We think about them they are remains of the past, but what are in fact the holy relics? A question and maybe an answer here

Spiritual life has certain results for those that practice it. One of the most surprising results is the body itself, in many cases preserved long periods of time without decaying and remaining intact. Here is a case of a Romanian priest from our days that was found intact, and also some considerations about this issue.

Seven Years After Death, Romanian Priest Body Hasn't Yet Decayed
An amazing occurrence happened in the village of Boroaia, in the Moldavian County of Suceava, in Romania. Seven years after his death, the inanimate corpse of archimandrite Ilarion Argatu, one of the most known confessors and exorcists in Romania, was very much intact.

At the end of last week, thousands of faithful, priests, monks and nuns gathered at the tomb of priest Argatu, at the Boroaia church. Even though the villagers had thought of him as a genuine saint, the people have admittedly remained speechless when, during the procedure and service and digging up of the body, the body of priest Argatu was undecayed.

The second day, tens of priests arrived in Boroaia, accompanied by the Archbishop of Suceava and Radauti, Pimen.

"A piece of wood was supposed to block our way, but it appeared that it has decomposed. They continued digging to reach for the coffin, but apparently this had decomposed as well. We could only find the body of father Argatu, almost intact. Some of his disciples from the Cernica Monastery (close to Bucharest, where he spent his final 19 years) performed the monastic ritual. They took him out and cleaned him using holy water, holy oil and myrrh",
tells his story the present parishioner of the church of Boroaia, who is none else but the son of the dead priest, Alexandru Argatu.

The body of the archimandrite was placed in the church, fronting the altar on the left side. During the last days that have followed the event, hundreds of believers and church leaders came from all around the country to see the body.

“He was praying until he fell asleep and he woke up, praying again”
In the small village, most of the people think Father Argatu, considered one of the greatest exorcists of modern times, was a holy man. Still, there are voices saying this is not a miracle of God.

Aged 86, Fr. Ilarion went to God. "His life was like a flame, He was praying until he fell asleep and he woke up, praying again", are the words of Archbishop Teodosie Snagoveanul. Fr. Ilarion asked to be buried in the village of Boroaia, where he raised, with unimaginable efforts, a beautiful church and where he served as a priest. His will has been fulfilled.. After deposing the intact body of the father inside the village's church, the church became a pilgrimage place.

The news about the father's body spread fast. Faithful, Church leaders, all came to the crypt to pray and to see the miracle. "We feel a great power at work here. Since we came, we didn't feel hunger, thirst, fatigue, nothing", says one of the women kneeling at his crypt. She came all over from Constanta. "we believe he's a saint, a holy man, and we are here to repent, to receive forgiveness and to be saved through him", says another old man.

Still, in the village there are voices doubting this is a miracle. They think this is
entirely the merit of those who anointed the body. Another explanation says this situation can be explained: the level of humidity inside the crypt was so low, it preserved the body. “The fingers of one hand are different from each other, likewise people. There are people of another belief, another calendar, another type. Ilarion Argatu was a true priest, he healed lots of people”, says Constantin Maxim, a local.

Father Ilarion Argatu was born in 1913 in the village of Valea Glodului, in a large family. He graduated theology at the Faculty in Cernauti (Northern Moldova, now in Ukraine), he was consecrated priest in 1940, after marrying Georgeta Mihailescu. They had five children. After his wife died in 1973, he became a monk at Antim Monastery in Bucharest. The last 19 years of his life were spent at Cernica Monastery, near Bucharest. (published by Sergiu Rusu, "Evenimentul Zilei, May 10th and May 11th 2006 translated by Cristian Buchiu & Lucian Dragos).

There are several other Christian confessions sharing the same ideas about the spiritual powers that give to a saint's body the gift of preservation in its natural living status. Almost all of them are regarded as miracles worked by the spiritual powers possessed by a person. In the Orthodox and Catholic churches they are preserved in special places in the churches and displayed in public when the feast of the saint is celebrated. These days in the Russian Orthodox Church there's a great animation caused by the arrival of the right hand Saint John the Baptist in Moscow. Also, relics are used so as to closen the relationships between churches, like in the case on the right hand of Apostle Andrew, sent to Moscow by the Serbian Mitropolitan See of Montenegro as a gesture of courtesy towards the Russian Patriarchate.

There are a lot of examples about the relics of the saints. Most of them were found by accident (as is the case with the relic of an unknown saint at the monastery of Neamt (Romania), or, like in the case of the priest mentioned above, they were discovered untouched after long periods have passed since their burial.

On a more theological level, in the Orthodox tradition, the body is a part in the revelation of God. Being material, the man's salvation was done through his materiality. This is one of the causes of the Incarnation of the Word of God. Through Him, and through His body, Christians may be elevated to higher spiritual dignity, where "all decay and sorrow has been washed away" (the Orthodox burial ceremony). Those reborn again in the life of Christ may be given the gift of not decaying until the second coming of Jesus.

This theological thinking lead sometimes to strange situations for those not familiar with the Orthodox understanding of the body. In "Karamazov Brothers", F. M. Dostoyevsky describes the great awe and amazement when the body of Zosima, the great leader of a monastery, began to decay rapidly and emanating insupportable scent. This was understood by some as a sign he
wasn't a saint, in spite of his great spiritual life and his wisdom.

Regardless of recent theories, saying relics are a remiscence from much older religious practices (some of them true, but all the more valuable), relics are a living proof of the faith of the dead.

Did you enjoy this article? Please bookmark it onto: