The writings of Augustine, of Pauli nus of Nola, of Ephraem the Syrian, of Gregory the Great, and others are full of examples of the miraculous virtue as cribed to relics, and of the variety and the extensive multiplication of sacred memorials of all kinds. Nor was this confined to the orthodox alone; all the different parties in the controversy on the Incarnation agreed with Roman Catholics and with one another on this subject, and even the Iconoclasts, at the very time that they most fiercely repu diated the use of images, admitted with out difficulty the veneration of relics.
In the age of the Crusades a fresh impulse was given to the worship of relics in the West by the novelty and variety of the sacred objects brought home from the churches of Syria, Asia Minor, and Constantinople by crusaders, by palmers returning from Palestine, and by the Latin conquerors of Constanti nople; and it is admitted by the most zealous Roman Catholics that at this period many false, and perhaps even absurd and ridiculous relics were intro duced, and were successfully commended to the veneration of individuals or in dividual churches in the West; nor do they venture to doubt that abuse and superstition found their way side by side with what they regard as the genuine and authorized worship of the Church. Nevertheless, with the exception of the Waldenses, Wyclif, and a few iso lated individuals, the practice remained unchallenged till the 16th century, when, in common with many other doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome, it was utterly repudiated by the Reformers. Roman Catholics, however, allege that the practice, as sanctioned by the Church, has nothing in common with the abuses which form the main ground of the objections alleged by Protestants.
The Roman Catholic use of relics, as authorized by the Church, is to serve as incentives to faith and piety, by recalling vividly to men's minds the lives, and, as it were, the corporeal presence and the earthly converse of the saints, and thus placing before them, in a more touching manner, the virtues which, in the ex amples, are held up for men's imitation. The decree of the Council of Trent con nects the subject of relic worship with the general question of saint worship, and regards the relics of the saints not as possessing intrinsic virtue, but only as instruments "through which God be stows benefits on men." The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) forbade the sale or veneration of relics till their authen ticity had been approved by the author ities; the Council of Trent renewed the prohibition. In the pastoral of the Bishop of Treves, inviting pilgrims to the exhibition of the Holy Coat (1891), it is expressly stated that "the authenticity of no relic, be it the most eminent of the eldest Church of Christendom, falls under any precept of Catholic faith." Relics are usually venerated in costly cases or "reliquaries" set on the altar; they are also carried in procession, and the faithful are blessed with them.
The Greek and other Oriental Churches, and most of the Oriental sects, agree with Roman Catholics in the practice of relic worship. On the contrary, the Re formed Churches, without exception, have rejected the usage; though non-religious relic worship is rife enough, in the form of swords of Wallace and Bruce, locks 4)1 Prince Charlie's hair, etc. The prac tice of relic worship forms a notable feature of the Mohammedan usage of pilgrimages, and is an even more impor tant feature of Buddhism.