Holy Relics

The bodies of the saints are venerated because grace does not abandon what it has sanctified: the body is not a shell the soul discards but part of the person, destined for resurrection. Scripture already reports the dead man raised by touching the bones of Elisha, and handkerchiefs carried from St Paul. An Orthodox altar is consecrated with relics set within it, and the antimension on every altar table contains them, so that the Liturgy is still served over the martyrs as it was in the catacombs. The veneration given is proskynesis, honour, never the latreia due to God alone, and the honour passes to the One who glorified them.