Posted on 09/06/2013 7:15:37 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
I guess you know what God meant for art to be. Good for you.
Personally, I wish more people would focus on art and less on “helping” others - which usually turns into taking money out of one man’s pocket and putting it into another’s.
And I will say again: your eye is not used to seeing this sort of ritualized art. And so it shocks you. But for those of us raised in ethnic Catholic families, there is nothing shocking or evil about this. It is weirdly beautiful.
Some of you need to take a look at the book “The Golden Bough,” the bible on myth, ritual and religion.
—— Why were these bodies decorated like this? What was the thought process? ——
Rationality appreciated. The purpose is simply veneration, or due respect. The Catholics who decorated these bodies were under the mistaken impression that these were the bodies of canonized (formally recognized) saints.
Today, a husband might bury his wife with her jewelry, or purchase an elaborate headstone to honor her. Similarly, we build expensive memorials to great Americans, like Lincoln. Same principle, different particulars.
Your fury at us Catholics is affecting your grammar!
lol, yeah, just some people being buried with their jewelry.
You might want to read the article and see what the subject is.
Fury? Fury at Catholics? You really do just make it up as you go, just saying anything, no matter how irrational or untrue.
You should see some of the mangled posts I get from furious Catholics :)
—— Well, when an organization “progresses” from selling indulgences to molesting children... there’s probably not going to be much moderation in the volume of criticism ——
You forgot to mention Mother Theresa, St. Thomas Aquinas, etc., ad infinitum. I’m sure you want to provide fair criticism.
I’m glad to hear that there are no sinners in your church. Unfortunately, there are some in ours. In fact, we all are.
—— And so, why trouble yourself, when people were trying to do good for the Glory of God? -——
Somehow I can’t see these critics burying their spouses with their jewelry. They wouldn’t want to “waste the money.”
This news should spark a fresh new round of midnight grave robbing.
You don’t have to accept anything. I just find this fear and revulsion of decorated dead bodies, skeletons, death, etc. exhibited on this thread, childish.
And sadly, I have met born-agains on Free Republic who have told me that they’ve never visited a Catholic Church while touring Europe. And they were not talking about ancient corpses; they were talking about the Sistine Chapel!
—— Yikes, you guys can justify most anything.
I guess the fact that I am a saint——
I find humor in the juxtaposition of these two lines, because I don’t think you intended the irony.
What an ignorant post! Comparing the gorgeous jewelry in these photos to lampshades made from human skin. I swear, some of you people are out of your minds.
Yep, that's true. There's nothing more impossible to understand than, "Wow, so these are the bones of Saint X. He really existed and exemplified Jesus' teaching to do Y. Maybe I should try to be more like him!".
Yeah, totally incomprehensible.
You could sure save a lot of time and effort if you would just read the article...
Again, I did read it and apparently got something out of it that you didn't. So much for Sola Scriptura, eh?
The difference is.... Reverence, and customary religious practice.
Additionally, many of the bodies displayed in Catholic churches are incorrupt.
Museum displays are mercenary, and serve only to satisfy curiosity.
It is interesting to see how your posts on this thread quickly went to such harsh and personal labelings against individuals as not well traveled, as fearful, as furious, as never cracking an art book.
Perhaps you can bring new vigor to this form of shrine creation since it appeals to you so much, and brings out these kind of attacks from you.
I find this story very hard to believe. Do you have a parallel source other than the British source? Isn’t this the one that hates Catholics anyway?
—— But the irony is that shortly after the Reformers destroyed all the bodies of the Saints,they went and glorified the likes of Martin Luther, King James, King Henry VIII -——
Protestants can scoff, but the most obvious example of this in our country is city names. Spanish Catholic cities are named St. Augustine, The Angels, The Sacrament, Saint Diego, Body of Christ, etc.
Protestant cities? Jamestown, Williamsburg, etc.
For crying out loud, read the article, gosh, just read the thread excerpt.
I thought the article was reasonable balanced, pointing out the key facts that the gold was donated to honor what they thought was the body of a saint. That although it’s odd by our standards, they were acts of love to memorialize a saintly life.
I find devotion and veneration to be a tremendous vehicle for finding peace with God. YMMV.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.