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 At all times relics have been kept in honor in the Church. As early as in the second century, the Christians in Antioch and Smyrna, as they testified themselves, honored the relics of their holy bishops, Ignatius and Polycarp, who had suffered death for Jesus Christ.

52. Whence do we know for certain that the veneration of relics is pleasing to God?

From this: that God has frequently been pleased to work great miracles through their means, as we read in the Holy Scripture and in the history of the Church.

Application. Honor the Blessed Saints in Heaven with great devotion, especially the Most Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and your Patron Saint. Diligently read their lives, and faithfully imitate their examples. Keep in your dwellings no immodest pictures, but have, by all means, holy images, and, above all, an image of your Crucified Redeemer. Do not help to circulate unauthorized prayers, or aid unauthorized persons to promote what are called chain prayers, as abuses may easily arise from these practices. (Feast of All Saints.)

I. What does the Second Commandment forbid?

The Second Commandment forbids all profanation of the holy name of God.