Dictionary
A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
SHRINE
In general, a holy place. It may be a box-shaped repository in which relics of a saint are preserved; or the sacred image or statue of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, or a saint in church or at home to which special devotion is given. But mainly shrines are prominent sacred localities. They may be the burial place of a saint, or where he or she lived or died, or where a heavenly apparition took place. Shrines are the focuses of pilgrimages by the faithful and often of miraculous phenomena approved by the Church. (Etym. Latin scrinium, box, bookcase.)
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
