Keeping the saints alive in the heart and mind.

In 1656 James Harrington wrote in Oceans that, “Every man, either to his terror or consolation, has some sense of religion.” It was with this quote that I found a sense of relief one troubled night. As I have often found myself under assault directly related to my work with relics, one particular night was more troubling than others. I was questioning my reason for even doing this work at all. I called my most dear friend, a Russian Archbishop and started to whine. I don’t know why I continue under the assaults, I told him, “Sometimes I just feel like giving up.” I was very tired working seven days a week, a secular job and traveling the country on the weekends.

My dear friend the Archbishop gave me a very simple and profound reason why I do what I do. He said, “You give them the most important gift that anyone can give. You give them hope.”

How fortunate we are and these modern times; to have so many powerful intercessors, bright exemplars, and heavenly friends in the saints of God. The harvest of holiness from many centuries has been gathered into the boundaries of heaven. There await us our brothers and sisters who have won the crown of justice and who see the face of God. With great confidence we ask for their intercession. They know our sorrows, they have experienced are fears, they love us dearly. Their power with God is immense, so let us speak out to them the needs and desires of our heart.

The role of the saints in the service of mankind is twofold. First, the saints plead for their fellow man before the throne of God, and secondarily, they are examples for all mankind, inside and outside the church.

The benefits which Catholics derive from studying the lives of the saints are numerous because they not only the sources of knowledge and wisdom, but also mentors of virtue and fountains of progress in perfection. We are unconsciously moved to imitate them, drawn closer to men, women and children truly great and good. By admiring their actions, we learn to follow their examples.

The saints still live in their deeds and in the edification which they have been given in the one true church of Jesus Christ. Their lights still shines before us from the earliest of ages, their examples have been the inspiration and joy, the hope and consolation for all Christians to follow.

We will find in the lives of the saints, numerous motives to console ourselves in adversity, to support and strengthen ourselves in temptation, and rebuke transgressions. Each saint is an imitation, in some degree, of all the virtues and perfection of the God man, Jesus Christ.

Let us keep the saints alive in our hearts, in our minds, in our actions and most of all in our prayers. Remember to pray for the poor souls that are in purgatory today, for with masses offered and prayers said, they will be the saints of tomorrow.

Pure Ecumenism
The word "ecumenism" is derived from the Greek oikoumene, which means "the inhabited world". The term is usually used with regard to movements toward religious unity. In its broadest meaning therefore, ecumenism is the religious initiative towards world-wide unity. At a minimum, ecumenism is the promotion of unity, co-operation, or improved understanding between distinct religious groups or denominations within the same religion more or less broadly defined.
When we publicly venerate relics with non Catholics we have more in common than proximity. I have personally witnessed tremendous acts of religious piety and respect from non Catholics. I have seen Catholics instructing their friends (in the pews and the back of the Church), the proper mechanics of approaching the altar and venerating the relics. I of course experienced this in the Holy Land when I visited the prominent non Christians sights. It is a privilege to see Protestants respecting our customs for the love of the Relics of the Passion.
C.S. Lewis wrote in Letters to an American Lady; I believe we are very near to one another . . . In the present divided state of Christendom, those who are at the heart of each division are all closer to one another than those who are at the fringes . . . Let us by all means pray for one another: it is perhaps the only form of "work for reunion" which never does anything but good. God bless you. (Letters to an American Lady, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1967 -- letter from 1953, 11-12)