On June 15th and 16th, parishioners of CDM will have the chance to venerate 75 holy relics of saints and blessed.
Brought by the Penang Diocesan Catechetical Commission’s (PDCC) Holy Relics Team, this exposition aims to deepen our spiritual life.
The relics include those of St Francis of Assisi, St Padre Pio, St Thérѐse of Lisieux, St Maria Goretti, St Alphonsa (India’s first saint), Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta (Fatima), Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos (CSsR) and Blessed Devasahayam Pillai.
According to PDCC Director Deacon Clement Samuel, encountering the saints through the exhibition and veneration of holy relics is part of the mission of evangelisation in the Catholic Church.
In his message, he said that the Holy Relics Team is led by a laity specially trained to reach out and catechise the faithful on the holy people of the Church.
Objectives of the Exhibition
- Experience of the Living God: Encountering the relics of saints through an exposition.
- Learning and Practicing Catholic Tradition: Understanding and engaging with our faith traditions.
- Enhancing Knowledge of Saints: Strengthening our Catholic faith through knowledge of the saints.
Classes of Relics
- First Class: Instruments of Our Lord’s Passion or body parts of those declared Blessed or Saint.
- Second Class: Items used by the saint during life such as clothing, books, rosaries or fragments of a coffin.
- Third Class: Pieces of cloth that have touched a First- or Second-class relic.
- Some add a Fourth Class: Objects, usually cloths, exposed in the shrine of a saint, such as a cloth from St Michael the Archangel’s shrine.
Significance of Venerating Relics
- Belief in everlasting life: For those who have witnessed Christ and His Holy Gospel.
- Resurrection of the Body: Affirming the truth of resurrection on the last day;
- Splendour of the human body: Respecting the bodies of both the living and the deceased;
- Intercessory Power of Saints: Recognising the saints’ special intercessory power in heaven.
- Communion of Saints: Our connection with the saints as members of the Church triumphant.