‘Treasures of the Church’ draws large Valley crowds

By PAUL BINZ

The Valley Catholic

WESLACO —  Treasures of the Church, a comprehensive collection of relics of Our Lord and the saints, visited the Diocese of Brownsville this fall, appearing at three different parishes.

Hundreds of the faithful turned out at each stop, which included Holy Spirit Parish in McAllen on Nov. 29, St. Anthony Parish in Harlingen Nov. 30, and St. Joan of Arc Parish in Weslaco Dec. 1.

The evenings began with a presentation by Father Carlos Martins of Detroit, who oversees the collection and accompanies the relics on their travels.

“I have a unique ministry in the Church. I work with the Vatican and bring (this) very large collection of relics of the saints to churches, schools and prisons throughout the world,” Father Martins told a packed St. Joan of Arc Church. “And of all the things I do in my work as a priest, these expositions are my favorite work.”

Father Martins described the saints as the “masterpieces of God’s creation,” and recounted some of the miracles associated with the relics included in the collection. He spoke of a man in Houston who had been paralyzed for 55 years since birth; after touching a certain relic, “he got up out of his wheelchair and walked home.” The priest also talked about a nine-year-old cancer victim whose large tumor disappeared on her ride home after viewing and touching the relics, and who is in perfect health today.

Before releasing the crowd to cross to street for the exposition, Father Martins suggested a way to gain a more meaningful experience with the relics: remove what he called “The Four Handcuffs.”

“If you discover in yourself one or more of these handcuffs, if you decide to get rid of them; if you choose to make those decisions today, right now, even from where you’re sitting, then you will experience the presence and power of the Living God today in a way unlike you’ve ever experienced before,” he said. “I guarantee you. Take me up on this offer.”

Father Martins then elaborated:

• First handcuff: A refusal to attend Sunday Mass. He said this is really a refusal of the Sacraments, and therefore a refusal of God.
• Second: A refusal to confess sins sacramentally. He cited Jesus saying to the apostles, “‘If you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven.’ We have no right to tell God the manner in which to forgive our sins.”
• Third: A refusal to make a complete disclosure of our sins within the sacrament of confession — a deliberate, intentional withholding of sins we know we have committed. This, he said, is clinging to the sin and has the effect of closing oneself off from sacramental grace.
• Fourth: A refusal to extend forgiveness to those who have hurt and wounded us. “The person who refuses to forgive is so unlike God that he or she cannot stand in his presence,” Father Martins said.

He also laid out four steps by which the faithful could gain a plenary indulgence after their attendance at the exposition.

Father Martins ended his talk about the relics by inviting the people to open their hearts to the saints and pray to them to become their best friends. This would be an open invitation for a saint to choose you and accompany you, he said. Since the talk was at the church and the exhibit at the parish hall, he encouraged the people to pray in this manner as they walked over to the hall.

Father Martins said that a person would know when saints present themselves by becoming aware of an aroma, perhaps roses; feeling the presence of the saint; or even feeling a warmth when picking up a reliquary. He said others have offered such testimonies, and he encouraged those present to share with him any manifestations.

The Treasures of the Church organization has this to say about the nature of relics and the miracles associated with them: “It is very important to note … that the cause of the healing is God; the relics are a means through which He acts.  In other words, relics are not magic.  They do not contain a power that is their own; a power separate from God.  … The fact that God chooses to use the relics of saints to work healing and miracles tells us that He wants to draw our attention to the saints as ‘models and intercessors.’”

The reliquaries in the exposition, most of which resemble small monstrances, numbered more than 140 and included relics not only of dozens of high-profile saints, but small pieces of the True Cross and fragments of the Holy Lance, the Crown of Thorns and the veil of the Blessed Mother.

The list of prominent saints included the 12 Apostles, St. Joseph, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Nicholas, St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) and even recently canonized popes St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II.

The Treasures of the Church website defines relics as “physical objects that have a direct association with the saints or with Our Lord.”

“They are usually broken down into three classes. First class relics are the body or fragments of the body of a saint, such as pieces of bone or flesh. Second class relics are something that a saint personally owned, such as a shirt or book (or fragments of those items). Third class relics are those items that a saint touched or that have been touched to a first, second, or another third class relic of a saint.”

Of the hundreds of people viewing the relics, many brought rosaries, holy cards, Bibles and other personal items to touch to the reliquaries, thereby making these possessions third class relics in their own right. The faithful were permitted — even invited — to touch and pick up the individual reliquaries.

The doors of the Parish Hall at St. Joan of Arc opened shortly before 8 p.m., and people continued to make the rounds of the tables past 11 p.m. The exposition at St. Anthony and Holy Spirit parishes reportedly stayed open for more than four hours.

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Angelica Corona, Creative Communications Specialist for the Diocese of Brownsville's Communications Office, contributed to this report.