The Sedlec Ossuary also known as the Church of Bones
Posted on 09/06/2013 7:15:37 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
A relic hunter dubbed 'Indiana Bones' has lifted the lid on a macabre collection of 400-year-old jewel-encrusted skeletons unearthed in churches across Europe.
Art historian Paul Koudounaris hunted down and photographed dozens of gruesome skeletons in some of the world's most secretive religious establishments.
Incredibly, some of the skeletons, said to be the remains of early Christian martyrs, were even found hidden away in lock-ups and containers.
They are now the subject of a new book, which sheds light on the forgotten ornamented relics for the first time.
Thousands of skeletons were dug up from Roman catacombs in the 16th century and installed in towns around Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the orders of the Vatican.
They were sent to Catholic churches and religious houses to replace the relics destroyed in the wake of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s.
Mistaken for the remains of early Christian martyrs, the morbid relics, known as the Catacomb Saints, became shrines reminding of the spiritual treasures of the afterlife.
They were also symbols of the Catholic Church's newly found strength in previously Protestant areas.
Each one was painstakingly decorated in thousands of pounds worth of gold, silver and gems by devoted followers before being displayed in church niches.
Some took up to five years to decorate.
They were renamed as saints, although none of them qualified for the title under the strict rules of the Catholic church which require saints to have been canonised.
But by the 19th century they had become morbid reminders of an embarrassing past and many were stripped of their honours and discarded.
Mr Koudounaris' new book, Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs, is the first time the skeletons have appeared in print.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
That is so sick........
Take some Tums, dearie. And don’t take a Perillo Tour of Italy. Stay home in your little cocoon.
Beautiful jewelry on a skeleton is still jewelry on a skeleton and the result is all the more hideous than the skeleton alone.
RegulatorCountry is right. Those bodies ought not to have been desecrated. Strip the skeletons, bury the remains somewhere away from dead people obsessed individuals so they can rest in peace, sell the jewels, and use it to take care of the hungry and homeless, like Jesus commanded us to do.
There is something demonic about this obsession with dead people that runs through the Catholic religion.
I certainly do. Do you?
The beauty of the decoration is obviously a highly subjective matter, but even granting that, it does not surmount a revolting context. I don’t even grant the beauty of it. Dimestore costume jewelry bought by the pound, is what it looks like. Or, maybe some sort of automated, dancing skeleton for a Grateful Dead tribute show, but even Deadheads have more restraint.
Can you believe we are actually discussing this? And there are defenders of the indefensible trying to justify this? We’ve been down a LOT of roads here, but this has to take the cake. When are we gonna get to the Alligator Wrestling Farm? And the 2-headed bearded midget sisters? I’m feeling downright freaky tonight.
Boy, is that an understatement..........
The Sedlec Ossuary also known as the Church of Bones
Dear God in Heaven...I am speechless.
And what of Gargoyle?
A gargoyle on the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur
Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens
Notre Dame, Dijon:
“And you know this because you were there? Or maybe you’re omniscient?”
No, I am not, and neither are you. We both have to rely on the relevant sources for our information. The difference between us, is that you only pay attention to sources which confirm your bias, such as the one you quoted, and conveniently ignore other sources which dispute them. Those other sources include the eyewitnesses to the second and third exhumations, who stated:
“The body is practically mummified, covered with patches of mildew and quite a notable layer of salts which appear to be calcium salts. The skeleton is complete, and it was possible to carry the body to a table without any trouble. The skin has disappeared in some places, but it is still present on most parts of the body.” Dr. Talon, eyewitness to 1919 exhumation
and
“From this examination I conclude that the body of the Venerable Bernadette is intact, the skeleton is complete, the muscles have atrophied, but are well preserved; only the skin, which has shrivelled, seems to have suffered from the effects of the damp in the coffin. It has taken on a greyish tinge and is covered with patches of mildew and quite a large number of crystals and calcium salts; but the body does not seem have putrefied, nor has any decomposition of the cadaver set in, although this would be expected and normal after such a long period in a vault hollowed out of the earth.” - Dr. Comte, eyewitness to 1925 exhumation.
And, from the same (Catholic) source, we learn:
“Once the surgical part was over, Doctor Comte had the body swathed in bandages leaving only the face and hands free. Bernadette’s body was then put back into the coffin, but left uncovered. At this point a precise imprint of the face was moulded so that the firm of Pierre Imans in Paris could make a light wax mask based on the imprints and on some genuine photos. It was feared that, although the body was mummified, the blackish tinge to the face and the sunken eyes and nose would make an unpleasant impression on the public.”
and, to counter claims that her mummified body constituted a “miraculous” preservation, the same source clarifies:
“The fact that Bernadette’s body was perfectly preserved is not necessarily miraculous. It is well known that corpses decompose less in certain kinds of soil and gradually mummify. It should be noted, however, that in the case of Bernadette this mummified state is quite astounding. Her illnesses and the state of her body when she died, the humidity in the vault in the chapel of Saint Joseph (the habit was damp, the rosary rusty and the crucifix had turned green) would all seem to be conducive to disintegration of the flesh. We should be glad, therefore, that Bernadette benefited from a fairly rare biological phenomenon. But this is not a “miracle” in the strictest sense of the word.”
All that can be verified at http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/bernbody.htm
Gaudy is a good word for it, I think.
High Baroque is probably the most accurate description.
Here is the testimonial from an eyewitness to her exhumation:
You need to read more:
The body is practically mummified, covered with patches of mildew and quite a notable layer of salts, which appear to be calcium salts. The skeleton is complete, and it was possible to carry the body to a table without any trouble. The skin has disappeared in some places, but it is still present on most parts of the body. Some of the veins are still visible." - http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/bb_bernadette_body.htm
This does not try to explain the preservation that was seen, but shows that while retarded, some did occur, and may have happened more btwn the first and 3rd examination.
It is also reported by a skeptic site:
At her third and final exhumation in 1925, it was noted that the "blackish tinge to the face and the sunken eyes and nose would make an unpleasant impression on the public," and so the decision was made to display the corpse with a wax mask. That's right, the photos you see on the Internet of St. Bernadette's beautiful, incorrupt corpse are of a wax mask placed on an obviously mummified body. - http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4126 And which also states,
Saint Silvan was a young man said to have been killed for a his faith in the year 350, and his body is on display in Dubrovnik, Croatia, replete with a fresh-looking gash on his throat said to have been the cause of death. The body appears to be perfect. It is a sculpted effigy — St. Silvan's actual remains are said to be contained within the box below the effigy. But there is no display signage to explain this to the faithful, and many come away with photographs of what they think is the actual body. If he is incorrupt as the church claims, why display the effigy instead of the body?
Padre Pio, the 20th century priest famous for his stigmata, is also on the church's list of incorruptibles. However, according to the church's own records, his body was embalmed with formaldehyde upon death. Even so, at his exhumation 40 years later, the remains were described as "partially skeletal" and morticians were unable to restore the face to a viewable condition, so Padre Pio is displayed today with a lifelike silicone mask.
Another skeptic source reports,
In 1961 in Wales a Methodist chapel was demolished to make way for some new developments. A coffin was found in the debris. The police and the pathologist arrived and in the presence of six people the coffin was opened and inside was a girl in a green dress who was perfectly preserved. She was Ann Powys who had died in 1820. She committed suicide because her fiancé jilted her soon before they were to be married. The suicide note was buried with her and it asked God to preserve her to reproach the man who had jilted her. There was a report in the coffin that she had lain in an open coffin in her home for nearly a month and no smell or decaying took place. - http://www.miraclesceptic.com/incorruptibility.html A more objective examination is here, http://people.howstuffworks.com/incorruptible2.htm/printable.
***Can you imagine far that money could go in the third world hell holes that predominantly Catholic countries tend to be?***
And considering that much of the Vatican’s gold was looted from some of the 3rd world hell holes....
Sure it does.
The link in 208 takes you to 206. The link in 206 takes you to The Cadaver Synod thread.
When I was in my teens we had hot discussions with the nuns and the priests over the very same issues you are commenting on. We asked them why couldn't the church build spartan churches,donate to the poor and hungry,forget the beautiful altar cloths and the ornate statues and stained glass and help the needy. We were told that if we followed Christ,”the Way,the Truth and the Life”,we would understand and years later I realized that they were right.
In this day and age,believe it or not,there are still many people who have not the money or the leisure time to travel,go to plays,museums,operas and attend other cultural events. Their homes may be very modest and furnished pretty sparsely and I have been to more than a few of those homes and had wonderful conversations about a myriad of subjects. One thing I learned was that many of them spoke glowingly about the beauty of their churches,I heard how when things got rough and they were just down they enjoyed sitting in the silence of the church praying and enjoying the beauty of the altar,or the stained glass windows or a particularly beautiful statue of a saint.
The experiences were an awakening,I had been so arrogant as to use myself as the representative woman of the world and base my views of what would and should be. I hadn't ever recognized that for many people their experience of beauty was limited to many things that were close and of no cost.So if those things that are lovely,soothing,beautiful also honor God,what could possibly be more pleasing? I am sure that you probably know that if they sold all of the buildings and artwork and valuables of the Church it would all be gone in a very short time and soon we would see wealthy people e-baying then and making money to go round the world to see exotic places in person.
Because it is not labeled "caucus" "prayer" "devotional" or "ecumenical" it is considered an "open" RF thread meaning any poster may argue for or against deities, religious authorities, beliefs, etc. Open RF threads can become very contentious. Thick skin is required.
Threads labeled "prayer" or "devotional" are closed to debate of any kind. Antagonism is not allowed on RF threads labeled "ecumenical."
Threads labeled "caucus" are closed to anyone who is not a member of the caucus. For instance, if a thread is labeled "Catholic caucus" then only currently active Catholics may post to the thread.
It is a chamber of idolatry, and a stench in the nostrils of Yehova. It should be leveled to the ground.
Preserved just like their friend Lennin?
There is nothing Godly about these goulish relics of idolatry.
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