Why do We Venerate the Saints?

Last weekend I was able to visit Holy Name parish to see St. Jude’s arm. St. Jude died a martyr for Christ by being beat with a club. As a result, part of his radial bone in his arm is kept in a reliquary. It was a wonderful experience venerating a bone of one of the 12 apostles.

So why do we venerate the saints? Their dead bodies, things they touched, etc. Why are relics a big deal?

Relics help us grow closer to God through the saint’s intercession. When we venerate or admire a saint, we are worshipping God. This is because Christ has shined through the lives of the saints and has shown that holiness is attainable with his help. Veneration of the saints is an acknowledgement of Christ’s divinity and how it has impacted his faithful servants. It’s also an acknowledgement of the Holy Spirit powerfully at work in humankind.

All saints were sinners and it is good to reflect on how the Lord has formed and healed them. The prophet Isaiah says it best: “He was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed,” (Isaiah 53:5).

The saints don’t point us toward themselves, but rather to Christ. This is what happens when we venerate a saint. The saints teach us how to be holy and to follow after the Lord and they give us hope that we, too, can become holy.

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you, “(1 Corinthians 11:1-2).