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Lastly, here is an excerpt from a 2018 article at the Catholic News Service.
Why Do We Venerate Relics?
The veneration of relics is a fundamentally biblical practice; it is not some sort of innovation in the centuries after Christ. On the contrary, as Scripture reveals, the veneration of relics was widely practiced, in one form or another, by ancient Jews as well.
In the Old Testament, the Second Book of Kings details the death of Elisha the prophet. “Once some people were burying a man, when suddenly they saw a raiding band. So they cast the man into the grave of Elisha, and everyone went off. But when the man came in contact with bones of Elisha, he came back to life and got to his feet” (2 Kgs 13:20-21)….
In the New Testament, one of the clearest examples is the story in the Gospels of Matthew (Mt 14:35-36), Mark (Mk 6:56) and Luke (Lk 8:43-44), in which people bring the sick to Jesus so that they might “touch only the tassel on his cloak,” and by coming into this direct contact with him, be healed.
The Acts of the Apostles tells of an early practice of venerating relics: “So extraordinary were the mighty deeds God accomplish at the hands of Paul that when face cloths or aprons that touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them” (Acts 19:11-12).
An example in the early church: St. Polycarp, a disciple of the apostle John, was martyred in 155/156. A contemporary account of Polycarp’s martyrdom stated:
“We took up his bones, which are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them in a suitable place, where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we are able, in gladness and joy and to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.”
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