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Dear catholic.com visitors: This website from Catholic Answers, with all its many resources, is the world's largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. A fully independent, lay-run, 501(c)(3) ministry that receives no funding from the institutional Church, we rely entirely on the generosity of everyday people like you to keep this website going with trustworthy , fresh, and relevant content. If everyone visiting this month gave just $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. Do you find catholic.com helpful? Please make a gift today. SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR NEW MONTHLY DONATIONS! Thank you and God bless.

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Is it true there are so many relics of the Virgin Mary that put together there would be enough bones for more than one body?

Question:

I have heard that there are so many relics of the Virgin Mary's body that, put together, there would be enough bones for more than one person! Is this true?

Answer:

No. The Catholic Church has solemnly defined that the Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven, body and soul, which means that there are no bones from her body available to be distributed as relics. The Church does believe in the value of relics though, and for reasons based on Sacred Scripture. There is a Catholic Answers tract that outlines the Church’s understanding of relics.

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