ll what idolatry is. Idolatry is giving to a creature
(whether a crucifix, an image, or any created thing) that honor which
belongs to God.

The honor we give those sacred things is a relative honor. We honor them
on account of the relation they bear to God and His friends, the saints.

Every Catholic, even the child, is taught the difference between the
idol of the pagan and a Catholic image. Pagans looked upon their idols
as gods. They thought these senseless objects had power, intelligence,
and other attributes of the Deity. They worshiped them as gods and
thought they could assist them. Hence they were image-worshipers or
idolaters.

Catholics know full well that images have no intelligence to understand,
no power to assist them. They do not adore nor serve them. That would be
idolatry. It would be breaking the first commandment. They do not say
when praying before the crucifix or image of a saint, "I adore thee, O
Crucifix"; nor "Help me, O Image," But they say, "I adore thee, O God,
whose cruel death is represented by this crucifix," or "Pray for me, O
saint represented by this image."

We have images, pictures, and relics of Our Lord, His Blessed Mother,
and the saints, for the same reason that we have relics and portraits of
George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or of our relatives and friends.
They remind us of the original. Who can look upon the crucifix or upon a
picture of the Crucifixion without being reminded of all the sufferings
of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

And who can seriously contemplate those sufferings, borne for us so
patiently, without being moved to pity and to repentance? Such a person
will be moved to say with the heart if not with the lips: "Oh, my God, I
am sorry for having offended Thee and caused Thee such suffering. Grant
that I may love Thee with my whole heart and never more offend Thee."

Catholics, as we have seen, adore God alone. They honor the Blessed
Virgin and saints represented by images. They use these holy pictures
and statues to beautify the house of God. These pictures are also a
source of instruction. They are a profession of our faith. If you enter
a house and see on one side of the room a picture of the Blessed Virgin,
Cardinal Gibbons, or of Pope Leo XIII, and on the other a picture of
Lincoln, Cleveland, or Washington, you will at once know the religious
faith as well as the political belief or patriotism of the occupant.

By the aid of the relics of the m