By James Hannah
The Associated Press

MARIA STEIN, Ohio - The sealed, glass-paneled box had not been opened for more than 100 years, and soot from candles over the years clouded the view of the inside.

Two Roman Catholic nuns - each standing at an end - slipped keys into separate locks, simultaneously turning them to reveal bones encased in wax. In full view were the remains of St. Victoria, a young maiden martyred in the 3rd century, buried in the catacombs of Rome and brought to Ohio in 1845.

"It turned just like silk," said Sister Barbara Ann Hoying, the shrine's director. "For the first time in our lifetimes, we could look down on and into the box. You saw a maiden with the view of death in her face."

Sister Regina Albers was equally moved.

"There was an aura that spoke to us," she said.

Cleaning the box, which was built into an altar, was part of renovations at the Shrine of the Holy Relics, a project that cost more than $1.5 million and has taken more than a year to complete. The church says the chapel in this western Ohio village houses the nation's second largest collection of objects associated with saints and martyrs, many being small fragments of bone.

The renovation involved cataloguing and cleaning each of the shrine's 947 relics - a collection surpassed only by St. Anthony's chapel in Greensburg, Pa., which has more than 5,000, Hoying said.

St. Victoria's remains had been on display at the shrine's altar since 1892.

Albers, curator of the shrine, said other relics housed at the shrine include what is believed to be a splinter from Jesus' cross, a thorn from his crucifixion crown, pieces of wood from his crib and the Last Supper table. Also, a piece of the Virgin Mary's veil and relics of each of the apostles are there, Albers said.

Many of the relics were brought to the convent in 1875, Hoying said. A Milwaukee priest bought the collection in Rome at a time the church was eager to prevent the relics from being stolen and sold by bandits.

The priest chose to take the relics to Maria Stein because of its rural setting and security provided by the Sisters of the Precious Blood's round-the-clock devotions. The sisters maintained a 24-hour-a-day vigil at the shrine until the 1970s, when there were no longer enough of them to continue.

Today, there are five nuns at the shrine, about half the number that were there in the '70s.

The Roman Catholic church approves of homage being paid to relics believed - with reasonable probability - to be genuine. Some people believe the relics put them in the presence of saints, which carry their prayers to God.

The church has verified the authenticity of the relics at the shrine, and each is sealed in a glass container and has an identifying document.

The renovation was funded by the Sisters of the Precious Blood and private donations.

With permission from the Vatican, they were removed from their glass containers and cataloged. The containers were transported to Wisconsin so craftsmen specializing in restoring historic churches and buildings could clean and reseal the containers, Hoying said.

The shrine's register reveals visitors from near and far - from nearby Columbus to Boston, Anchorage and even the Philippines.

The renovation is expected to be completed by the end of the month. after new or refurbished windows are installed and adjustments made in the lighting.

However, the nuns are now able to publicly display all of the relics - not just half of them.

"The reasons most visitors come, especially from a distance, are for seeing and praying in the presence of those relics," Hoying said. "One of the ways to add emphasis to prayer is to go to a sacred place, to make a pilgrimage. What the display of relics does is invite that prayer, invite the intercession of the saints for whatever you are petitioning or thanking God for."

The former convent that houses the shrine is a three-story red brick structure with domes topped by white stone crosses and a steeple with a golden cross. A hand-carved wooden altar has niches containing the relics, which surround a forest of flickering red candles,

John Peck, a 22-year-old seminary student from Columbus, recently visited for the first time.

"For us Catholics, these relics are objects that connect us to those who have lived lives of faith before us," Peck said. "It's a very moving experience."

Roman Catholic theologian Mike Duricy, who specializes in Marian studies at the University of Dayton, said shrines remain popular because of yearning for physical aspects of religion.

"You don't just want to feel edified, but you want to see something," he said. "These are physical objects. A lot of the people that are amenable to shrines and pilgrimages really believe you could see or hear something, and they go to a lot of these places hoping they do."