Catholics in the East Bay are flocking to various churches this week-end to get a glimpse of a disembodied heart on a golden plate for the purpose of veneration. The heart once beat inside an 19th century French priest by the name of John Vianney. The heart is on tour, leaving the rest of its body behind in the Ars Basilica in France, encased in a glass tomb above the altar. The heart will be on display in Walnut Creek, Fremont, and Oakland before continuing its journey around the world.
Why would anyone be inclined to look with adoration upon dead tissue? It sounds so ghoulish in an enlightened age that makes mutilation of a corpse a felony. This heart is considered a relic since the dead priest has been canonized and miracles have been attributed to the body part that, along with the entire body, is said to be incorrupt. That means it did not fully decompose. When it was exhumed (a weird church custom for those being considered for beatification), it was discovered to still be intact, although dry and darkened, according to published reports. Its wax mask still rested on its face where it was placed when originally interred.
The Catholic Church differentiates between worship and veneration, as the former due only to God and the latter given to body parts of saints and other relics. From the naked eye, it is hard for an onlooker to see the difference since both involve kneeling or prostrating oneself before objects and praying before them, lighting candles, various rituals involving incense and holy water and such. Catholics worship the eucharist but only venerate relics-- both practices that are foreign to the Bible.
In an attempt to justify an obvious pagan practice, the Catholic Encyclopedia prefaces its entry on “relics” with showing how the tradition was customary in other religions. It reads:
“The word relics comes from the Latin reliquiae which already before the propagation of Christianity was used in its modern sense, viz., of some object, notably part of the body or clothes, remaining as a memorial of a departed saint. The veneration of relics, in fact, is to some extent a primitive instinct, and it is associated with many other religious systems besides that of Christianity. At Athens the supposed remains of Oedipus and Theseus enjoyed an honour which it is very difficult to distinguish from a religious cult, while Plutarch gives an account of the translation of the bodies of Demetrius and Phocion which in many details anticipates the Christian practice of the Middle Ages. The bones or ashes of Aesculapius at Epidaurus, of Perdiccas I at Macedon, and even—if we may trust the statement of the Chronicon Paschale —of the Persian Zoroaster, were treated with the deepest veneration. As for the Far East, the famous story of the distribution of the relics of Buddha, an incident which is believed to have taken place immediately after his death, seems to have found remarkable confirmation in certain modern archaeological discoveries. In any case the extreme development of relic-worship amongst the Buddhists of every sect is a fact beyond dispute.”
Yet from a Bible-believing Christian point of view, this is a good reason to reject as un-Christian the use of relics since Buddhism and Zoroastrianism are both pagan-based religions not established upon God as He is revealed in the Old or New Testament.
Bible teaching on corpses
Moses, in the Old Testament Law that was given to him by the God who delivered the Hebrew children out of Egypt, taught that touching a corpse would make a person ceremonially unclean.
And Jesus, in the New Testament, told the Pharisees that they were “full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness,” confirming the understanding that dead bodies are unclean.
The apostles instructed the Gentile converts in the Book of Acts not to drink blood even as Moses commanded in the dietary laws with the same admonition not to consume any blood -- it wasn’t kosher. These laws also demonstrate that the symbols of wine and bread are just that - and do not literally turn into flesh and blood since that would be a breaking of the law not to consume either.
None of these factors seem to convince the pastors of the three sponsoring churches in the East Bay that this practice is unholy. The Rev. Matthew Vellankal of Holy Spirit Church in Fremont was quoted in The Daily Review as saying, “It’s like having a visit of a living saint coming to us. We are very excited and thrilled about it.”
Yet upon investigation, even when John Vianney was alive, his own way of life was filled with superstition and suspect religious practices. He is honored for spending most of his waking hours in the confessional, absolving people of the guilt of their sins, something the Bible reserves only for God. He also meted out penance for sinners to perform, an act that defies Scripture that proclaims that the Messiah paid the penalty for our transgressions and took our chastisement upon Himself.
So-called miracles were credited to “St. Vianney” who attributed the miracles to “St. Philomena,” a fourth century saint to whom he built a shrine and paid devotion. He believed the legend that said her bone dust was miraculously multiplied, providing hundreds of reliquaries with her remains for veneration. [Source: Wikipedia ]
It was also reported that Vianney only had two hours of sleep a night and was regularly attacked by the devil in “diabolical visitations” witnessed by others. [Source: Free Republic ] These same macabre stories surround the life of the recently canonized Padre Pio, a famous stigmatist whose hands had chronic painful bleeding and were thought to be metaphysically induced marks of crucifixion.
Many so-called incorrupt bodies of dead “saints” adorn altars on Catholic churches around the world. All are encased in wax to make them more presentable. Venerating them is not a Christian practice, but one that resembles necromancy and conjures up images of Vincent Price standing over a beautiful naked lady strapped to a platform with a look of horror on her face: an image not conducive to worship.
Comments
Superb article. You pointed out all the reasons this Catholic practice is no different than ancient pagan customs. Bravo! We need more articles like this. Passing this on to my church family.
Great article! So glad to see someone explain in very clear language why these kinds of practices are NOT at all Christian and are indeed very paganistic in nature. There is so much deception out there even WITHIN the Christian church. Thanks for your articles. All of them are good. Keep up the good work.
I'm impressed.....a secular paper gets it right, while "churches" & "christians" all over America disregard & disobey Scripture and this very morning are adding all manner of biblically-forbidden practices to their services. Apostasy is in full swing, and the "church" is in as much trouble as our nation is.
Christianity is awash in accelerating apostasy. Thanks for being on the front-lines and exposing it.
The practice of venerating saints' bodies--whole or not-- began when Christians were persecuted in the early centuries, and forced to worship in the catacombs, underground cemeteries. As a Catholic who knows God is everywhere, and that the Holy Spirit is in all the baptized, I do not find these continued practice helpful. But I do see that many who engage in such veneration are hurtingor frightened, and changing their habits will take love and teaching alternatives, not lists of condemnations. This article has many facts straight, but is not too aware of the whole of Christian history; and its tone is just as haughty as the worst of what comes from the vatican. Brothers and sisters, we need some love all around.
Love speaks the truth. So here it is: This practice is idolatry and sin - grave sin - pardon the pun
And yet John Vianney was a Saint - for he defined the ban on Christianity in France - risking his life - to preach the gospel. Thank God that there was a John Vianney - who knows how many turned to him and seeing that he would risk his life for Jesus Christ - they did the same. That's just the one small piece of his life you forgot to mention. That he risked his life for Jesus Christ. How objective of you.
Let the dead bury the dead, the Bible says. It is amazing that a church that supports the life of unborn babies and is against mercy killing, practices necromancy. Prayers to dead "saints" is not biblical. There is one mediator, Jesus Christ.
I will pray for all of you who have made erroneous, ignorant and unloving comments about the only Church who has existed since Christ. Is the Catholic Church full of fallible people? Sure. But, you should not speak about what you do not understand. Try logging on to EWTN.
If this were a real news article, the details of where and when would be listed. Have you ever sat in front of a tabernacle and revered the TRUE presence of God Himself?
UGGHH is all I can add to this atrocious ritual! Jesus warned that DECEPTION would be THE main sign of these End times, and by golly, this is certainly a "BiggIE", since this person is DEAD, and NO Christian is to try to have contact with THE DEAD! To "Suffering Servant"-please save your prayers for yourself, that your eyes may be opened to the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ, to the fact that The Holy Bible IS HIS Written Word and WILL for ALL who would be His own.You are worshipping A RELIGION, NOT The Person of Christ, Who came in the flesh to reconcile all who were willing to His Father. Jesus is GOD. Mary is NOT, the Pope is NOT, nor any other institution nor religion. No one else is nor can be The Mediator between God and man, except for Jesus Christ of Nazareth. There are none so blind as those who WILL NOT see. You are DECEIVED,Suffering Servant, and you deceive yourself by clinging to man-made (and Satanically-inspired) traditions and ritual. REPENT! And turn to the LIVING Christ!
"If this were a real news article, the details of where and when would be listed. Have you ever sat in front of a tabernacle and revered the TRUE presence of God Himself?
July 22, 5:13 PM " posted by "Suffering Servant"
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The answer to this question is "YES", because the "tabernacle" is INSIDE the HEART of every Christian. It is the TRUE Presence of His Holy Spirit within us that REVERES and worships Jesus Christ for His free-will sacrifice of death on a horrible Roman cross, in payment for EVERY sin that EVERY human has/will commit in their flesh in this life. It was finished upon His death, and new life begins for ANYONE who will believe on Him for this "pardon-from-Eternal Damnation", and Eternal Life WITH Him and all other Believers in Heaven! So SIMPLE, a child can do it, and yet so many "adults" reject it vehemently! WE are "The Temple", each of us, and He "tabernacles" with us 24/7, AS we ALLOW Him to do so!
The Catholic church kept Christianity alive and growing for 1500+ years prior to the reformation which was the start of one of the greatest apostasies in history. Every Christian church except for Greek Orthodox owes its existence to the Catholic church. This article does not deserve comment or debate, because it was written with a great bias. I can only suggest to the writer, and the supporters of this article that they become better educated about the Catholic church, show some respect for fellow Christians,and do not criticize something that you do not understand.
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