A day in Marseille
On the 4th February this year, at the very beautiful Abbey of Saint Victor in Marseille, a place of deep history, and the last of three stations during a week of pilgrimaging through France, the others being Paris and Lourdes, I marveled at the relics of very ancient martyrs and saints enshrined there – St Agathe, St Victor of Marseille, St John Cassian, St Justin Martyr (on whose feast day according to the present-day liturgical calendar I received the sacrament of Holy Baptism as a baby of a few months, back then in a Lutheran church – so I was surprised and pleased to find bones of this patron saint of mine there)… and many more.
By the grace of God I was able to attend two very fine Holy Masses at the Abbey, splendid in noble simplicity, celebrated by the Dominicans of Marseille, one in the crypt in the morning, the other in the afternoon in the upper church. The afternoon Holy Mass was followed by an hour of Eucharistic Adoration with these many young men in the black and white dress of the Dominican order – a hopeful sight – chanting Tantum ergo sacramentum and drawing all hearts towards contemplating the mystery that is the presence of Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
In between these two visits at the Abbey, I was granted the gift of a conversation in French, on my part clumsily, with a good elderly lady sitting at the information desk of a church right by the harbor. We shared our grief about society‘s steady descent into a darkness oblivious of the light of Christ, and she urged me to buy and eat navettes – a traditional pastry associated with the Chandeleur celebrations in Marseille. Which I did.
In this seaport of southern France, it is a longstanding tradition to celebrate Candlemas, in French Chandeleur, the feast day of the 2nd February commemorating the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary when the holy prophet Simeon took the child Jesus into his arms exclaiming “a light of revelation to the gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel“ (Lk 2: 32), for eight days – a Candlemas Octave – in a very joyful way.
Having returned home, I began writing this article about the veneration of the saints and their relics, hoping to share a couple of quotes by the Church Fathers on this very topic and pieces of information concerning the Abbey of Saint Victor alongside of them, and I commenced reading the Collations of Saint John Cassian, who was the founder of the Abbey of Saint Victor in the early 5th century. Yet it is only now, months later, that I finally manage to finish and publish it.
About Saint John Cassian and Saint Victor of Marseille
Saint John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic or John Cassian the Roman, a friend of Saint John Chrysostom who lived from 360 to 435, in the year 415 went from the eastern part of the Roman Empire to the west, to the seaport Marseille, where he founded monasteries for both men and women upon the tombs of the holy martyrs Victor, Longinus, Alexander, and Felician: the Abbey of Saint Victor.
Cassian was most likely born in the region of Scythia Minor, traveled as a young man to Palestine, together with his friend Germanus, where he then lived in a hermitage near Bethlehem for some years before venturing out into the Egyptian desert to dwell with the monks residing there in order to learn from them. He later compiled a collection of the teachings of these Desert Fathers – a book that Saint Benedict of Nursia recommended reading to his monks, the aforementioned Collations.
Now, who was Saint Victor whose holy bones, together with those of his companions, became the foundation stones of the monastery that Saint John Cassian founded? First of all, let us note that Saint Victor of Marseille‘s patronage includes sick children. I will keep that in mind for the rest of my life, for surely there will come a day when one needs the intercession of the saints for a sick child.
Saint Victor was a Roman army officer in the city of Marseille who in the year 290 was beheaded for denouncing the worship of idols, alongside his “brothers in arms“ Longinus, Alexander, and Felician. His feast day is the 21st July. This is how the Roman Martyrology puts it:
“At Marseilles, the birthday of St. Victor, a soldier. Because he refused to serve in the army and sacrifice to idols, he was thrust into prison, where he was visited by an angel, then subjected to various torments, and finally being crushed under a millstone, he ended his martyrdom. With him also suffered three soldiers, Alexander, Felician, and Longinus.“
Roman Martyrology, 21st July
The testimony of Sacred Scripture and of the Church Fathers concerning the power of relics and of the intercession of the saints
“She had heard about Jesus, and she came up through the crowd and touched his tunic from behind, thinking, ‘If I can just touch his clothes, I shall be saved.‘ And at once the source of the bleeding dried up, and she felt in her body that she was cured of her sickness.“
Mark 5: 27-29
Since times immemorial, as it is commonly phrased, the veneration of the bodies of the saints and even of objects that came into contact with their bodies is part of the faith handed down from one faithful generation to the next. In the Abbey of Saint Victor in Marseille one finds the bones of the martyrs and saints enshrined in beautiful golden caskets.
The first decades and centuries of the Church were lavishly adorned with the blood of the martyrs. Altars for celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass were built over their tombs and burial places, and to this day every Catholic altar contains the relic of a saint. There is not a single Catholic church, member of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church which is spread out all over the world, among those thousands upon thousands of temples of stone without the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, of His Body and His Blood, in the Most Holy Eucharist, hidden in the tabernacle. And there is not a single Catholic church without a relic, that is without the presence of a real saint shining silently through his bones.
Early on, the relics of the saints were handled with the utmost care, and kept intact for joyous celebrations and processions on their memorial days. And early on, pilgrimages were undertaken by the faithful to reliquary shrines or to places where holy men once had dwelled or where holy events had happened.
The following sample of quotes, taken from the Church Fathers who lived and taught during the first few centuries of Christianity and from various books of Sacred Scripture, testify that this Catholic tradition of honoring the relics of the saints and of trusting in their powerful intercession has been alive and well from the very beginning, having its deep roots in the tradition of the one holy religion inherited from the Jewish people and in the mystery of faith that proclaims the risen Christ, hoping on the grace of eternal life with God and on the bodily resurrection of all the faithful at the end of the age.
“For only the harder portions of his holy remains were left, which were conveyed to Antioch and wrapped in linen, as an inestimable treasure left to the holy Church by the grace which was in the martyr.“
Martyrdom of St Ignatius of Antioch, early 2nd century
“Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps.“
Martyrdom of St Polycarp, 2nd century
“I acknowledge also the holy apostles, prophets, and martyrs; and I invoke them to supplication to God, that through them, that is, through their mediation, the merciful God may be propitious to me, and that a ransom may be made and given me for my sins.“
Saint Basil the Great, 4th century
“Everywhere we venerate the tombs of the martyrs; we apply their holy ashes to our eyes; we even touch them, if we may, with our lips.“
Saint Jerome, 4th / 5th century
“We shall see the fountain in which the eunuch was immersed by Philip. We shall make a pilgrimage to Samaria, and side by side venerate the ashes of John the Baptist, of Elisha, and of Obadiah.“
“For not the bodies only, but the very sepulchres of the saints have been filled with spiritual grace. For if in the case of Elisha this happened, and a corpse when it touched the sepulchre, burst the bands of death and returned to life again, much rather now, when grace is more abundant, when the energy of the spirit is greater, is it possible that one touching a sepulchre, with faith, should win great power; thence on this account God allowed us the remains of the saints, wishing to lead by them us to the same emulation, and to afford us a kind of haven, and a secure consolation for the evils which are ever overtaking us.“
Saint John Chrysostom, 4th / 5th century
“For even now miracles are wrought in the name of Christ, whether by His sacraments or by the prayers or relics of His saints (…).“
Saint Augustine of Hippo, 4th / 5th century
“We now send you as the benediction of the blessed apostle Peter a small cross, wherein are inserted benefits from his chains, which for a time bound his neck: but may they loose yours from sins for ever.“
Saint Gregory the Great, 6th century
“For the bodies of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul glitter with so great miracles and terrors in their churches that one cannot even go to pray there without great fear. In short, when my predecessor, of blessed memory, was desirous of changing the silver which was over the most sacred body of the blessed apostle Peter, though at a distance of almost fifteen feet from the same body, a sign of no small dreadfulness appeared to him.“
“The Master Christ made the remains of the saints to be fountains of salvation to us, pouring forth manifold blessings and abounding in oil of sweet fragrance (…).“
Saint John of Damascus, 7th / 8th century
The cited Saint John Chrysostom points us to a story in the Old Testament testifying to the miraculous power of the relics of saintly men and women. The prophet Elisha divides the water of the river Jordan with the help of the cloak of his master Elijah:
“Now as they walked on, talking as they went, a chariot of fire appeared and horses of fire came between the two of them; and Elijah went up to heaven in the whirlwind. Elisha kept watching and crying, ‘My father! My father! Chariot of Israel and its chargers!‘ Then he lost sight of him, and taking hold of his own clothes he tore them in half. He picked up Elijah‘s cloak which had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took Elijah‘s cloak which had fallen from him and struck the water, crying, ‘Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?‘ As he struck the water it divided to the right and left, and Elisha crossed over.“
2 Kings 2: 11-14
Later, it is by getting in touch with Elisha‘s bones that a dead man is raised to life:
“Elisha died and was buried. Now bands of Moabites were making incursions into the land every year. Some people happened to be carrying a man out for burial; and suddenly they saw one of these bands, flung the man into the tomb of Elisha and made off. The man had no sooner touched the bones of Elisha than he came to life and stood up on his own feet.“
2 Kings 13: 20-21
In the book of Acts we read how people were cured by coming into contact with pieces of cloth which had touched the body of Saint Paul.
At the same time, this passage clearly teaches that certainly each and every miracle comes from God alone and is to be considered His work and His gift of grace, and that only the faith and the prayer of the living members of Christ who are offering up their sacrifices and the merits of the saints in union with Him, the high priest, as well as the exorcist power and authority conferred by Christ onto the Holy Apostles and the one Holy Church founded upon them may hopefully draw such graces down.
For a group of “exorcists“ tried to imitate the miracles obtained by the Holy Apostles – but because they were no true members of the body of Christ, they attempted to do so in vain.
“God did not inconsiderable works of power at Paul‘s hands so that handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched his skin were taken to the sick, and they were cured of their illnesses, and the evil spirits came out of them.
Acts 19: 11-17
But some itinerant Jewish exorcists also tried pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus over people who were possessed by evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.‘ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this, but in reply the evil spirit said, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I understand, but who are you?‘ and the man who had the evil spirit in him hurled himself at them and mastered them with such force that they fled out of that house stripped of clothing and badly mauled. This became known to all the inhabitants of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; everyone was filled with awe, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised.“
All you holy martyrs and saints, pray for us!
Post scriptum no. 1: First class, second class, and third class relics
The Church distinguishes between three classes of sacred relics: first class, second class, and third class relics.
A first class relic is a part of the saint‘s body, for example his bones or a limb. A second class relic is an object which was always close to the saint’s body during his earthly pilgrimage, for example clothing he wore or objects he used. An example for a second class relic would be the hair shirt of Saint Thomas More. These two classes of relics are those which we find enshrined in churches.
Finally, a third class relic is something that was touched by the saint (like the “handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched the skin“ of Saint Paul the Apostle) or a suitable object – like a piece of cloth or a rosary – which was brought into contact with a first class or a second class relic. This is something which the faithful can obtain by bringing an object into contact with a saint’s relics or a holy place during a pilgrimage to take the item home with themselves for veneration and as a sacramental drawing down graces through the saint‘s mediation.
Post scriptum no. 2: What is said in the Catechism and in Lumen Gentium about the veneration of the saints who are our friends
“The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, [cf. Heb 12:1], especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, share in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. When they entered into the joy of their Master, they were ‘put in charge of many things.’ [cf. Mt 25:21.] Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan. We can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world.“
Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 2683; 956
“(…) Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness…. They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus…. So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped. [LG 49; cf. 1 Tim 2:5.]“
“For just as Christian communion among wayfarers brings us closer to Christ, so our companionship with the saints joins us to Christ, from Whom as from its Fountain and Head issues every grace and the very life of the people of God. It is supremely fitting, therefore, that we love those friends and coheirs of Jesus Christ, who are also our brothers and extraordinary benefactors, that we render due thanks to God for them and ‘suppliantly invoke them and have recourse to their prayers, their power and help in obtaining benefits from God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer and Saviour.‘ For every genuine testimony of love shown by us to those in heaven, by its very nature tends toward and terminates in Christ who is the ‘crown of all saints,‘ and through Him, in God Who is wonderful in his saints and is magnified in them.
Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on Nov 21, 1964, par. 50-51
Our union with the Church in heaven is put into effect in its noblest manner especially in the sacred Liturgy, wherein the power of the Holy Spirit acts upon us through sacramental signs. Then, with combined rejoicing we celebrate together the praise of the divine majesty; then all those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and gathered together into one Church, with one song of praise magnify the one and triune God. Celebrating the Eucharistic sacrifice therefore, we are most closely united to the Church in heaven in communion with and venerating the memory first of all of the glorious ever-Virgin Mary, of Blessed Joseph and the blessed apostles and martyrs and of all the saints.
This Sacred Council accepts with great devotion this venerable faith of our ancestors regarding this vital fellowship with our brethren who are in heavenly glory or who having died are still being purified; and it proposes again the decrees of the Second Council of Nicea, the Council of Florence and the Council of Trent. (…)“