On Venerating Relics:

“I hear that Rouen, which in times past was hardly known in neighboring regions, is now honored even in distant provinces. It is worthy of divine praise and is included among cities noted for their holy places… The apostles have found among you a most suitable refuge… In Rouen they together with the angels are day and night comforted by continuous praise of Christ the Lord. .. In Rouen they take great delight in the most pure hearts and voices of your sheep and in the daily unity of those who sing with true understanding’ in the town’s populous churches and more secluded monasteries.” -Letter 18 to Victricius 5. Worship in the Early Church,  An Anthology of Historical Sources, Volumes 1-4. Lawrence J. Johnson.  Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota

“Through your faith the Lord has fulfilled your heartfelt desire by increasing the splendor and holiness of your buildings, doing so by obtaining the holy relics of the illustrious apostles and martyrs. I know that it was in anticipation of this gift that you constructed a second basilica, one larger than the first, at Primuliacum. I believe that you should also venerate the fragment of the cross that I sent to you and which lies consecrated in the church together with the relics of the saints. To do so is worthy of your life of faith and of the dedication of your faithfully constructed building, a building surely visited by many. It is also fitting for the relics of the saints. Should it please you, the following verses will make known your decision.” -Letter 32 to Severus VI. Worship in the Early Church,  An Anthology of Historical Sources.  Volumes 1-4   Lawrence J. Johnson.  A PUEBLO BOOK.  Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota

‘The holy altar conceals a divine union. Martyrs together with the holy cross are placed here. The whole martyrdom of Christ the Savior is gathered here, The cross, the body, the blood, the martyr, Divinity itself. God always preserves the divine gifts for you. Where Christ is, there the Spirit and the Father are. Thus where the cross is, so too is the martyr because the martyr’s cross is the holy reason for the saint’s martyrdom. Where the cross has given us the food of life, it has given a crown whereby his servants share in the Lord. The flesh that I eat is nailed to the cross. His blood, by which I drink life and wash my heart, flows from the cross.” -Letter 32 to Severus VI. Worship in the Early Church,  An Anthology of Historical Sources.  Volumes 1-4   Lawrence J. Johnson.  A PUEBLO BOOK.  Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota

“Perhaps you prefer that this blessing from the cross be readily available for your daily protection and healing. Once the cross is placed within the altar, it is not always available when needed. In such a case it is sufficient for the consecration of the basilica if we entrust the building only to the apostles and the martyrs. If their venerable relics but not the cross are placed under the altar, the following lines will make this known.” -Letter 32 to Severus VII. Worship in the Early Church,  An Anthology of Historical Sources.  Volumes 1-4   Lawrence J. Johnson.  A PUEBLO BOOK.  Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota

“The glory of the divine table conceals the Holy relics of the saints taken from the bodies of the apostles. The Spirit of the Lord stands by with healing powers, and teaches that these relics are holy. So two graces breathe upon our pious prayers, one from the martyrs here below, the other from the holy things above. The precious death of the saints, through a small amount of their relics, assists the prayers of the priest and benefits the living.” -Letter 32 to Severus VII. Worship in the Early Church,  An Anthology of Historical Sources.  Volumes 1-4   Lawrence J. Johnson.  A PUEBLO BOOK.  Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota

“I have been motivated to link my basilicas with yours, not only because both were constructed simultaneously and by the manner of their dedication but also by my describing both in this letter… And so the basilica, already dedicated in the name of Christ our Lord and God to our common defender and master of our household, is frequented as being an addition to his four basilicas. It is venerable not only because of the honor given blessed Felix’ but because of the holy relics of the apostles and martyrs preserved beneath the altar within the apse with its three recesses. The apse, having a floor and marble walls, is illuminated by a vault decorated with mosaics, whose painting contains the following verses.” -Letter 32 to Severus X. Worship in the Early Church,  An Anthology of Historical Sources.  Volumes 1-4   Lawrence J. Johnson.  A PUEBLO BOOK.  Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota

“On the girdle below … the following inscription reveals the holy of holies deposited beneath the altar. ‘Here is reverence, here faith that nurtures, here the glory of Christ. Here the cross is joined to its witnesses. For a wooden splinter of the cross is a great pledge. The whole power of the cross is found in a small fragment. Holy Melania (of Rome) brought it to Nola as a gift. It is the greatest good coming from Jerusalem. The holy altar covers a double honor to God, Bringing together the relics of the martyrs and the cross So that those slain for the cross may find rest upon the cross.” -Letter 32 to Severus XI. Worship in the Early Church,  An Anthology of Historical Sources.  Volumes 1-4   Lawrence J. Johnson.  A PUEBLO BOOK.  Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota

On the Sacrifice of the Mass:

“Contrary to custom, the basilica faces not the east but toward the basilica of my blessed Lord Felix, namely, toward his tomb. The apse curves its way around with side apses on both the right and the left in the open space. One of these apses can be used by the bishop when offering the sacrifice of joy (the Mass); the other in a large curve holds the numerous people at prayer behind the priest.” -Letter 32 to Severus XIII. Worship in the Early Church,  An Anthology of Historical Sources.  Volumes 1-4   Lawrence J. Johnson.  A PUEBLO BOOK.  Liturgical Press Collegeville, Minnesota