Posted on 09/15/2018 2:33:13 PM PDT by marshmallow
At the northern tip of Via Giulia in Rome, you’ll find the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. The large dome that crowns this church is one of many that accent the Roman skyline.
If it’s hot, airy churches like San Giovanni provide the weary pilgrim with a spiritual and physical oasis. Most likely, you’ll be sweaty and your feet sore from treading the miles of cobblestone streets in the Eternal City. Walk up the worn marble steps of San Giovanni and enter. Head down the left aisle and, at the end, you’ll notice a striking silver reliquary in the shape of…a foot. Inside this reliquary is the foot of Saint Mary Magdalen. (This is Rome, folks, so get used to seeing bones encased in elaborate gold and silver surrounded by vigil candles and corpses under altars and many other things that will certainly strike some Americans as odd or macabre. The Church has been doing this for ages.)
Spend some time in prayer before the relic of this saint known first for her conversion and later, her unflagging loyalty to Christ when most of his closest friends bolted. Ensnared by sin, she was set free by the Lord, and never left Him again. During the crucifixion, perhaps some choice words were directed at her by people in the crowd. Maybe her past life was well-known. Regardless, she stayed at the foot of the cross. There’s an inscription near the relic stating that the feet of Mary Magdalen were the first to enter the tomb of Christ after the Resurrection. According to tradition, she later lived as a hermitess for the rest of her life, absorbed in prayer and love. She wasn’t a martyr, but she must have been one of the most fearless saints of......
(Excerpt) Read more at creamcitycatholic.com ...
This is a phrase mouthed by Roman Catholics to justify idolatry.
Rather, go to the Bible to justify practice.
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols." - Apostle John
Dear Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee all my thoughts, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins and the sins of all the world, and for the freedom and exultation of Holy Mother the Church.
*****************
So as you can see, Jesus is Lord, He is the one we sacrifice our life for.
His Mother is the perfect Christian, She is the one we should all imitate with regard to living a perfect life of charity, grace, and virtue.
p.s. I am glad I was able to pray my morning offering with you today, I will keep you held up in prayer all day! :)
Your dates are all wrong. Are you using Carbon-14?
If images are so wrong, why did Jesus leave us His Shroud, Sudarium, and the Veil of Veronica, all of which are in the possession of the Catholic Church? Are family photo albums forbidden too?
Maybe the early church might not have had images in their churches because they were being constantly martyred for 300 years, did not have time for art, or maybe it was an Op-Sec thing? Maybe they said mass in underground caverns because church buildings might give away their location?
The institution of confession and the Eucharist are most clearly indicated in the Gospels, why are you deaf to the Word of God?
Mary is not the perfect Christian. God never says that anywhere.
Never does God say to imitate Mary.
He never even says she is above anyone else.
Rome has made her into a demigoddess by this kind of teaching.
Christ is the one we look to, and imitate.
To put Mary in His position is idolatry.
None of which are provable nor falsifiable.
Your claim is therefore just an assertion that cannot be proven.
The institution of confession and the Eucharist are most clearly indicated in the Gospels, why are you deaf to the Word of God?
The institution to a priest (not a church office, btw), is not found in Scripture. The "eucharist" in Scripture is the Lord's Supper - a memorial to do until He returns.
“One is my dove, my perfect one is but one, she is the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and declared her most blessed: the queens and concubines, and they praised her. [9] Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?”
“And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: [42] And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. [43] And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? [44] For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. [45] And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.
[46] And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. [47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [48] Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. [49] Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. [50] And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
[51] He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. [52] He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. [53] He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. [54] He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: [55] As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.”
Help, my eyes. Paragraphs are your friends.
Symbols in Christian Art and Architecture (Variations of Crosses)
Lessons In Iconography : The Chi Rho - Christ
The Holy Cross
Pope Benedict explains veneration of images before heading to Holy Land (CATHOLIC/ORTHODOX CAUCUS)
Liturgical Vestments (and prayers the priest says while vesting for Mass)
Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus}
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Scapulars [Ecumenical]
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, The Miraculous Medal [Ecumenical]
'Holy Things To The Holy': Sacred Things, Places, and Times [Ecumenical]
Purification of Sacred Vessels in U.S. (and more on the Purification of our Lord)
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Relics and the Incorruptibles
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Ashes
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Palm Branches
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Incense
Why We Need Sacred Art
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Sacred Images: Statues and Other Icons
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Crucifixes and Crosses
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, [New] Fire, Paschal Candle
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Holy Oils
Being Catholic: Sacred Things, [Holy] Water Being Catholic: Sacred Things, Relics and the Incorruptibles
Images of God were forbidden prior to the Incarnation. But now that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, images of Him are not only permitted but encouraged, by Jesus Christ Himself, leaving us the three images I mentioned during His Passion and Resurrection.
While you may be correct that those images cannot be proven to have been made directly by God using principles of natural science, one can turn it around and examine whether those images could have been made by human ingenuity?
If you have any familiarity with the Shroud (Google is your friend) you would know that the photographic negative left on that piece of cloth thousands of years before the advent of photography and the fact that the image is made by the non-pigmented colorization of the micro-fibrils above the surface of the cloth indicate that a human could not have painted it or manufactured it.
If you go back to the original article posted by Marshmallow and actually read about the relics of St. John the Baptist, St. Paul, St. Lawrence, St. Mary Magdelan, one can see that these precious relics are no different than a beloved family photo album. These great friends of God are memorialized in the Church by monuments to their relics, giving us pause for reflection and imitation, highlighting the holiness of these great ones, their life of love and service to Jesus Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
In response:
You are assuming God had anything to do with those images.
They may be satanic, for all you know.
You, apparently want to believe they are true.
There is no proof any of those “relics” are actually what they claim.
God makes it clear we are not to bow down to any but himself.
Idolatry is always wrong.
Yet Romans bow down, worship, fondle, kiss, adore, pray to, etc.
All wrong.
This made me laugh!
“these precious relics are no different than a beloved family photo album.”
Best.
Idolatry is putting something in the place of God, who/which is not God. Any such entity elevated in this way is an abomination. (e.g. Sex/drugs/rocknroll, these are modern day idols one should avoid.)
Catholics do not do that. You can claim through caricatures that Catholics do that, but it is not reality. It may even give you chuckles.
Sectarian protestantism does something very similar. It puts in the place of true religion a false man-made religion. The purpose of this man-made religion is not necessarily to foster any particular creed or belief system, as many various protestant sects do not believe in the same doctrines, and they seem to have no quarrel with each other, despite vast discrepancies. No, the purpose of many sects is to prevent souls from finding true religion. It is to prevent souls from having access to the Sacraments. The origins of every one of these sects is satan. That is, only God-founded religion is true religion, this has been true since the time of Adam. Jesus says to enter by the narrow gate, but if the soul cannot find the gate, being obscured by supposedly “christian” gatekeepers, then few if any of the benefits that Christ left His Church will be enjoyed by the faithful.
His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Living a life of perfect christian charity, living a life of virtue, being immersed in Sacramental Grace, it truly is the easiest way. It is what He wanted for us. He said He would be with us all days, even to the end. And He is, in the Tabernacle. He is our food. We commune with Him.
Yes, 'saints', relics, the church of rome, Mary, the pope...
Catholics do not do that.
1. You cannot speak for the hearts of all catholics. Sorry.
2. God indicates that bowing down to these things is idolatry.
It puts in the place of true religion a false man-made religion.
No. It puts Christ and His finished work at the middle of a relationship with Him. Religion is for people that don't know him and need rituals, sacraments, holy water, etc.
It is to prevent souls from having access to the Sacraments.
There is no sacramental system to dispense grace found in the NT.
None of the things you say Catholics do are found in the real world, they exist only in your mind. I should know, I have been a Catholic for over 50 years, and I have known many Catholics and none of them have ever practiced any type of idolatry. You can make all kind of strange arguments based on similitudes about Catholic practices, like veneration of relics, icons, images, statues, and the like, but none of that is done as a form of idolatry; we know what we are doing, we know the difference between Creator and creature, we know the level of honor we give a saint or the Blessed Virgin Mary, and we know the honor we give to God.
Spinning your silly caricatures of what you think Catholicism is not very enlightening for anyone, precisely because you have never experienced the gifts and graces that flow from the One and only Church that Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior founded.
It is sad because there is so little time we have on this earth to love God and neighbor and to grow in holiness and grace. If we do not become perfect in charity now, we will have to accomplish it later.
Idolatry is a very serious sin with very serious consequences. You trivialize it by your wild claims against the Bride of Christ. Look at the fruits of Catholicism, what are they? I would think that if super duper bad bad idolatry is found within her than one would see really really bad results?
Now take a real idolatry, like rock-n-roll music. It urges christians to abandon the moral law, to be ruled by their passions, and to engage in any and all forms of sexual license. It also ridicules the divine law/true religion. It puts self-love at the apex and pinnacle of human experience. The results? Lets see, abortion, which is nothing other than the most prolific example of human sacrifice in human history, STD’s, contraception, same sex attraction, sodomy, all forms of sexual deviancy, drug use, demonic possession, do you see the difference here between your supposed idolatry and real idolatry?
Maybe if you focused on eradicating real idolatry your efforts would benefit mankind and have a positive impact on the salvation of souls?
“None of the things you say Catholics do are found in the real world, they exist only in your mind. I should know, I have been a Catholic for over 50 years, and I have known many Catholics and none of them have ever practiced any type of idolatry.”
Let’s be clear that you do not know the heart of every Roman. Your statement claims you do.
Bowing before statues and pictures is idolatry. Roman Catholics do this.
Turning Mary and other saints into demigods is idolatry.
“Idolatry is a very serious sin with very serious consequences. You trivialize it by your wild claims against the Bride of Christ. Look at the fruits of Catholicism, what are they? I would think that if super duper bad bad idolatry is found within her than one would see really really bad results?
Have you paid attention to your priesthood?
Have you paid attention to your leaders?
Have you read about the gay infestation in the Vatican??
So yes. Idolatry in Catholicism has resulted in an immoral church.
“Now take a real idolatry, like rock-n-roll music. It urges christians to abandon the moral law, to be ruled by their passions, and to engage in any and all forms of sexual license. It also ridicules the divine law/true religion
Rich and roll can’t hold a candle to:
Perverting the Gospel of Grace, that is the only path to salvation
Slaughtering believers because they disagree
Buggering boys
Gay sex and drug parties in the Vatican.
And so much more.
Man! Are you paying attention??
The sex scandal in the Catholic Church is a freemason objective, and is well documented. Long before the disaster of Vatican Council II the freemasons were being recruited to infiltrate the hierarchy in order to destroy it. Look up Bella Dodd. Once at the reins of the Church a concerted effort was made to hire homosexual priests to implement the destruction of the liturgy, the catechesis, and just about every beautiful aspect of the Catholic Church. Catholics are starting to wake up to the fact that 83% of the abuse was and is homosexual predators against teenage boys, only 7% is classic pedophilia, yet the liberal media constantly reports that the Catholic Church has a pedo problem.
The Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ can be compared to Melania and Donald Trump. She is not the President, but she goes around and visits American citizens and encourages them, especially sick children in hospitals fighting cancer, leukemia, etc. Does Melania take anything away from Donald Trump or his mission? If anything she adds to his effectiveness. The Blessed Virgin Mary does the same for Christ. She does not take anything away, she adds to His mission of saving every soul.
If you look closely at our prayers to Mary, we ask her to “pray for us”, just like you or I would ask each other to pray for each other. When we address God, we ask Him to “have mercy on us”. You will never see a Catholic ask Mary for mercy, that is the province of God alone.
“Advantage to religious vows and ordination should be barred to those who are afflicted with evil tendencies to homosexuality or pederasty, since for them the common life and the priestly ministry would constitute serious dangers.” http://www.papalencyclicals.net/John23/j23religios.htm
The Church knew about the dangers years ago, but the destroying angels who infiltrated the priesthood and hierarchy knew exactly what would happen if they hired homo priests. It was known and planned starting in the late ‘60s. So yes, I have been paying attention, but you should know that the problem is not a “Catholic” thing, it is a freemason thing. Think of it as cancer, it is in the body but it does not belong to the body.
1. “She is not the President, but she goes around and visits American citizens and encourages them, especially sick children in hospitals fighting cancer, leukemia, etc. ”
Made up out of whole cloth. Never in Scripture. Ever.
2. “The sex scandal in the Catholic Church is a freemason objective, and is well documented”
Then a third of more of your priests are gay.
Then your leadership allowed and hid it.
Then your last SEVEN popes - at least - were in on it.
Then your Vatican is gay central.
Yet your leadership allows all this.
You support it by making excuses for it.
Why??
“The Church knew about the dangers years ago,
Yet didnt act to prevent it by ejecting the evil it chose to coddle.
“but you should know that the problem is not a “Catholic” thing, it is a freemason thing. Think of it as cancer, it is in the body but it does not belong to the body.”
You should know the New Testament tells exactly what to do, but your leaders didn’t obey, so it is a catholic problem.
“your leadership allows this”...Did you even listen to what I have said? No, you are not a good listener.
The freemasons have been at this for over a hundred years, it is their strategy and it is their “leadership” that we have been enduring. That is what is meant when I say they have infiltrated the Church. Outsiders bringing their satanism and witchcraft into the bosom of the Church, not qua Catholic but qua freemason.
Now once you hire homosexual priests who become bishops, now you have absolute narcissists running the show and the results are plain for all to see. But it was freemasons who initiated this.
No Catholic who pursues the life of both natural and supernatural virtue would ever be the cause of this.
It appears from your posts that you remain in denial about the rotting corruption from Rome down - and the hideous evil that occurred under at least 7 popes to children.
The candle burned out long ago.
If you choose to sit in the dark and not see it, no one can help you.
Best
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