What is the use of relics of saints? Isn't it morbid?
In short: It seems strange at first sight, venerating bones, yes. But for Christians, the body is not trash to be thrown away; it is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and it will rise again. Relics are the remains of people in whom God dwelt, and through whom He has worked and continues to work miracles. We do not venerate death, we venerate the life that sanctified even the body.
The Orthodox nuance
The objection that it would be morbid stems from an idea, perhaps unrealized, that the body is a shameful thing, a prison for the soul. Christianity says exactly the opposite. The body is good, it is made by God, Christ Himself took flesh, and Saint Paul says that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). What has been God's dwelling remains worthy of respect even after death.
And this is not a late invention. Right in Scripture we see the power that passes through holy bodies. A dead man thrown onto the bones of the prophet Elisha comes back to life immediately (2 Kings 13:21). Through Saint Paul, even handkerchiefs that had touched him healed the sick (Acts 19:12). God uses matter, the body, touch, because we are beings of flesh, not angels.
Beware of measure, however. We do not worship bones as a god, and the power is not in the bone, it is in God who acts through the saint. Relics are not a lucky charm. They remind us that holiness is possible, that a human of flesh like us drew so close to God that even his dust became filled with grace. And they give us hope in the resurrection, because this body is not an end, it is a seed.
Sources
- 2 Kings 13:21 (the dead man raised by Elisha's bones)
- Acts 19:11-12 (healings by items touched by Paul)
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 (the body, temple of the Holy Spirit)