Letter 16

From: [Frankish bishop] To: [colleagues] Date: ~570 AD Context: A pastoral letter on pilgrimage and relics — important topics as the Frankish church developed its own relic-cult and pilgrimage traditions. To the beloved brothers. The veneration of relics and the practice of pilgrimage have grown enormously in our region in recent decades, and I want to say something about both that I hope will be useful. On relics: they are not magic. I say this because the way some of our people relate to them suggests they think otherwise — that the physical proximity of a saint's remains produces spiritual effect automatically, regardless of the disposition of the worshipper. This is not the teaching of the church. The veneration of saints is an act of worship directed, through the saint's intercession, toward God. The saint is a mediator, not a source of power in themselves. When we pray at a saint's tomb, we are asking one who is now with God to pray for us — not commanding a spiritually charged object. On pilgrimage: the journey to a holy site has genuine value when it is an expression of genuine devotion, a concrete act of the commitment to seek God. It has no value when it is a social occasion, a chance to travel, or an evasion of the responsibilities of daily life. The man who leaves his family inadequately provided for to make a pilgrimage to Rome has gotten his priorities wrong. Discern carefully which it is, and act accordingly. Your brother in Christ.