The Bone of Saint Theresa of Avila

The essential nature of relics is the connection of materiality with spirituality. Without this connection a relic is worthless. The nearly infinity number of extant relics do not diminish their value as material objects representing the spiritual world. Very much on the contrary - their abundance speaks to the powerful effect they have on believers, an effect so universally accepted, that they are still, in this age of scientific skepticism to all things spiritual, revered worldwide by all religions.

Smack in the middle of the capital of materialism, of capitalism, and modernism there is a relic which is piously revered by Catholics around the world. I refer to a bone of Saint Theresa of Avila or as she is also known, Saint Theresa of the Infant Jesus, a Spanish XVI century saint.

The materiality of the bone’s location cannot be ignored. The bone rests in the imposing Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue in New York City. This stunning house of worship is surrounded, as everyone knows, by the most expensive products of a materialistic consumer society. Saint Theresa would not fail to notice the irony of the spirituality represented by her remains and the contrast of its resting place with its luxurious surroundings.

The relic itself, a minute portion of a finger’s bone, is hardly visible because of its small size. The relic and its reliquary are located on the right corridor in a small chapel dedicated to the virgin. The reliquary consists of a golden cross with a small glass receptacle where the two arms of the cross meet. It is very hard to the se the bone fragment but this of course is of no consequence as even unseen the importance of the bone is the ideal connection of a saint’s body with the glory of God and of eternal life. The little bone fragment is “bone colored” and of irregular shape. Undoubtedly one has to use some imagination to perceive the physical details of the relic. The reliquary is generally modest as the cross shaped receptacle is no more that some 8 inches across. It is golden but probably not made of gold. A small plaque explains to the viewer what is inside the reliquary.

And here is where the materiality meets the spirituality. Here is the place, the moment when a pious catholic perceives the power of divinity expressed through the physical remains of one now sitting at the foot of God’s throne. Either you believe this or you don’t, but the mystic connection cannot be denied.


This tiny piece of bone, gray, oddly shaped, unassuming, was once one with a person who knows God personally. This belief connects the viewer of the relic and its modest reliquary, with the divinity and power of God. This is the strength of all relics. Although a great deal of them are thought to be fakes this in no way dismisses their importance. It is the idea that a material object, be it a piece of the True Cross or a thorn of the Crown of Thorns, is directly connected with the divinity which is the point of relics. And in the heart of our modern material world, on 5th avenue, rests the bone of a revered saint.