Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Relics and the Incorruptibles

Though not a shrine in honor of canonized Saints, also of note in the Czech Republic is "Sedlec Ossuary" ("Kostnice")...
The man who created the monstrance of bones (see below) was a man of great faith.

I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:48-51)

... One can honor saints, and their remains, and other objects associated with holy people without going to the extreme of weird veneration and yes worship, which our medieval ancestors were surely guilty of. ...

In the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 19:11-12, the type of veneration done for the saints was done for Paul when he was alive:

Acts 19:11-12
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,
12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. (NIV)

The tradition for relics dates back to the Acts of the Apostles. As with anything, there can be abuses...

This is the type of veneration that was done for saints -- for example, gloves that Padre Pio wore was used for such things as the handkerchiefs and aprons that Saint Paul had touched while walking the earth.

The Jews had a different burial practice than Christians. You would offend a Jewish person if you brought flowers to a Jewish funeral. Why? Christians used flowers to get rid of the terrible oder of the death body.

The Jews believed in putting the body in the ground as soon as possible.

You had also mentioned that you claimed there was nothing in scripture about the touching of the dead -- but what about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead after three days? What of people that Jesus and Saint Peter raised from the dead?

The Jews thought the dead were foul because of decay of the body.

However, Christian history has recorded miraculous bodies that were incorrupt or even had sweet smelling odors associated with them -- after they might have been dead for years...

The Capuchins have a famous bone Church, which is made up of the bones of the Capuchins.

Unfortunately, this is a case that local officials would not give the Capuchins any more land to bury their monks, so they came up with a way of creating a church filled with the bones of the Capuchins...

It is rather bizarre, but it is similar to what the Germans did to the Jews (circa 1600's and 1700's) refusing the Jews additional space to bury their dead.

The bone church is in Italy...

Hmmm, let me see here....

I’ve seen the following:

Relic: The Three Magi
Where: Discovered in Persia, brought to Constantinople by St. Helena, transferred to Milan in the fifth century and then to the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany in A.D. 1163, where they’ve been ever since.

Relic: Christ’s Robe
Where: Cathedral of St. Peter, Trier, Germany. The “tunica Christi” was brought to Trier by St. Helena.

Oh well, only two.

“Elisha died and was buried. At the time, bands of Moabites used to raid the land each year. Once some people were burying a man, when suddenly they spied such a raiding band. So they cast the dead man into the grave of Elisha, and everyone went off. But when the man came in contact with the bones of Elisha, he came back to life and rose to his feet.”
-2 Kings 13:20-21

“For Him [Christ] being the Son of God, we adore, but the martyrs as disciples and imitators of the Lord we cherish as they deserve for their matchless affection towards their own King and Teacher. May it be our lot also to be found partakers and fellow-disciples with them......And so we afterwards took up his [Polycarp’s] bones which are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them in a suitable place; where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we are able, in gladness and joy, and to celebrate the birth-day of his martyrdom for the commemoration of those that have already fought in the contest, and for the training and preparation of those that shall do so hereafter.”

—Epistle of Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, on the martyrdom of Polycarp

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