The Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia welcomes with great joy the arrival of the sacred relics of St. Arethas on November 5, 2023, a generous gift of the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Archbishop of Constantinople, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of St. Arethas and Companions in the Arabian Peninsula.

A delegation from the vicariate, led by Bishop Aldo Berardi, O.SS.T., met with the Ecumenical Patriarch to receive the sacred relics. Bishop Aldo expressed his sincere gratitude to the Patriarch for his benevolent gesture and assured him of the closeness of the Catholic community in the Gulf during the Holy Year of St. Arethas with the Orthodox Church which also regards St. Arethas as a Great Martyr.

The relic of St. Arethas was taken from the Orthodox Monastery of Dionysiou in Mount Athos, Greece, where it was believed to have been kept, along with the other relics of the Arab martyrs, when Christians were expelled from South Arabia in the seventh century. The return of his relic to the Arabian Peninsula after almost fourteen centuries is therefore seen as an extraordinary blessing for the present Christian communities in the Gulf.

According to various accounts, a magnificent shrine (kaa’ba in Arabic because of its cubic shape) where the relics of St. Arethas and his fellow martyrs were deposited used to stand in Najran and it became a popular pilgrimage destination for Arab Christians during the late antiquity. The shrine was destroyed in the seventh century when Christians were banished from south Arabia. Many of the relics were believed to have been transported to several monasteries and churches in Syria and Iraq. They were then transferred by pious Christians to Constantinople. The relic of St. Arethas eventually found its way to Mount Athos in Greece where it has been venerated for centuries.

Emphasizing the significance of the presence of the sacred relics of St. Arethas, Bishop Aldo in a Special Message notes that “it is a blessing for our Vicariate to receive this relic that connects us to the Saint and to the history of our Church in this region. This relic has been preserved thanks to the devotion of believers and the veneration of martyrs. The turbulent history of the region has not spared Christians and their religious buildings. The relics were rescued and transported to safety. They are a source of devotion and reflection.”

He added that “it is not a question of adoring the relics but of venerating them as an invisible and spiritual link with the Saints. Let us remember that our altars have relics as the Book of Revelation (6:9) indicates: ‘When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.’”

Following possession of the sacred relics, Bishop Aldo issued an Episcopal Document of Authenticity. The Patriarch earlier issued a Document of Authenticity attesting to the sacred gift.

The sacred relics of St. Arethas will soon visit the different parishes of the vicariate during the Jubilee Year for veneration by the faithful, to increase the devotion to the Arab martyrs. Bishop Aldo invites the faithful to spend some time of reflection “because the Saints and Martyrs are our ancestors in the faith who have lived their baptism seriously and it is our turn to be faithful and consistent.”

The Jubilee Decree issued by Pope Francis grants Plenary Indulgence to the faithful who devotedly pray before the relics of Saint Arethas for a suitable period of time, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Arethas and Companions.