Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Sacrae Theologiae Summa on the Veneration of Relics and Images

  

On the veneration of relics and images. Relics in the strict sense are what is left over from the bodies of the Saints. In the broad sense they are also things that they used during their lifetime and that their bodies, even dead bodies, have touched. The veneration which is given to relics, is a relative cult, since it is directed to them because of the connection they have with the person of the Saints. The solemn veneration of relics is found in the whole ecclesiastical tradition, as even the Acts of the Martyrs give abundant witness to. The magisterium of the Church has often approved of this. Thus the Council of Nicaea II condemned those who throw away the relics of the martyrs (D 603); the Council of Rome in 993 (D 675) approved the veneration of them; the Council of Constance (D 1269) did the same against the Wycliffites and the Hussites; and especially the Council of Trent in session 25 (d 1821) against the Protestants, and in its Profession of Faith (d 1867).

 

The cult of images is also relative. The defense of this cult against the iconoclasts was made principally by the Council of Nicaea II (d 600-601, 603). The Council of Constantinople IV (D 653-656) and the Council of Trent in session 25 (D 1823, 1867) proposed the same doctrine. (Iesu Solano and J. A. de Aldama, Sacrae Theologiae Summa, 4 vols. [trans. Kenneth Baker; Keep the Faith, Inc., 2014], 3-A: 505)

 

Further Reading:


Answering Fundamentalist Protestants and Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox on Images/Icons