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Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#61
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Excuse me sir, but now you're making it look like they are ubiquitous. Pretty sure that's not the case either. So I appreciate this post, first time I hear of this.

If you want to see one of these places, I can recommend Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora / Czech Republic. I contains about 50,000 skeletons, which basically make up all the interior decoration. It is interesting how you get used to being surrounded by skeletons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary Edit: They also have a very nice gothic cathedral, a modern art museum and a silver mine that was turned into a mus…

Kutna Hora is incredible. There are 2 large gothic cathedrals there, 1 km from each other. The first one (next to the ossuary) has many martyrs skeletons clothed in gold and jewels, offered to the church by the Pope back in the 1500s (these are supposedly dead Romans from late Empire; their martyrdom is probably questionable).

The other cathedral has the most bizarre roof, one third roof, one third domes, one third bell tower, and a wonderful organ well worth the visit, and many beautiful frescoes depicting the work that made this place so rich : silver mining.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#62
post #57

Catholics believe in "incorruptibility" as a sign of potential sainthood. This is where the body does not decompose. You can see the bodies on display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorruptibility Catholics also believe in demonic possession, hell, and exorcism. Not the first things a priest will tell you though :)

Would that make Lenin a saint? I mean his body has been around wearing away clothes for good while.

They have put a lot of effort into keeping him looking incorrupt (he's mostly wax now) to try to elevate him to the status of an atheist/communist "saint", basically mocking the traditional Orthodox views on incorrupt relics of saints.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#63

46. Keep death daily before your eyes. Rule of St Benedict https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/50040/pg50040-images.html#c...

Personally, I hang a "memento mori" near every mirror in the house, to remind him who would regard himself that what he sees will one day inevitably return to the earth.

That seems rather anxiety inducing. "Remember that you will die" is the saying, not "be obsessed with it".

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#64

Catholics believe in "incorruptibility" as a sign of potential sainthood. This is where the body does not decompose. You can see the bodies on display https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorruptibility Catholics also believe in demonic possession, hell, and exorcism. Not the first things a priest will tell you though :)

Most people who identify as Catholic in developed countries today don’t believe in any of those (demonic possession and exorcism would be particularly fringe, but in surveys in many countries the majority identifying as Catholic don’t believe in hell or sometimes transubstantiation either)

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#65

A great many people are incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of death, and installations like this, and similar works of art, are a great antidote. Accepting death as the price of life might be a bit difficult for people raised in a culture that worships perpetual youth and which dreams of immortality, perhaps in the form of a digital silicon upload, but it's really a sign of maturity. Taking a minute or so out of…

"Who promised you tomorrow?" - St. Alphonsus Liguori, Preparation for Death

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#66
post #61
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to see one of these places, I can recommend Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora / Czech Republic. I contains about 50,000 skeletons, which basically make up all the interior decoration. It is interesting how you get used to being surrounded by skeletons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary Edit: They also have a very nice gothic cathedral, a modern art museum and a silver mine that was turned into a mus…

Kutna Hora is incredible. There are 2 large gothic cathedrals there, 1 km from each other. The first one (next to the ossuary) has many martyrs skeletons clothed in gold and jewels, offered to the church by the Pope back in the 1500s (these are supposedly dead Romans from late Empire; their martyrdom is probably questionable). The other cathedral has the most bizarre roof, one third roof, one third domes, one third b…

The first time I ever visited Prague we took an unplanned (no research) day trip to Kutna Hora just to see the bone church. The other cathedral down the street was amazing as well, but then to just be stumbling through the town and coming upon St. Barbara's Church was truly an experience. It got me hooked to continue travelling outside the US.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#68
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also believe in a three person god. Not sure in which lesson this comes up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church#Nature_of_God

The trinity is a fundamental Christian belief, not just Catholic. If one doesn’t believe it than most won’t consider them Christian. This is a huge reason why Mormonism is it’s own thing. I don’t believe anymore as an adult, but this was taught right away when I was a kid going to the Catholic Church. I don’t think you could find a catholic who doesn’t know what the trinity is.

Not religious in any way - from this perspective the trinity (as nailed down by the council of Nicaea) sounds like a triumvirate of gods + mental acrobatics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea#Agenda

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#69
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the Trinity is never referenced in the Bible - God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are always treated as separate entities. The doctrine was made up by the Church to avoid the obvious polytheistic implications in the straightforward interpretation of canon.

Jesus and the Father are equated in the very first verse of John.

The conception of the trinity as co-equal persons of the same substance is a later development in Christianity. The earliest Christian writings (Paul’s letters) never mention the trinity; you could even argue Paul was a sort of binitarian

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Catholics also believe in demonic possession, hell, and exorcism. Not the first things a priest will tell you though :) Because the first thing anyone will tell you is almost always a greeting, their name, or "excuse me."

There is also the classic "what are you doing in my home!"

I mean "The hell you devil doing in my home!" would satisfy both.
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