The article reflects on the author's visit to an Orthodox monastery and the experience of encountering a relic, specifically a saint's severed hand. Despite the unsettling appearance of the relic, the author explores the allure of veneration, highlighting the significance of first-class relics, such as bones, and second-class relics, like personal items. It delves into the historical controversies surrounding relics, noting criticism during the Protestant Reformation. Despite such controversies, the practice of venerating relics continues to thrive, indicating their lasting relevance in contemporary faith practices.
Relics can admittedly feel a bit morbid - and yet, so holy. What exactly is their appeal? To me, it's the physical closeness, especially with parts of a saint's own body.
The veneration of relics of saints was already well established in the early church. But controversies go back hundreds of years.
During the Protestant Reformation, reformers decried the shameless use of relics to drive donations and the proliferation of faux relics.
Yet venerating relics remains far from a 'relic' of the past.
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