Open Monument Day®
on September 9, 2018

The Mass was celebrated by Father Joachim Fey and Father Thomas Lüke OPraem

Address on the occasion of the Open Monument Day 2018
Reverend Joachim Fey

"You are the light of the world!"
This is the short answer of Jesus of Nazareth to the question what is the mission of Christians. Certainly, one can name some other essential missions:  Bear one another's burdens or Love one another as I have loved you. But for me the most beautiful is still this word about being light, about shining, about being enlightened.
Jesus tells us for domestic use, for everyday devotion: "You do not light a candle and put a bushel over it, but you put it on the lampstand and it shines for everyone in the house. So let your light shine for the others. It is not you who are in the spotlight, but the Creator of light be praised. We are not the stars in the sky, but neither are we the black holes in space.
To be light, not arm candy, that is the demand on us. To distinguish this is a real challenge for every Christian, because we ourselves like to be in the limelight.
In the Catholic tradition, therefore, we like to look at those women and men who have succeeded not in making themselves the program, but in living the Beatitudes of Jesus, who do not vainly show off their works in order to be praised, but show God's goodness in a philanthropic way. We look to holy people who did not preach themselves, but followed Christ through their deeds by living and often dying. They are shining examples of faith for us that remain.
Often their mortal remains were kept to venerate them. A few bones and hairs had been kept, wrapped in cloth, and then later precious vessels made of gold and precious stones for a lot of money to recover the treasures. We are proud to house here in Sayn outstanding works of art from the 13th century: the Simon shrine and the arm reliquary of St. Elisabeth. Their golden, richly decorated reliquaries radiate something of the divine splendor again, and of the divine light that refracted radiantly in their life stories. The shrine of Simon was a modern version in its kind. It allowed, for the first time, a glimpse into the secret box through newly created openings through crystal discs.
Human curiosity, but also doubt, about the authenticity was the impetus to look inside, to get the view. It was a kind of medieval fact-checking whether it was the "True Jacob", that is, whether it was a genuine relic. The parallels are interesting: relics were an expensive commodity, just as news and data are today, checking for authenticity "fake" or not was required. If the relics proved to be genuine, they were a place of attraction for many people, because the real, the true, yes the holy attracts us in the deepest and gives us strength and comfort. The photographer and artist Philipp Schönborn has found a sensitive and creative way of realizing this. In his photographic luminous sculptures, which we are allowed to show here in the church, he goes one essential step further.
He detaches the veneration of the saints from materiality, from the tangible, the material, and allows them to shine again. His main tool as a photographer and as a visual artist, light, is once again allowed to become the medium of the divine. "Let there be light. You are the light."  His luminous shrines make us realize: holiness is not in the bones, it comes from God to man and wants to be passed on. The light can spread without becoming less, we experience it every year in the Easter Vigil. Jesus once said prophetically about us: You will worship in spirit and in truth.
Therefore, in my opinion, the right view of the saints and their life's work and the appropriate veneration is to bring the truth to light, to name values and to live them, to examine reality and not to succumb to a dull sentimentality and mood mongering.
It is a difficult time: truthfulness and honesty are not in vogue in the anxious stare at election results and polls.
But he who does the truth comes to the light, says Jesus.
*It is important to take people's worries seriously these days, but not to play with fear.
*It is necessary to help actively, because we are all sisters and brothers.
*We must examine our own way of life and our own needs in order to limit consumption and the use of resources. This is what makes us holy and happy in the end. And this can be seen in the radiance on our faces.
Dear sisters and brothers
here in Sayn and everywhere in the country monuments are open today, they remind us of our origins and they show ways to the future. They exemplify the achievements that have arisen from the work of man and the Spirit of God and have brought humanity forward. Monuments are, so to speak, the holy figures of our cultural history.
I am therefore particularly pleased that we can open an exhibition room in the old prelature building today on the Day of the Open Monument. Created through the voluntary initiative of the parish, supported by the Förderkreis Sayn Abbey and various sponsors. Sayn is a hotspot of cultural history, and the new exhibition space can now show more treasures. Thanks to all who helped to realize this idea. Thanks to you, dear Philipp Schönborn, for your work, which we are allowed to show.