, into a regular pilgrimage movement to the holy places. Often people went on pilgrimage so as to do penance, and sometimes their actions were affected by the false notion that one had to justify oneself before God by tormenting and punishing oneself. Today pilgrimages are experiencing a unique revival. People are looking for the peace and the strength that come from those grace-filled localities. They are tired of going it alone; they want to get out of the rut of the daily routine, get rid of some ballast, and start moving toward God. (YOUCAT questions 275, 276)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (1674) and other references here.