Saint James the Less:
Relics of the Church

The third pastor of the Church of St. James the Less, the Reverend Ambrose Murphy, had a great love for relics and he set about establishing a major collection for the parish.

We honor relics because they are the remains of the Cross on which our Blessed Lord died, the nails that crucified Him, remains of the bodies of saints or objects connected with the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary. We do not worship relics, we venerate them. Only God is deserving of worship. In a similar manner we preserve with reverence certain objects connected with our great men and women – a sword, a coat, a book.

Relics deserve to be venerated and have been since the earliest days of the Church. (When St. Ignatius of Antioch was martyred – about 110 A.D., two of his companions came by night and gathered up his bones, and when in the same century, Saint Polycarp was burned alive, the Christians gathered his ashes for veneration). The earliest Christians understood that the bodies of the saints were temples of the Holy Spirit and instruments by which God worked and acted accordingly on their faith.

The majority of the collection of the Church of St. James the Less is located in the altar of celebration. Actually, this altar was constituted by combining the two side altars which existed in those earlier times when priest and people all worshipped facing East at the “high” altar, (located behind the present celebratory altar), symbolically awaiting Our Lord’s second coming at the end of the world. For many centuries prior to the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, concelebration by priests was not allowed. Since every priest celebrated Mass each day and since there was an abundance of priests in years past, it was not unusual that a Low Mass might be celebrated quietly at a side altar while Mass was being celebrated at the “high” altar

The two former side altars have been installed “back-to-back”, so only about half of the relics are now visible to the congregation. In addition there is a cabinet near the north confessional which contains relics, even including one of the great St. Athanasius, one of the great saints and Doctors of the early Church who was an important defender of the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Among the hundreds of relics are items pertaining to the family of Our Lord Jesus Christ, relics of the Apostles, Evangelists, early martyrs of the Church, early popes of the Church, Doctors of the Church and Saints whose names are included in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I).

The most precious relics we have are those of the true cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of St. James the Less, our Patron. Just a few of the other relics are: from the veil of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary; from the House of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary; from the clothing of St. Mary Magdalene; from the clothing of St. John the Baptist; St. Stephen the First Martyr; St. Peter the Apostle; St. Paul; St. Thomas the Apostle; St. Bartholomew the Apostle; St. John the Apostle; St. Jude Thaddeus, Apostle; St. Simon, Apostle; St. Andrew the Apostle; St. James the Great, Apostle; St. Phillip the Apostle; St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist; St. Barnabas the Apostle; St. Mark the Evangelist; St. Luke the Evangelist; St. Justin Martyr; St. Polycarp (disciple of St. John); St. Longinus (who lanced Our Lord’s side on the cross and became a Christian); St. Anacletus [Cletus], the third pope; St. Clement I, the fourth pope; St. Leo the Great, Pope (5th century, turned back Attila the Hun; thus single handedly saving Rome); St. Gregory the Great, Pope (7th century; codified the chant which bears his name); St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr; St. Sebastian; St. Athanasias; St. Basil; St. John Chrysostom; St. Gregory of Nyssa; St. John Damasas; St. Gregory Nazianzus; St. Cyril of Alexandria; St. Peter Chrysologus; St. Peter Damian; St. Jerome; St. Ambrose; St. Augustine; St. Anselm; SS. Marcellinus and Peter; SS. Perpetua and Felicity; St. Lucy; St. Agnes; St. Agatha; St. Anastasia; SS. Cosmas and Damian; St. Benedict; St. Bernard; St. Blaise; St. Francis of Assisi; St. Clare; St. Dominic; St. Bonaventure; St. Ignatius of Loyola; St. Francis Xavier; St. Aloysius Gonzaga; St. John Berchmans; Pope St. Pius V; St. Robert Bellarmine; St. John Vianney; and Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha.

(Compiled by the Rev. James T. Benzmiller)