Relics

Relics are material remains of a holy person after death, as well as objects sanctified by contact with the body. The veneration of relics stems from the venerations for the dead and was of some religious significance long before the early Christian practice. This religion of remembrance was common among almost all peoples and although no special honour was paid to relics, care was taken to preserve the ashes or bodies of deceased in graves, tombs, or urns. To the census of religious relics in oriental and western countries may be added Lenin's mummified or preserved body on display in the Kremlin and the relics of the secular's worlds heroes, heroines and martyrs. Such relics may be used to encourage fanaticism.