Posted on 01/26/2009 7:28:59 PM PST by nickcarraway
NEW DELHI: Mother Teresa, who as the saint of Kolkata's slums, epitomized campassion and charity, is not only a treasure that Kolkata cherishes. Far away in Europe, Macedonia, wants a part of her too.
And it will get it. The foreign minister of Macedonia, Antonio Milososki, was in India last week for a couple of important things -- certainly to bond with India on a diplomatic level, but more important, to oversee the transfer of a Mother Teresa relic.
A part of Mother Teresa -- some say her hand -- will be transported to Macedonia to be placed in her birthplace, Skopje, as a relic in a commemorative house that the government there has just built for her, said Milososki. The transfer has been done under established traditions closely supervised by the Roman Catholic Church, Milososki said.
Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje on August 27, 1910, when Macedonia was still under the Ottoman Empire. But at 18, she left home to join the Loreto Sisters and in 1931 she arrived in Calcutta. By 1948, she took special permission to work in the slums of Calcutta and lived and worked there till her death on September 5, 1997. She started her own order in 1980, Missionaries of Charity.
She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and the Bharat Ratna in 1980. She was one of two persons to become an honorary citizen of the US in her lifetime as well as featuring on a postage stamp while still alive.
But with a part of her body to be taken to Macedonia soon, in her birthplace, the government there hopes to turn Skopje into a place of pilgrimage. Mother Teresa is already on what is being called a fast track to sainthood in the Catholic Church. If she attains sainthood, it's likely that other churches would also want a part of her body in their reliquaries.
In a way it's like having the embalmed body of St Francis Xavier, whose body is embalmed in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa and is a huge draw for tourists and pilgrims alike. The right forearm, which Xavier used to bless and baptize his converts, was detached in 1614 and is displayed since in a silver reliquary at a Jesuit church in Rome.
Is calling this “Goulish” considered “Catholic Bashing?”
Mother Teresa's Relic Heads For Europe
You know, when I read that first, I read "Relic" as an adjective for "Heads".
creepy
You haven’t read much of Scripture, have you?
No, it’s just the truth. Good grief.
Just finished the book of her memoirs “Come Be My Light”. Some of it was very deep, could only read a few pages and then had to put the book down and pray.
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I’m sorry, but this is morbid and smacks of paganism. What “magic” is there, in a dead woman’s hand?
Let Mother Teresa’s earthly remains rest in peace.
Mother Teresa's Head Relic For Europe.
-PJ
Yesterday one of my office mates “jokingly” said I worship the devil. I told him that I found that statement offensive and he blew up at me, raging that I had no sense of humor and telling me to “get out.” I was leaving the office anyway. Sigh. But the fact is, and I didn’t learn this until I was an adult, there are people out there who actually believe that Catholics worship the devil.
Hope you have better luck with your, relic...
After leaving the Catholic Church, I read the Bible completely through twice. I also read the Gospels and several of the Epistles (in some cases passages and other cases the complete "books"). I've also read through the old testament books of prophecy (same way...).
I don't recall ever reading about the Lord commanding us to desecrate corpses. I do recall, however, on one occasion, seeing one of Buddha's finger bones displayed in a jeweled box.
So it sounds like you are a baptized Catholic. Unless you had a hearing in front of a panel and filled out lots of paperwork, you are still a Catholic.
I’ve read the Bible too, so Catholics are learned too? OK?
On the saints, I have a question for you. Do you ever ask someone (a friend, a spouse, a parent) to pray for you? I’ll bet you have!
That’s what Catholics do when praying to the saints. We ask them to pray for us.
Another question. Have you ever viewed an incorruptible body? It is stunning and soul moving. You might consider doing that for your own education.
That’s what Catholics do when praying to the saints. We ask them to pray for us.
I've asked friends to pray form me. However; I don't keep their severed limbs in a glass box on the shelf. So, where does scripture prescribe doing this?
If you don't mind me asking...what took you so long?
As a child, we had a King James Bible that sat in a cupboard, never opened. At Church we used the Missle (sp?). I tried to read the Bible couldn't make any sense out of it. My parents were never around to explain anything. In fact, my family never read the Bible at all.
I had already fallen away before leaving home. I was never an atheist, but I didn't believe any organized religion had the market cornered on “truth.”
After getting out of a bad marriage I eventually met my current (and permanent) wife. She wanted me to go to a nondenominational Church with her. I tried it and, after listening to the sermon, got curious. I decided to read the Bible (this time an American Standard translation) and decide what I believed. Before reading, I challenged God to show himself.
I read the entire Bible through in about a month. Some of what I read amazed me (i.e., “do not call anyone ‘Father’”). I bought software with several translations and commentaries along with other resources and read through again. Since then I've read most of the Bible more than once, especially several prophetic books, the Gospels and several epistles.
I now belong to a strong, Bible based Church.
One thing I learned, don't challenge God lightly!
My comments about reading the Bible stemmed from Cunningham's post, "You haven’t read much of Scripture, have you?"
But to answer your question, my family was heavily involved in the Church, but never opened the Bible. I can't speak for Catholics, in general, just my family.
I've asked if anyone could reference specific scripture advocating displaying of body parts. I've had no responses.
Do you have a specific scripture, with chapter and verse? The closest thing I've seen to what you refer to was Elisha using Elijah's cloak to part water (after Elijah was taken) and a cloth owned by Paul used to heal.
“Once some people were burying a man, when suddenly they spied such a raiding band. So they cast the dead man into the grave of Elisha, and everyone went off. But when the man came in contact with the bones of Elisha, he came back to life and rose to his feet.” ~ 2 Kings 13:21
So Elisha's flesh had rotted away? Did God treat His old testement saints with less consideration than His new testement saints?
I thought a holy person's body did not rot, but rested intact while giving off a flowery scent.
Also, why were Elisha's bones rest in a grave? Why weren't they in a glass case in the temple?
Not every Saint's earthly remains remain Incorruptible. Some do.
Also, why were Elisha's bones rest in a grave? Why weren't they in a glass case in the temple?
Perhaps God hadn't revealed the fact that He works miracles through His Saint's remains? You know, the same way that He hadn't revealed a number of things about Himself?
Only God is worthy of Worship.
Amen, amen, a thousand times, amen.
But God often does His work through human hands, and human remains. Are there dangers? Absolutely. But should we avoid things merely because dangers may exist? Absolutely not.
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