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

CBS ^ | October 5, 2006

[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 No wait, that' s out of date, I mean a transistor failure.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.