About reverence for St. relics

Letters to St. Gregory the Great (Dvoeslova) “On reverence for St. relics" are instructions emphasizing the importance of veneration of saints. The saint appeals to bishops and pious women to observe due respect and care for the relics of saints. He emphasizes the need for respectful treatment of shrines, the organization of worthy service and the need for material support for ministers. Contents 1. Letter to Constantius, Bishop of Milan 2. Letter to Adeodate 3. Brunichilda the Queen 4. Palladius the Bishop 1. Letter to Constantius, Bishop of Milan Having delivered your letter to me, your Deacon Eventius, among other things, announced to me, dear brother, that you instructed him to ask me to send you the relics of St. Apostle Paul, and also St. Joanna and Pankratius. I fulfilled this request of yours. But you, dear brother, take care that in the place where these relics will be placed, before its consecration, dwellings are built for the servants, and their contents are determined; and then the relics were placed with due honor, so that if this is not done now, the place dedicated to God would not subsequently be left without ministers (Book 9. Scripture 86). I did not quickly give the relics you asked for, venerable wife, not of my own free will, but because previous circumstances led me to indecision. Meanwhile, the Almighty Lord, seeing your zeal, made it known through miracles that your desire would be fulfilled: and thus, therefore, he did not delay the fulfillment of your desire for long, so that through miracles he could strengthen your zeal for the saints and deepen your joy. Fulfilling your desire, I advise you to diligently fulfill the commandments of the Lord, for whose preachers you have such respect, and by arranging, out of pious zeal, places where the saints would be given due honor, prepare for yourself a dwelling in heaven with them, so that in this way on earth you will earn help from them, and in heaven you will be worthy of cohabitation with them (Bk. 10. Scripture 65). Fully expressing your pious disposition and the desire of a pious soul, your letter forced me not only to praise your intention, but also to willingly fulfill your demand: for I could not refuse the pious desire of your righteous soul, and especially having learned that you ask and with all your soul desire such things, which can very much contribute to the establishment of faith and the salvation of the soul. Therefore, greeting you, Empress, with due respect, I ordered that the one who delivered your letter to me, Presbyter Levnarik, at your request, be presented with the relics of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. But in order to further glorify your praiseworthy piety, you must place them in a decent place with due reverence and honor, and provide those serving in that place with maintenance, so that poverty does not weaken their zeal for service, from which disrespect for the relics themselves may be revived. And so, Empress, take care of the reassurance of the servants, so that, by your grace, they will be free from worries and glorify the Lord in a serene spirit, and you yourself will increase your reward in heaven (Book 6. Scripture 50). Your presbyter Levnarik informed me that you, dear brother, built a church in honor of the Apostles Peter and Paul and the Martyrs Lawrence and Pankratius, and placed in it thirty altars, of which four have not yet been consecrated because you, by the inspiration of God, are disposed to place in them the relics of the above-mentioned saints. Having presented with due honor the relics of St. Peter and Paul, Lawrence and Pancras, I advise you to accept them with due reverence, and, with the help of God, place them where they should be, having taken care in advance that those serving at this church do not need maintenance (Book 6. Scripture 49).