Letter to Pope Leo XIV
Canon 1237 states “The ancient tradition of placing relics of martyrs or other saints under a fixed altar is to be preserved, according to the norms given in the liturgical books.”
Do you know what saint is under the altar at your parish? We should! I have written a letter to Pope Leo, asking him to declare a new plenary indulgence if you attend Mass on the feast day of the saint whose relics are under the altar. I’ll let you all know as soon as I hear back.
In the meantime, priests: tell your parishioners what saint’s relics are under the altar (if you know). Encourage your parishioners to attend Mass on the saint’s feast day. Lay people: ask your priest about the relics. Encourage devotion to that saint in your family.
Let’s be saints.
Most Holy Father,
I write as a lay Catholic and father of 8 to beseech you to open wider God’s floodgate of mercy, and grant a new plenary indulgence to the faithful who devoutly assist at Mass on the feast of the saint whose relics are in that church’s altar.
Throughout Her history, Holy Mother Church has seen fit to grant indulgences in order to encourage the faithful to works that will enliven their faith, hope, and charity. By granting this indulgence, I believe the Church will help the faithful to realize the following spiritual benefits:
A parish-wide devotion to the saint(s) whose relics are contained in the altar stone. In nearly 50 years of being a Catholic, I cannot recall an instance of a priest mentioning the name of a saint whose bodily relics lay within the church’s altar. In some cases, this may be the result of lost parish documentation, such that the priest himself is unaware. However, by offering this indulgence, and encouraging pastors to make this indulgence known to us, their spiritual children, no longer would the saint’s identity be lost or forgotten. On the contrary, by being made known and celebrated, parish families will keep alive within their living memory the glory of their saint. For, it is our saint, and our friend. Our friend whose body has been present at every Mass that we will attend at that church. Our friend who has been present when our grandfather received his First Holy Communion, and who will be present when our grandchildren receive their First Holy Communion.
How can we not have devotion to this saintly friend, remembering that at every Mass celebrated at this altar are laid two bodies: the First, already glorified; the second, reposing at the altar of the Lord until the end of time. How can we fail to trust the prayers of our heavenly friends when we invoke their intercession in the hope that at the end of all things, we might rise with them, glorified, and repose with them, body and soul, upon the breast of our Glorified Savior?
Rekindling the faithful’s honor for and veneration of relics. St. John Chrysostom writes that, “For not the bodies only, but the very sepulchers of the saints have been filled with spiritual grace.” The Council of Trent asked specifically for the faithful to be “diligently” instructed that “the holy bodies of holy martyrs, and of others now living with Christ…are to be venerated by the faithful” because through these relics “many benefits are bestowed by God on men.” What better way to enkindle the faithful’s desire to venerate relics than to make known to them the saints present at the altar, while encouraging them to participate in the Mass on that saint’s feast day?
Reminding the faithful of our true heroes. Holy Father, as you are well aware, our modern culture offers to us as heroes the powerful, the wealthy, and the famous. Our children are continually fed the lie that happiness consists in such things. The Church, in Her wisdom, has always recognized that Her sons and daughters must continually have before them models of virtue and holiness. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” As, St. Augustine notes “[F]rom that seed have sprung the crops of the church. They have asserted Christ’s cause more effectively when dead than when they were alive. They assert it today, they preach him today; their tongues are silent, their deeds echo round the world.”
As in every age, we must be reminded that such men and women once walked the face of this earth. And we must be reminded how they walked: with bloodied feet like St. Jose Sanchez del Rio, shouting “Viva Cristo Rey!”; singing Salve Regina, onto the foot of the scaffold, and into eternal life, like the martyred nuns of Compiègne; from a prison cell for harboring faithful priests, to be crushed to death while uttering, “Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, have mercy upon me,” like St. Margaret Clitherow; with an unborn child, and a willingness to sacrifice her life so that her baby may live, like St. Gianna.
In a word, we must be reminded that, truly, such men and women once walked with Christ’s feet, and we are called to nothing less than that, because there is nothing greater than that. What a joy to be reminded that our footsteps were their footsteps: to the altar of God, to be in Communion with Him.
The account of St. Polycarp’s martyrdom tells us that, “[W]e afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary (birthday) of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps.”
Holy Father, from the very earliest times the Church has “raised to the altar” her triumphant sons and daughters. I now humbly ask that you grant to us, the Church militant, a plenary indulgence so that we might seek them there, at the altar, on their feast days, to celebrate with them the Divine Liturgy.
You remain in my prayers, and I humbly request your Apostolic Blessing for myself and my family.
Your Holiness’ servant,
Timothy Clark
November 8, 2025
Feast of the Veneration of the Holy Relics