There are relics of many, if not most saints, but there are no relics of the Virgin Mary.
John of Damascus or John Damascene (c.675 – c.750), a Christian Arab theologian wrote the following about a request for the relics of Mary to be sent:
“St Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened upon the request of St Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven.”
The following year the burial shroud left behind in the tomb of Mary was sent instead:
John Damascene preaching on the Feast of the Assumption at Gethsemani recalled that the shroud of the Blessed Virgin that had been preserved in the Church of Gethsemani was sent by Bishop Juvenal of Jerusalem to Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria his wife in Constantinople in 452. This relic was then venerated in the Church of Our Lady of Blachemae in Constantinople.
A clothing relic of Mary was the Holy Girdle. This was Mary’s belt that she is said to have dropped for the apostle Thomas to pick up when he saw her being assumed into heaven. The belt was a knotted cord like the one worn by priests today. It was kept in the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos, Greece.
Very much less reliable Medieval relics for Mary were hair, nails and breast milk. Her hair was exposed for veneration in Rome and churches in France. Today there is no veneration of these relics of Mary that I know of, although this type of veneration was very abundant in the past.
The Chapel of the Milk Grotto in Bethlehem is a Marian shrine constructed above three caves. Tradition has it that the Holy Family hid in this cave during the Massacre of the Innocents before they could flee to Egypt. The story goes that while there, a drop of Mary’s milk fell to the floor of the cave and changed its colour to white.
Merry and True 