Posted on 01/26/2008 7:47:14 AM PST by Ottofire
SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, Italy (CNS) -- The body of St. Padre Pio will be exhumed, studied and displayed for public veneration from mid-April to late September, said the archbishop who oversees the shrine where the saint is buried.
Archbishop Domenico D'Ambrosio, papal delegate for the shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo, announced Jan. 6 that he and the Capuchin friars of Padre Pio's community had decided it was important to verify the condition of the saint's body and find a way to ensure its preservation.
"It is my personal conviction and that of the confreres of St. Pio that we have an obligation to give the generations that will come after us the possibility of venerating and preserving in the best possible way the mortal remains of St. Pio," Archbishop D'Ambrosio said.
"A further motive for rejoicing," he said, stems from the fact that the Capuchins, with Vatican approval, "have authorized the exposition and public veneration of the saint's body for several months beginning in mid-April."
In addition to marking the 40th anniversary of Padre Pio's death Sept. 23, 1968, the public veneration of his remains also will coincide with the 90th anniversary of the day on which he was believed to have received the stigmata, bloody wounds recalling the crucifixion wounds of Jesus.
According to the Capuchins, Padre Pio received the stigmata Sept. 20, 1918.
Immediately after Archbishop D'Ambrosio announced the exhumation of Padre Pio's body, Italian newspapers and television stations began reporting that members of his family were opposed to the move and were threatening to sue the archbishop and the Capuchins.
But a spokesman for the family denied the rumors and Archbishop D'Ambrosio told Avvenire, the Italian Catholic daily newspaper, that he had been in contact with the family and they raised no objections.
Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgione May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, Italy. As a Capuchin, he was a famed confessor and preacher and had a widespread reputation as one whose prayers were effective in procuring miraculous cures. Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1999 and canonized him in 2002.
“It’s funny you mention St. Polycarp, since today was his feast day on the pre-Vatican II sanctoral calendar. :-)”
HeHeHe! :)
“And Elisha died, and they buried him... And it came to pass that as they were burying a man, that behold, they saw a band of men [Moabites], and they cast the man into the grave of Elisha: and as soon as he touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet” (IV Kings 13:20-21).
You might find this interesting, even if you don’t agree.
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/general/relics.aspx
Interestingly enough, the only Catholic parish named for St. Polycarp is in my home state of Delaware, in a town named Smyrna. ;-) I went there once. The pastor is a nice conservative priest.
ping
I think you are referring to 2 Kings 13:20-21.
No, that is correct. In some versions of the Bible, the two books of Samuel are known as 1 and 2 Kings, and the two books of Kings are known as 3 and 4 Kings.
The book is M'lakhim Bet 13:21 in the Tanach
και εγενετο αυτων θαπτοντων τον ανδρα και ιδου ειδον τον μονοζωνον και ερριψαν τον ανδρα εν τω ταφω Ελισαιε και επορευθη και ηψατο των οστεων Ελισαιε και εζησεν και ανεστη επι τους ποδας αυτου
Cool font
“Cool font”
Its in your computer! :)
And you are priggish.
Cool it, and educate yourself.
Thank you both.
**And you are ignorant.**
Hey, I can take all the verbal abuse you want to hand out. I’m sure you can do better than that!
Unlike some, I won’t cry to the mods, ever. I’m a big supporter of the 1st ammendment. I had a boss that should offer classes in verbal abuse to Marine drill Sgts. Verbal abuse is nothing compared to what Jesus was put through.
By the way, the only corpses Jesus brought out of the grave were restored to life. Anybody can dig up a dead one, and it remain dead.
Should we go and dig up a few thousand to see how many of them have shells that have changed little?
Cheers, and Lord bless!
ping to #35
You are, as always, very welcome! :)
The miracle of Elisha’s bones:
Elisha asked for a double portion of the power God gave Elijah, who was recorded as peforming seven miracles. The ‘touching the bones’ miracle was Elisha’s 14th.
Those ‘pallbearers’ involved had to abort their burial plans for the dead man when they spied the approach of the band of Moabites. They had no time, ditch the body and run. I’m sure if they’d had the slightest hint that that miracle would happen, the text would have stated that as their plan.
So that passage is the RC/EO basis for digging up corpses?
Well, go ahead, knock yourselves out.
WWJD
Thank you? I didn’t contribute any cool texts to the discussion. ;-)
It's an interesting insight of some of the ancients to say that. Modern science confirms that a living cell is not programmed to die, but rather to live indefinitely!
Rather then being rooted in sin (although an argument can be made that sinful ways contribute heavily), natural "corruption" (aging and death) of a cell is brought about by accumulated damage from the cell's own metabolism—free radicals, released from the cell's mitochondria (metabolic power houses), that relentlessly bombard and damage our DNA.
The body constantly repairs this damage (that's why you need 8 hours of sleep), but it's a losing battle over time. Natural aging and death is simply a sum-total of damage and repair done to our system, "wear and tear" if you will, as the body's own ability to repair itself is overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of damage incurred over time.
So, while the body was not created to die, it dies from its own wear and tear, from its internal combustion byproducts; ironically, the cell dies from its very essence of life—it burns faster than it can build.
Studies have shown that different animals of approximately the same size with different average life spans invariably show that those species with lower free radical production live longer and age slower.
We could argue that sinful lifestyles tend to increase body's "wear and tear" and minimize body's self-reparing mechanism (lack of sleep, excesisve exposure to sun), etc., in addition to our genetic makeup, but the fact is that even saints die—not so much because of Adam's transgression but because their cells produce highly reactive free radicals.
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