Centuries Old Relic (heart of St. John Vianney) Comes To U.S.

CBS ^ | October 5, 2006

[NYer]

(AP) MERRICK, N.Y. In life, St. John Vianney was a revered 19th-century French clergyman who was said to be blessed with the ability to read the hearts of worshippers. In death, his own heart has became an object of worship.

For reasons unknown, Vianney's body never decayed after death, and his heart and body have been encased in separate glass reliquaries in France for more than a century.

The heart is being brought to the U.S. for the first time this weekend in what the pastor of the Long Island church hosting the relic calls a "historical moment for our country, our diocese, our church."

The Rev. Charles Mangano of Long Island's CurÄe of Ars church said pastors from some of the Roman Catholic parishes around the country that bear Vianney's name are flying in for the occasion, and thousands of worshippers are also expected.

The heart and Vianney's chalice will be placed at the front of the altar, where people can alternately walk past the relics and pray, or attend various Masses and other events commemorating the visit. The brownish heart, with just a hint of pink in the middle, sits in a small glass case.

After five days of services beginning Saturday, the heart will be taken to a parish in Boston before returning to France.

There are about 50 parishes in the United States named for Vianney, but the church in Merrick was the first in the U.S. to be named in his honor, Mangano said. The saint's heart is being brought to the suburban community by Bishop Guy Bagnard, bishop of Belley, Ars-France, to help the parish celebrate its 80th anniversary.

Vianney was the 19th century CurÄe (curate, or pastor) of the village of Ars in France, and died there in 1859. When his body was exhumed in 1904 because of his pending beatification, it was found intact. Except for one time in 1925, when the heart was taken to Rome for Vianney's canonization, it has never left France.

Mangano said there's a long-standing tradition in the Catholic church of venerating relics such as the heart of Vianney, the patron saint of priests. But for the uninitiated, he said think of Elvis Presley.

"People get on eBay and they'll try to get belongings or artifacts from like Elvis Presley, like people that they idolized, they admired," the priest explained. "Because having something of that person, you know, makes you feel close to them."

He said for Catholics, "having a relic in our presence, it inspires us because this relic is from the body of a person whose body and soul was for God."

Actually, in a way, Vianney may have been an "Elvis" of his time. It is said that upwards of 50,000 people a year would travel to Ars to see him. A rail link had to be built from Lyon to Ars just to accommodate the worshippers.

"They had holy cards, pictures of him," Mangano said. "People were calling him a saint when he was alive."

The fact that the heart hasn't decayed is a mystery of science, or faith, Mangano said.

Venerating the remains of saints and martyrs goes back to the earliest days of the Catholic church, said the Rev. Jean-Paul Ruiz, a professor of theology at St. John's University.

"When we venerate the relics of saints, it puts us in touch with those persons who we believe are still alive beyond the death of their bodies."

Mangano said he first saw the heart last year while on a retreat to Ars -- inspired because he is pastor of a church that honors Vianney.

"It's an actual heart, 3-D, not in any kind of gel or formaldehyde," he said. "It's brownish color. When you get really close to it, the center is still pinkish-red. Everything else around it is all like browned with age."

"It's really extraordinary."

Mangano also noted that it was significant for the relic of the patron saint of priests to be taken to his church, following years of scandal involving priests having sex with underage children.

"I think God is saying, OK, it's time to heal the hearts of the people, of the clergy, because everyone's been hurt by this," he said. "But it's time for us to forgive and to not lose sight of the sacredness of the priesthood, which I think in all that's happened, maybe for some people, they've lost the sacredness of the priesthood."

[eastsider]

"If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy."

Saint Jean Vianney

[NYer]

I thought you were going to break into song, singing .... "Heart of my heart"

[NYer]

My dealings with non-Catholics who accuse us of "praying to saints" even causes me to prompt a priest from one of the most Orthodox Catholic orders around to clarify himself on the point!!

:-) We understand though, amongst ourselves.

[Zetman]

:-) We understand though, amongst ourselves.

Yes, this is true. We know what we mean.

When we are out amongst the rest of the world, though, I wonder how we can best present these concepts to non-Catholics who will otherwise go off on a tear if you push one of their "idolatry hot buttons". I don't lose sleep at night worrying about it, because I know that God will handle it when the time comes, but I still think about it.

[Iscool]

If 'ole John made it to heaven, he's going to need that heart at the Rapture when our bodies are redeemed...

[Iscool]

Though the anti-Catholics still have no explanation as to why the bodies of some saints are uncorrupt after centuries.

What would be the benefit for Christians??? It's already been said the guy was plagued with demons...Is it possible that demons/devils have the power to preserve his body???

[Campion]

What would be the benefit for Christians???

You mean for real Christians, those who believe in the resurrection of the body? Or for platonic docetists who think that Jesus' humanity was not raised from the dead and did not ascend into heaven?

Is it possible that demons/devils have the power to preserve his body???

LOL. You mean they like to keep their enemies around as a remembrance?

[civis]

Let's get an address to this church on Long Island.

[Campion]

That's why I referred to latria and doula.

"Dulia," not "doula". A doula is, um, something entirely different. :-)

[Pyro7480]

Are you denying God's power to reunite his heart with his body? Who said he wasn't going to receive a glorified body?

[Iscool]

Are you denying God's power to reunite his heart with his body? Who said he wasn't going to receive a glorified body?

I'm saying, and the bible says that if he's a Christian, his body's going to go up...And his heart with it...

[Mad Dawg]

Yeah, a mid-wife, at least.

Sorry, short circuit. No wait, that' s out of date, I mean a transistor failure.

[Cap'n Crunch]

St. John Vianney, what a great saint, one of my favorites. We sure could use one like him today.

Pray for us Saint John Vianney.

[ELS]

Let's get an address to this church on Long Island.

Cure of Ars Church
2323 Merrick Avenue
Merrick, NY 11566

[bwise515]

Does anyone find it a tad strange that we are living in the 21st century and we are using a 150-year-old piece of human anatomy as an object of veneration? Don't get me wrong, I do believe that faith is an extremely important aspect of one's life, but doesn't this type of act take some amount of credibility from a "civilized" religion?

[ELS]

doesn't this type of act take some amount of credibility from a "civilized" religion?

There is no need to put quotation marks around the word civilized.

A few quotes from the book reviews on Amazon.com:

"A particular strength of this book is that Woods does not simply utilize the fawning opinions of Church defenders to build his case. Instead, he more often uses the begrudging praise of some of the Church's harshest critics--scholars who can hardly be accused of harboring a bias in favor of the Catholic Church."

"This is one of those eye-opening books that put to rest widely accepted but nonetheless misguided notions about the past. In 225 information-packed pages Tom Woods reveals how, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church single-handedly revived and rebuilt Western civilization. The Benedictine monks, for example, transformed wasteland and swamps into fertile fields, harnessed water power, and bred healthier strains of livestock. The Jesuits became pre-eminent in astronomy and developed a scientific approach to archaeology. The Church fostered village schools and the great universities of Paris, Bologna, Oxford, and Cambridge; operated hospitals and orphanages; sheltered and fed the poor; and formulated the idea of basic human rights."

"Charity, morality, economics, international law, the idea that all men are created equal, and many other things we take for granted all have foundations in Catholic thought. The title is accurate: the Church built Western civilization."

[murphE]

I was there today. BTTT

[NYer]

I was there today.

You made it!!! Please fill us all in on the experience. This would be especially beneficial for those who do not understand the reverencing of relics. How large was the crowd? Thanks for the update.

[bwise515]

Please do not take my post as a bash on the Catholic Church for I know they have to contributed much to the mobilization of society. But I do wish to know how that has anything to do with the use of dead human flesh and bone as a relic of faith? I was confirmed Catholic and have full faith in a higher power. I just don't see how a 150-year-old deacaying HUMAN HEART can be the source of worship or venerance? Do we today hold the heart of the late Mother Theresa or the late Pope John Paul II in a shrine that these are held in. Every health department on Earth would condemn it. It just seems like an outdated religious ceremony, as many ceremonies are in that religion many of which have a shady background.