We believe that man's body, that is received in Church, becomes container of the uncreated divine energy; christ-carrying and spirit-carrying: "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? ... know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? ... glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinth. 6:15-20); "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thessal. 5:23-24).
The human body is uplifted within the Church and has an eternal destination. Christ will transform our humble body, so it becomes "of the same shape as the body of His glory", in order for it to receive the same shape as that of the body of the Lord and this will take place during the time of the Second Coming, "according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Philip. 3:21).
The glory of the holy relics constitutes a pre-image of this new, glorified situation of the body's. The honour which is given to these in the Orthodox Church constitutes, also, confession of our faith to the catholic glory of man (1 Thessal. 5:23-24).
The blessing grace in the holy relics is expressed by pleasant fragrance, for which fragrance the holy Bible mentions accordingly (2 Corinth. 2:15. c.f. Isai. 66:14) and does miracles (4/2 Kings 13:20-21). The same grace is transmitted to the objects, which come in contact with the body of the saints, resulting in thaumaturgy (4/2 Kings 2:8-14. Matth. 9:20-22. Mark 6:13. Acts 19:12).
Based on our descent from Adam we are in separation from the creation of God (Gen. 3:17-19); but the man of the grace of God radiates peace and transmits blessing, even with his shadow (Acts 5:15-16).
God Himself, therefore, honours the relics of the holy people and imbues them with His uncreated grace. For this reason, the Orthodox Church grants respect to these and places them under the divine altar (Hebr. 13:10), imitating in this manner the heavenly altar that was not made by hands (Revel. 6:9); because our altars are "the figures of the true", i.e. of that heavenly altar (Hebr. 9:24).
The first Church honoured the holy relics. The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp (d. 156 AD) informs us that they were considered as "more honourable than precious stones and more gentle than gold" (Mart. Polyc. 18). The faithful people would gather around the graves of the martyrs, in order to conduct the divine eucharist and to celebrate the memory of the saints. This was transferred to the next generations; there is no evidence to support the fact that the respect to the holy relics was not catholically accepted.
St. Gregory the Theologian (329-390 AD) underlines the many miracles that were taking place via the honourable relics of St. Cyprian, "when there is faith", he says, and adds that this is known by "all that had experience and have told the miracle to us and they will deliver it in the future too" (Speech 24:18, to St. Cypr.).
In his first steliteutical speech against Julian, Gregory mentions the following about the saints: "for them, great are the honours and celebrations. Via them it is that demons go away and ailments are healed ... their bodies alone have the same power with their holy souls, either by touch or by the granting of respect. Even drops from their blood and small objects from their martyrdom count as much as their bodies" (Greg. Theol., Speech 4:69).
St. John Chrysostom underlines that even the emperor hastens to pay respects via proskynesis to the graves of the saints and "stood praying to the saints", i.e. prays to the saints "in order (for them) to stand for him in front of God" (Chrys., Memor. to 2 Corinth., Speech 26:5).
The same saint, expressing the faith of the Church, motions: "visit the temples of the martyrs, where you will find the body's health and the soul's benefit" (Chrys., Memor. To Matth., Speech 37:7). In another speech, he urges christians to visit "the houses of prayer and the relics' containers of the saints, so that, once we have received their blessing, we can set ourselves invincible to the traps of devil" (To Gen., Speech 15:6). "The bones of the saints reduce demons and torture, and free all that have been tied by these truly bitter bonds" (Chrys., Memor. To 2 Corinth., Speech, 26:5).
According to the faith of the first Church, the divine grace is transmitted to everything that comes in touch with the saints: "Even the clothes of the saints are respected to the whole world", St. John Chrysostom mentions and reminds us of Elijah's mantle (4/2 Kings 2:8-14), the three youths' shoes, that survived the burning furnace (Dan. 3:27-28), Moses' stick that did so many miracles, Paul's clothes (Acts 19:11-12), Peter's shadow (Acts 5:12-16) et al. (Chrys., To the andr. speech 8:2).
St. Basil informs us that the honourable relic of St. Julitta blesses the city and all that arrive at the temple, "whereas earth, which received the blessing by the blessed one's repose, sprung holy water from its bowels" which is "an amulet and delightful receipt for the healthy ones" and "consolation" for the sick (Basil the Great, speech 2 to mart. Jul. 2).
In the Orthodox Church we pay respect and devout proskynesis to the holy relics, which, as with the respect to the saints, is not of a worshipping nature. This is because no Orthodox Christian ever identified in his mind the holy relics with "gods".
EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED IN THE CHAPTER
proskynesis = reverence, prostration; paying respect usu. by bowing before the icon, doing the sign of the cross and kissing the holy icon of the saint. More generally, visiting a place for proskynesis has the same meaning as pilgrimage. Even proskynesis at a saint's grave or another holy place involves proskynesis in front of the saint's icon that will be present by his or her grave. Veneration.