Veneration has been part of our Catholic faith since almost the beginning of the Church. A letter written by members of the Church in Smyrna in the year 156 AD is about venerating the bones of St. Polycarp after he was burned at a stake. With the legalization of the Church by Rome in 312, the tombs of many saints were opened and the actual relics were venerated by the people.
Relics can include the physical remains of a saint (or of a person who is considered holy but not yet officially canonized) as well as other objects which have been by being touched to his body. Relics are divided into different classes. First class relics are the physical body parts, clothing or instruments connected with a Saint. There is also a third class of relics which are those things which the faithful have touched to the physical body parts (reliquary) or the grave of the saint.
St. Jerome reminds us to keep relics in perspective. In his Letter to Riparius, St. Jerome (d. 420) wrote in defense of relics: "We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the Creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are."
This means that when we venerate a relic we are paying honor to the saints who, by their intercession and example help us to grow in our Christian virtue. Venerating the saints does not detract from God’s glory since whatever goodness a saint possesses, we know is a gift from God.
St. John Berchmans died at the age of 22 on August 13, 1621. What I find fascinating about St. John Berchmans is that he was a young man still in the seminary when he died. He lived his life in such a way that everyone around him felt a deep holiness in him. They believed St. John Berchmans would one day be a saint. This was one reason his heart was removed at his death. People were already considering this as a relic for future veneration of a saint. His body is buried in Rome and his heart is in a reliquary in Belgium, where he was born. For more information on St. John Berchmans and the Heart visit the website: http://sjbdevotion.org/
