The Veneration of the Saints
The word ‘venerate’ is now defined as: to regard or treat with reverence; revere.
[1615–25; < Latin venerātus, past participle of venerārī to solicit the goodwill of (a god), worship, revere; see Venus]
Note that it comes from a word which can mean to ‘solicit the goodwill of’, or in the vernacular, ‘beg of’, ‘suck up to’, or ‘flatter for gain’. Although often associated with ‘worship’, the two are not identical: to ‘worship’ is to recognise the ‘worth or value of’ and does not imply an expectation of recompense or favour.
The two kinds of martyrs – “red” and “white” alike – were honoured on the anniversary of their deaths, as the day of their birth to a new life in heaven. Churches were named after them and placed under their patronage.
Eastern churches venerated their images, while Western churches venerated their relics. Biographies of various saints – some historically reliable and others less so or not at all – were composed and became more familiar to people than the Scriptures themselves, contributing to the shaping of the Catholic imagination of the Middle Ages.
In the West, pilgrimages to the shrines of particular saints were matters of local pride and profit. The cult of relics – many of which were sold, traded, falsified, stolen, and fought over – became increasingly important after the fall of the Roman Empire, especially in northern Europe, because many areas did not have their own local martyrs and shrines. The practise of the “translation”, or transfer, of relics from tombs to churches throughout the Christian world became more common at this time, when the Church was encouraging the veneration of relics among the newly evangelized in order to help solidify their faith and to prevent any relapse into the worship of idols. [see Relics in We Believe]
In the Baroque period of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, devotions outside of Mass and the Divine Office, such as novenas in honour of the saints, pilgrimages to their shrines, and prayers to the saints in quest of some temporal or spiritual advantage, became increasingly popular. The celebration of the Mass became more theatrical and increasingly remote from the ordinary experience of the laity. The new extraliturgical devotions filled in the spiritual gap. They appealed to the people’s senses (few could read) and were in the vernacular (few could understand Latin). They provided tangible ways of making the grace of God vivid and concrete. [This process is not unique to Catholicism, but is common to many religious groups, where the original ‘divine revelations’ become hidden behind traditions and extra-doctrinal ideologies, allowing for manipulation and control of the laity and the ennoblement of the priesthood.]
The Saints as Sacraments
To those who wondered how they could pattern their lives on Christ’s when they did not know him, Paul wrote: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). The Church lifts its saints before the world for this same purpose: to provide models and examples of discipleship. Imitate them, in whom the grace of Christ has triumphed, the Church assures us, and you will be imitating Christ himself. [A truly worthy course, until the imitation of the ‘model’ outshines the reality of the ‘original’. Also, we need to continuously embrace our ‘being’ and not our ‘doing’.]
