Relics of the saints continue in the 21st century to attract vast numbers of believers.
Visits to the tombs of saints call to mind the strengths and virtues that stood out forcefully in their earthly lives. But these visits may also highlight similar, but hidden, strengths of our own.
The origin of venerating such mementos is not medieval, but biblical. The tablets of the Ten Commandments, Elijah’s mantle, even the bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21), all these were relics imbued with God’s power and revered by God’s people.
