Scholion. On the Worship of the Heavenly Citizens, Images, and Relics

I. Worship of the heavenly citizens. 1. To the Blessed Virgin Mary is due the worship of hyperdulia; to others reigning in heaven with Christ, the worship of dulia (can. 1255, § 1; n. 400).

2. With public worship it is lawful to venerate only those servants of God who have been numbered among the Saints or Blessed by the authority of the Church (can. 1277, § 1).

3. Saints can be worshiped everywhere and by any act of that kind, that is, of dulia; but the Blessed cannot be worshiped except in the place and manner which the Roman Pontiff has granted (can. 1277, § 2). To servants of God equivalently beatified¹ the same acts of public worship can be granted by which those formally beatified have customarily been honored (can. 2135).

4. Laudably also, with the things to be observed having been observed, Saints of nations, dioceses, provinces, confraternities, religious families, and other places and moral persons are chosen and, with the confirmation of the Apostolic See acceding, are constituted Patrons; not so the Blessed, without a special indult of the same Apostolic See (can. 1278).

Note 1. When a decree has been published by which, in the name of the Supreme Pontiff, it is authentically declared that all the virtues of a Servant of God have been well proved in a heroic degree, or that martyrdom has been well proved, once that decree has been published, I say, the Servant of God can be called venerable. Yet this title imports no permission of public worship (can. 2115).

Note 2. It is prohibited for a Servant of God, whose cause has only been introduced, to be adorned with the title venerable; and postulators should beware lest, on the occasion of the introduction of the cause, anything be done in honor of the Servant of God which smacks of public worship (can. 2084, § 2).

¹ Those servants of God are called equivalently beatified whose cause of beatification has proceeded by the extraordinary way of an excepted case or of worship. By this extraordinary way one proceeds when it is intended to be proved that some Servant of God is in possession of public and ecclesiastical worship (can. 2000, §§ 1 and 2). Such a process is admitted for those servants of God who after the pontificate of Alexander III and before the time fixed by the constitution of Urban VIII Coelestis Hierusalem in 1634, that is, before the year 1534, had worship by tolerance (can. 2135). When the process has been duly completed according to the norm of law (can. 2125-2134) and the worship confirmed by decree of the Roman Pontiff, the Servant of God is to be held as equivalently beatified (can. 2134). Aertnys-Damen, I, n. 44, note.

II. Worship of images. To sacred images also "... veneration and worship, relative to the person to whom... the images are referred, is due" (can. 1255, § 2). Nevertheless:

1. It is lawful for no one to place or to take care that any unusual image be placed in churches, even exempt ones, or in other sacred places, unless it has been approved by the Ordinary of the place (can. 1279, § 1). Note: 1. that there is question only of unusual images; 2. that only this is prohibited, that unusual images be exposed in a sacred place unless they have been approved by the Ordinary of the place. With respect to the Ordinary of the place it is established: the Ordinary is not to approve sacred images to be publicly exposed for the veneration of the faithful which do not agree with the approved usage of the Church (can. 1279, § 2). Nor is he ever to permit images of false dogma, or images which do not present due decency and propriety, or which offer to the unlearned an occasion of dangerous error, to be displayed in churches or other sacred places (can. 1279, § 3).

2. If images exposed to public veneration are solemnly blessed, this blessing is reserved to the Ordinary, who nevertheless can entrust it to any priest (can. 1279, § 4). It is said, to the Ordinary; hence this blessing also belongs, for example, to a major superior in his exempt church.

3. Precious images, that is, those outstanding by antiquity, art, or worship, exposed for the veneration of the faithful in churches or public oratories, if at any time they need repair, are never to be restored without written consent given by the Ordinary, who, before granting permission, is to consult prudent and expert men (can. 1280).

4. Notable precious images, and likewise other images which in some church are honored with great veneration of the people, cannot validly be alienated nor permanently transferred to another church without the permission of the Apostolic See (can. 1281, § 4).

Note. Unless ecclesiastical censorship has preceded, sacred images to be printed in any way are not to be published, even by laymen, whether they have prayers attached or are published without them (can. 1385, § 1, 3°). But by the law itself there are prohibited images printed in any way whatever of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Angels and Saints, or of other Servants of God, which are foreign to the mind and decrees of the Church (can. 1399, 12°).

III. Worship of relics. To sacred relics also "... veneration and worship, relative to the person to whom they are referred, is due" (can. 1255, § 2). Moreover, observe:

1. With respect to the manner of worshiping: a) Only those relics can be honored with public worship in churches, even exempt ones, which are known to be genuine by an authentic document of some Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, or of the Ordinary of the place, or of another ecclesiastical man to whom the faculty of authenticating has been granted by apostolic indult. The Vicar General cannot, without a special mandate, declare relics authentic (can. 1283). In addition:

a) Ordinaries of places should prudently remove from the worship of the faithful any relic which they know certainly is not authentic (can. 1284).

b) Sacred relics whose documents of authenticity have perished because of civil disturbances or any other case are not to be exposed to public veneration unless the judgment of the Ordinary of the place, but not of the Vicar General without a special mandate, precedes. Yet ancient relics are to be retained in that veneration in which they have been until now, unless in some particular case it is established by certain arguments that they are false or spurious (can. 1285).

c) Ordinaries of places should not permit questions about the authenticity of sacred relics to be agitated, especially in sacred sermons, books, periodicals, or reviews destined for fostering piety, from mere conjectures, from merely probable arguments, or from prejudiced opinions, especially in words savoring of mockery or contempt (can. 1286).

2. With respect to custody: a) Notable relics¹ of Saints or Blessed cannot be kept in homes or private oratories without the express permission of the Ordinary of the place. Non-notable relics can, with due honor, also be kept in private houses and piously carried by the faithful (can. 1282).

b) Rectors of churches, and others whom it concerns, should diligently watch lest sacred relics be profaned in any way, or perish through human neglect, or be kept less decently (can. 1289, § 2).

3. With respect to exposition. When relics are exposed, they must be in closed and sealed cases or capsules. Relics of the most holy Cross are never to be displayed for public veneration in the same case with relics of the Saints, but must have their own separate case. Relics of the Blessed, without a special indult, are not to be carried around in processions, nor exposed in churches, except where their office and Mass are celebrated by concession of the Apostolic See (can. 1287).

4. With respect to alienation: a) Notable relics, and likewise other relics which in some church are honored with great veneration of the people, cannot validly be alienated nor permanently transferred to another church without the permission of the Apostolic See (can. 1281, § 1).

b) Relics of the most holy Cross which a Bishop perhaps carries in his pectoral cross pass, after his death, to the cathedral church, to be transmitted to the successor Bishop; and if the deceased presided over several dioceses, they pass to the cathedral church of the diocese in whose territory he died, or, if he died outside the diocese, to the one from which he last departed (can. 1288).

c) It is unlawful to sell sacred relics. Therefore Ordinaries of places, vicars forane, pastors, and others having care of souls should diligently take care lest sacred relics, especially those of the most holy Cross, be sold, particularly on the occasion of inheritances or the alienation of a mass of goods, or pass into the hands of non-Catholics (can. 1289, § 1). This nevertheless does not prohibit a thing which neither belongs to the body of a Saint nor has been legitimately destined for public worship from being sold, not as a relic, but as more or less worthy of price, for example an autograph.

Note. One who fabricates false relics, or knowingly sells, distributes, or exposes them to the public veneration of the faithful, contracts by the fact itself an excommunication reserved to the Ordinary (can. 2326).

¹ Notable relics of Saints or Blessed are the body, head, arm, forearm, heart, tongue, hand, leg, or that part of the body in which the martyr suffered, provided it is whole and not small (can. 1281, § 2).