QUESTION OF RELICS IN THE ACTS OF THE SECOND COUNCIL OF NICAEAA

Abstract

The article presents the question of relics as emerging from the acts of the Second Council of Nicea, which was the first council in the history of the Church to address the veneration of relics. It consists of four parts: the first presents the Greek terminology for the various types of relics, the second enumerates the arguments for their veneration, the third concentrates on the meaning of relic worship, and the final part presents various forms of their veneration. The analyses carried out in the essay allow us to formulate the following conclusions:i) in the acts of the Council the veneration appears not only regarding the bones, blood or ashes of saints but also of parts of their clothes and even of their coffins; ii) there is no mention of the private veneration of relics and the liturgical and communal perspective predominates; iii) veneration of relics is not of an autonomous nature but remains in close connection with the worship of God who not only performs miracles through them but is also worshipped when the relics are venerated.