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CajunRick
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Posted: Fri Feb 23rd, 2007 03:19 pm |
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St. Pio of Pietrelcina Still Draws a Crowd
By Elizabeth Lev
ROME, FEB. 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Even some of the most devout visitors to St. Peter's Basilica get thrown for a loop when they see the bodies of Popes Innocent XI, Pius X or even John XXIII exposed for veneration.
Modern Christians, particularly from the United States, often view relics as a superstitious custom, which has been superseded by a more rational, hygienic age. While they may smile indulgently at the ornate reliquaries fashioned as intricately as a Faberge egg with tiny velvet-lined compartments for each precious remnant, they wouldn't expect that many would still hold such objects dear.
But the saints are the ones who tend to get the last laugh. During the last week of January, a relic of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, known as Padre Pio, was brought to Rome for the first time. It came to a moderately sized parish church, Our Lady of Guadalupe, on the Via Aurelia. Some 5,000 people flocked to the site, coming from Rome and environs.
Francesco Forgione, the future Padre Pio, was born in southern Italy 120 years ago this year. He joined the Capuchin order while still a teenager, and was ordained at the age of 23. In 1916, the priest was sent to San Giovanni Rotondo in the Puglia region where he remained until his death in 1968. He was canonized in 2002.
This extraordinary holy man was famed for his tireless devotion to his ministry. His days were divided among Mass and prayer and tending to needs of the faithful, particularly the sacrament of reconciliation.
In 1918, Padre Pio received the stigmata, the same wounds Christ suffered on the cross. His hands, feet and side bled until he died, exactly 50 years later.
Padre Pio attracted a huge following in Italy, which grew even more after his death. Whether in taxi cabs, pizza parlors or doctor's offices -- the holy cards of this beloved saint are omnipresent in the country.
The arrival of Padre Pio's relic, a bandage stained with the blood from the wound in the saint's side, was expected to be a modest affair, a Mass and a little procession. Instead, thousands turned out to participate.
Relics fascinate Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Although many see the veneration of relics as a macabre superstition, they are still curious to see the head of St. Catherine, or a thorn that pierced Christ's brow.
It is an ancient practice of the Church. The resting places of the martyrs were considered sacred from the beginning of Christianity, and indeed, after St. Polycarp was burned at the stake in the second century, his remains were gathered up as "more valuable than precious stones."
St. Augustine witnessed miracles in the presence of the bodies of the martyrs, but the Church fathers were clear on the role of relics. St. Jerome writes that "we do not worship, we do not adore" them, "but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore him whose martyrs they are" ("Letter to Riparius I," P.L.XXII, 907).
The objects or the bodies of the martyrs have never been perceived as having powers in and of themselves. They have never been offered as magic talismans. The Church fathers explained that as God honored the saints in life with special grace, so God honors their remains by using them as conduits of grace.
In the first centuries, Rome venerated the saints but never dismembered the bodies, leaving them peacefully in their tombs. It was considered a practice of the East to separate the remains as relics.
In Rome, however, objects could be fragmented so as to spread them throughout Christian centers -- the true cross, according to St. Cyril of Jerusalem, was already distributed all over the empire by 350. But as of the eighth century, Roman Christians were also breaking up the saintly remains.
Relic abuse was rife even in the time of St. Augustine, who described vendors dressed as monks offering arrays of relics for sale. The inventiveness of relic-mongers was extraordinary -- a bottle of the darkness from the ninth plague of Egypt comes to mind as a particularly extravagant example.
But the Church has never been naive or foolish on the subject of relics. The Council of Trent in the 16th century dealt extensively with the question of relics -- confirming the veneration of the memory of the saints and condemning the sale of these objects. Nor does the Church oblige its members to believe in the authenticity of undocumented relics.
That the present Catechism does not have a heading for relics probably makes the veneration of relics seem like an alien activity to American Catholics.
In reality the practice of keeping an object associated with a person dear to us is part of our human nature. Bronzed baby shoes, a gift from a famous person or a flower from a first date, all tangibly preserve memories that are important to us.
As Christians, relics are a link to our brothers and sisters in Christ who lived exemplary lives and are now watching over us from heaven. These memories, instead of marking a transient earthly event, remind us of their eternal glory in the presence of God.
My favorite relic is in the Church of the Holy Cross. There, among the wood and the headboard of the true cross, a thorn and the cross of Dismas, the good thief, sits a little relic on its own. It is the finger of St. Thomas, who knew Christ and followed him and still doubted.
But Christ accepted St. Thomas with all his questions and bared his wounds for Thomas to inspect, saying, "Because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29).
The above article is reposted from Zenit.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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Annie
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Posted: Fri Feb 23rd, 2007 03:33 pm |
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| Our church has relics of Ignatius of Antioch and Maria Goretti in the altar stone. There is also a first class relic of Therese of Lisieux in the chapel. I visit her a lot. She listens patiently.
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Annie
Ora et labora
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AggieCatholic
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | San Antonio, Texas USA |
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| First Name: | Lance | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | United Methodist to Roman Catholic (Anglican Use) |
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Posted: Sat Feb 24th, 2007 12:22 am |
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| I have a second-degree relic of Fr. Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus and currently under investigation for sainthood.
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What part of, "Hoc est enim Corpus meum" don't you understand?
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smh
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Posted: Wed May 23rd, 2007 03:24 pm |
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There is a very nice book by Joan Carroll Cruz called "The Incorruptables" which is all about the incorrupt bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati. There are some fair to good pictures in it as well (for those of us fascinated with these relics).
When one travels to Rome, however, it's hard to NOT find a church without a body or two exposed for veneration. Granted, some times it's NOT the real body, but a "statue" which may or may not contain some actual relics of the saint.
There is a monastery on the very stylish Via Veneto (in Rome) where the bones of monks who have passed on, have been arranged in "artistic" patterns on the walls and ceilings of three or four rooms that one can tour for a "contribution". I must admit, this one is more than a little macabre,  but still fascinating.
Sue
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CajunRick
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Posted: Wed May 23rd, 2007 03:53 pm |
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smh wrote: I must admit, this one is more than a little macabre, but still fascinating.
And yet people will line up for hours to see King Tut, or objects that he might have touched.
No one thinks it's macabre when Steve Martin sings a song about him, but some claim that venerating the relics of saints is idol worship. Which comes closer to "idol worship", a hit record about the "boy king" or a homage to the Mother of our Savior, whose soul "magnifies the Lord"?
Or should we compare wearing a medal of a saint with a tatoo of a butterfly, or a crucifix with an ahnk?
Why is it only the Catholic symbols that are "wrong"?
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
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mrsbmoo
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Virginia USA |
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Posted: Wed May 23rd, 2007 05:41 pm |
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| Having seen the king Tut exibit as a child during the 70s I can say it was very impressive but hardly supernatural. I can understand the keeping of a beloved person's possessions or even a lock of hair to remember them by but pieces of bodies or even whole bodies is too creepy for me. WHile I might want to see something like that because of a side-show kind of curiosity I can't really understand it being very inspirational. It may be just a cultural thing for me, they article said Americans have trouble with this.
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Becky
Wife of Michael(called Moo) and stay at home mom to 5 daughters between 7 months and 16
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smh
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Posted: Wed May 23rd, 2007 05:41 pm |
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cajunrick wrote: smh wrote: I must admit, this one is more than a little macabre, but still fascinating.
And yet people will line up for hours to see King Tut, or objects that he might have touched.
No one thinks it's macabre when Steve Martin sings a song about him, but some claim that venerating the relics of saints is idol worship. Which comes closer to "idol worship", a hit record about the "boy king" or a homage to the Mother of our Savior, whose soul "magnifies the Lord"?
Or should we compare wearing a medal of a saint with a tatoo of a butterfly, or a crucifix with an ahnk?
Why is it only the Catholic symbols that are "wrong"?
Gee.... I didn't mean to offend. It's just that in North America we just don't see a whole lot of incorrupt bodies exposed for veneration. Frankly, I am amazed the people are not lined up to see them as you mentioned they are lined up for hours to see King Tut's 'relics'.
As for the bones of the monks... well, perhaps I should have said "unusual".
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Sue
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CajunRick
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Posted: Wed May 23rd, 2007 06:39 pm |
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smh wrote: Gee.... I didn't mean to offend.
I wasn't offended. If you go on Ebay you can buy shirts, hats, and practically anything else that has ever belonged to or touched a star. People scoop up the hair when they visit a stylist, or sweaty towels, or anything else they can get their hands on. Ted Williams' head is frozen somewhere! The idea of "relics" is by no means a Catholic only fascination.
As Catholics, we venerate the heroes of our faith. It's certainly better than trying to get Anna Nicole Smith's breast implants, which I'm sure someone somewhere is trying to do. Meanwhile, there are 400 items on Ebay that come up when you type in her name, including clothing that she wore. A lock of Marilyn Monroe's hair is available for $6500, while a genuine hairpiece belonging to Charles Dickens is $55,900. A lock of Britney Spears' hair is going for $100, while a sweaty towel is available for $50.00.
The highest price I could find for a genuine relic of a saint is a good looking locket containing hair of St. Philomena for $499. The Church frowns on such sales, although the locket itself is not a relic and so can be sold.
So if it's macabre to think of the relic of a saint, how about the relic of a sinner? Would you rather have something that has touched Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, or a sweaty towel from Britney Spears? And if you're not interested in either one, that's fine. The Church doesn't say you have to accept veneration of relics, even though it is an essential part of the early worship of the Church when mass was celebrated on the tombs of the martyrs.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
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Esther
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Posted: Fri May 25th, 2007 02:41 pm |
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smh wrote: There is a very nice book by Joan Carroll Cruz called "The Incorruptables" which is all about the incorrupt bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati.
A friend of mine was a focus missionary, and she was telling me a story about one of her groups alternative spring breaks. They went to New York and was helping a religious order of sisters move their cemetery (due to some sort of construction the city was doing). These were very old, so they were pretty light. They came to one that was about 150 years old and it was heavy. It was an incorruptible! It was a nun that no one had heard of and no one knew anything about. It is under investigation now, but I thought it was so neat that a women so whole dedicated to the Lord was completely hidden for Him alone. Makes you wonder how many there could actually be. 
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Serina
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| Joined: | Tue Jun 5th, 2007 |
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Posted: Wed Jun 6th, 2007 12:55 am |
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| Would a Rosary from Medjugorje which was blessed by the Blessed Mother herself be considered a relic? A close friend of mine happened to stay in the cottage of one of the seers' family--and she was able to sit 2 seats down from the seer during a "message and blessing" from our Lady. This particular rosary is very special to me and I like to keep close to my heart. God Bless.
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Our Lady of Fatima said, "Certain fashions will be introduced which will offend Our Divine Lord very much. Those who serve God ought not to follow these fashions."
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CajunRick
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Posted: Wed Jun 6th, 2007 01:28 am |
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Serina wrote: Would a Rosary from Medjugorje which was blessed by the Blessed Mother herself be considered a relic?
In my opinion, no.
First, relics come in three classes. First class relics are actual bones or hair of the saint. Second class relics are pieces of things that belonged to the saint, such as pieces of clothing. Third class relics are things that have been touched to first class relics. A blessed rosary would not fall in any of these classes.
Second, Medjugorje is not an approved apparition. The question is still considered open by the Church. This web site gives the current position of the Church.
You can read more about relics in the Catholic Encyclopedia. The Catechism of the Catholic Church does not mention relics at all.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
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Serina
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Posted: Wed Jun 6th, 2007 01:44 pm |
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 Hey Rick, I just have to say what my 3rd grade students say to me during catechism classes....."How Do You Know So Much?!" hahahehe Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge with us...God knows I need it.
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Our Lady of Fatima said, "Certain fashions will be introduced which will offend Our Divine Lord very much. Those who serve God ought not to follow these fashions."
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CajunRick
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Posted: Wed Jun 6th, 2007 02:38 pm |
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Serina wrote: "How Do You Know So Much?!" hahahehe
I'm really old. 
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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