Third Class Relic Prayer Cards and Oils

[Ioannes_L]

Couldn't you first present yourself, explain what you do, and then inform people that you happen to sell items that touched relics?
Besides that, I'm curious about a thing or two, and I hope you can help me.
1. You sell 3rd class relics that touched a St. Joseph's relic. Care to explain what relic is this, since there's no 1st class relics of him?
2. You also sell 3rd class relics that touched the grotto of Lourdes, a tree of Fátima, and the holy stair from Rome. Wouldn't that be a simple souvenir?

And don't feel insulted, your website is quite vague, while presenting generic images of children, hands, and stained-glass.

[DNJC.org]

Couldn't you first present yourself, explain what you do, and then inform people that you happen to sell items that touched relics?
Besides that, I'm curious about a thing or two, and I hope you can help me.
1. You sell 3rd class relics that touched a St. Joseph's relic. Care to explain what relic is this, since there's no 1st class relics of him?
2. You also sell 3rd class relics that touched the grotto of Lourdes, a tree of Fátima, and the holy stair from Rome. Wouldn't that be a simple souvenir?

And don't feel insulted, your website is quite vague, while presenting generic images of children, hands, and stained-glass.

With respect, this is the classified section and there was no basis for the unsubstantiated, false accusations.  There are links provided to the webpage and people can feel free to ask questions as you are doing.

The website has a good amount of information and is regularly being expanded.  There is also a contact us form for those wanting more information.  If you think certain information might be useful, please elaborate.

There is no rubric in Canon law regarding the classes of relics.  Rules regarding the concessions of relics in Canon law pertain to what most would consider to be first or second class relics.  Tradition provides us with the three classes.  There are difference views on what constitutes a third class relic.  I think this provides insight on your other questions/comments.  We try to be transparent as to what the items have touched and if someone wants further clarification I or those who help me will provide it.  There are some I’m sure who think anything other than a first or second class relic is just a souvenir.

Based on your question it would appear you fall in the camp that a third class relic is only something touched to a first class relic.  I and others hold anything touched to a first or second class relic.  As there is debate and differences, we define this on our webpage of what we are calling a third class relic.  https://www.dnjc.org/about-relics.  I’ve seen others refer to third class relics as something touched to another third class relic.

The Saint Joseph relic in question is a piece of his cloak (ex pallio).

I believe custodians of relics have an obligation to not only venerate but promote veneration.  I’ve made the relics in my care available to my parish at various times of the year for display and veneration.  I felt called to do more and started having holy cards printed so people could touch them to the relics when displayed.  Eventually people were asking for holy cards touched to the relics at others times of the year.  In looking at some church shops many did not have third class relic cards or when they did they were limited or more expensive.  Likewise online they also seemed to be marked up in price compared to regular holy cards.  

Working with various commercial printers I have contact with for my day job we were able to have the holy cards produced at a very high quality for minimal cost so we could continue to give them away and give people a less expensive alternative in an online store.  I donate my time as do others who help me.  You’d be hard pressed to find a plastic coated non-relic holy card for less, especially in bulk.  

The order in which many of the items have been produced has been based on requests.  We gotten several requests for Saints Lawrence, Stephen, and Pope Pius X so they are now in production.  

No one is forcing anyone here to buy anything from our stores or even request something for free.  You can choose to avail yourself of them if you wish.  You can choose to dismiss the items as souvenirs or trinkets if so inclined.  

[Blind Horus]

With respect, this is the classified section and there was no basis for the unsubstantiated, false accusations


"There`s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity" -Saint Joe

[Ioannes_L]

If you think certain information might be useful, please elaborate.

You say this ministry started in the Advent of 2018, it's international and so on, yet there's no more info:
Where you began? Who authorized this ministry? Who are you(one person, many, laity, priests, nuns)? Why generic images instead of your own pictures?

Based on your question it would appear you fall in the camp that a third class relic is only something touched to a first class relic.

No, I don't "fall in the camp". 
I own a medal with an EX INDUMENTIS from St. Anthony of Padua, so... I was only asking because there's no 1st class relics of him, and only now I remembered about small pieces of cloth attributed to St. Joseph. 
As for the grotto, tree and steps, someone asked here if a piece of the grotto of Gargano constituted a relic, or was just a souvenir. Something I'm actually interested, for I acquired a medal with the soil from the tomb of St. Francis, and I don't know if it happens to be a relic, or just a souvenir.

We gotten several requests for Saints Lawrence, Stephen, and Pope Pius X so they are now in production.

Now I'm puzzled.
How do you have so many relics, considering that JPII made that decision concerning relics and laity? Maybe a clarification on who you are and those who form DNJC would be helpful.

You can choose to dismiss the items as souvenirs or trinkets if so inclined.

I'm sorry, but this kind of attitude won't attract customers.

[DNJC.org]

Ioannes_L if I misinterpreted the nature or tenor of your questions, I apologize.  I believe a decent amount of information was provided.  Considering the warm welcome I received from two active members of the forum falsely accusing us of selling blessings and blessed items, I interpreted your post as being derogatory in nature.

With regard to the website I am not sure why you have an issue with the pictures.  The website was created using a commercial website development service.  That service includes rights to certain stock images.  What you see just happens to be pictures we liked when creating the site.  There are other pictures on the Etsy page and Facebook page.  What are you looking for a picture of? 

Regarding your medal, over the years I’ve come across a number of “third-class relic” cards in shops are actually touched to the shrine of a particular saint or holy place.  Since you had asked about Saint Joseph previously, here is a link along those lines (touched to his shrine). https://www.totallycatholic.com/product/...relic_card

Is that a third-class relic?  The honest answer is that there is no standard definition for a “third class relic” and as I’ve tried to point out, the widest differences of view.  If that medal with the soil from the tomb helps focus your mediation and bring your closer to Christ, then go for it.  Who cares what people may call it.  I am of the view that is a relic.  Others disagree.

DNJC.org is a lay ministry.  I am the one who started it and there are others who have helped and are helping by donating time and materials.  Over the years certain relics have come into my care through a variety of channels.  Some were given/left to me by family, others obtained from retired religious, others from estates, closing parishes etc.  In addition to my private veneration, I’ve made these available to parishes I know for public veneration.  As mentioned previously, years later in 2018 I felt called by God to do more to promote veneration, starting have prayer cards produced, and started DNJC.org. 

One of the printers we work with has a digital press so small batches of cards can be produced and touched to any of the relics.  However, the high quality cards printed on extra thick stock then plastic coated are run in batches of 2k to 5k on an offset press.  Those are what we have in pending for Saints Lawrence, Stephen, and Pope Pius X. 

We call DNJC.org an international ministry as what we produce has been distributed to countries in every continent but Antarctica.  We have also supported seminaries, schools, and missionaries in the US and other countries.  Most of what we’ve produced has been given away at no charge.  Those who have requested a card or purchased from the store also know that we provide extras and asking them to share to help spread the Good News of Our Lord.  My information can be found but I don’t seek personal recognition for this.  Neither do those who are helping with the endeavor.

The online shops have proven to be a great resource to reach more people.  You have to be where the people are.  People aren’t digging through search results trying to find some site giving away free third-class relic cards.  They are, however, on eBay, Etsy, Amazon, etc.  Even if someone searches with Google many of the links are back to products on those sites.  That shelf space has a cost to it.  You have to pay minimum transaction fees even if you set the cost to $0 or $0.01.  As stated before the prices we ask are far below anything we’ve been able to find and you can request a free third class relic card from us.