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Originally posted by AgentRouka:
Speaking neutrally and merely from a historical perspective:

I think the desire to have saints' remains close is tied to the fact that people have an active relationship with the saint, who remains a conduit between people and god, and the way they are/were considered to be fully present in both depictions or relics. It's not mere illustration of a former person, it's a vessel of a current entity.

Miracles often played a big role in saint worship and while not all (I believe) performed miracles, their graves afterwards were often associated with them. So specific sites or objects related to the saint, much more so their relics, are infused with the power and spirit of that saint and to venerate them is an act of appreciation. Through their pious life, the saint essentially bought extra goodwill from god and making the effort to venerate those relics is a form way of supporting and partaking in that special goodwill.

There obviously are some pagan roots in there, but when you look beyond the superstition of it, there's an understandable form of comfort in having physical proof of something extraordinary. Not so different from an ordinary gravesite, which is a physical reminder of a person that used to be. Only less distant.



I think it's one of the least objectionable things about Catholicism.

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