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Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#91

Post by rsynnott »

antognini wrote: post #80
rsynnott wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

True, but Catholicism isn't a democracy. Catholic beliefs aren't determined by what self-professed Catholics say they believe in, but what the Catholic Church itself professes.

I mean, that's one way to look at it. But in practice Catholics aren't, and never have been, a monolith, belief-wise, unless you define it so narrowly that the only Catholics are, well, maybe some of the cardinals.

(Or not even those, if you take the view of some post-Vatican-II breakaway sects who consider the Pope to be illegitimate)

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#92

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

mc32 wrote: post #82
photochemsyn wrote: post #55

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…

There are some cultures that believe the remains of their ancestors are sacred. How would you encourage them to accept your POV?

Roman Catholic culture is one of those by far. What better way to attest to the sacredness of human remains but to incorporate them into the most sacred architecture we have?

Human remains of Catholics are buried until their cause for canonization calls for exhumation and examination of the relics. By the time of canonization, division of the relics has begun and they are distributed for veneration to various communities and places. This is how we treat sacred remains: by making them accessible to all the faithful for viewing, veneration, and inspiration.

What was your question again?

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#95

Post by Aeolun »

user3939382 wrote: post #65
photochemsyn wrote: post #55

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

In some ways, the 10000+ previous days of my life are a fairly reasonable promise of tomorrow.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#96

Post by sbaiddn »

fishtacos wrote: post #40
sbaiddn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because you (presumably not a Catholic or, like most, a poorly catechized one) are projecting your values and view points onto a faith you don't understand. Classic cultural colonialism if you ask me. There's literally two millennia (well 5 if you include the Old Testament and commentary) literature on the Church's position on matter, the body, corpses, life, death, afterlife, etc. necessary to understand this…

>>That's because you (presumably not a Catholic or, like most, a poorly catechized one) are projecting your values and view points onto a faith you don't understand. I'm atheist. Was born one, will die one, so you are correct. >>Classic cultural colonialism if you ask me. What makes you draw that conclusion? I'm an immigrant, have been exposed to everything from Islam to Catholicism to Southern Baptist, Hinduism, Bud…

"I'm atheist. Was born one, will die one, so you are correct"

Cool. You do you!

"What makes you draw that conclusion?"

You're foreign (both by incident of birth, or effort of study) of to the matter at hand but bless us with your opinion.

"I'm an immigrant, have been exposed to everything from Islam to Catholicism to Southern Baptist, Hinduism, Buddhism, various other sects

Good for you? So's half the people on this forum including yours truly.

"I'd rather look inward, if I were, you, as colonialism in the name of Catholicism is why so many native cultures and religions have been erased from history and existence"

Who says that Im Catholic? Or that I haven't? That being said, I see a lot more brown faces crossing Rio Grande into Mexico where Catholic Spain ruled than North of it.

"And it remains a death cult at its core, despite sparkling it up with positions of corpses..."

Sure.

"I've read enough to know it's all BS."

Pray, what?

"My close friend and cousin, someone who [...] He is an atheist thanks to that education."

And we've come full circle: good for him! He does he, you do you and the monks do the monks.

As to myself I'll do me and pour myself some Chartreuse. I'll raise a glass and offer a blessing to you, my wonderful internet interlocutor!

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#97

Post by 6502nerdface »

bruce343434 wrote: post #63
6502nerdface wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

Mostly they're just cool as works of art :). Still lifes with skulls and such.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#98

Post by brainlessdev »

From Marcus Aurelius's Meditations:

  Mortal man, you have lived as a citizen in this great city. What matter if that life is five or fifty ears? The laws of the city apply equally to all. So what is there to fear in your dismissal from the city? This is no tyrant or corrupt judge who dismisses you, but the very same nature that brought you in. It is like the officer who engaged a comic actor dismissing him from the stage. 'But I have not played my five acts, only three.' 'True, but in life three acts can be the whole play.' Completion is determined by that being who caused first your composition and now your dissolution. You have no part in either causation. Go then in peace: the god who lets you go is at peace with you.
I find the idea frightening but at the same time soothing: life is something one returns, like anything else one could have, one day it will no longer be there; it needs to be returned.

Re: Roman church decorated with 4k skeletons

#99

Post by Aeolun »

sitkack wrote: post #85
DubiousPusher wrote: post #75

I would encourage everyone to visit here or one of the similar places mentioned in this thread. I visited the Sedlec Ossuary a couple of years ago and it was the most visceral personal emotional reaction I have ever had to seeing something. There is something mind-shifting about seeing thousands of human skulls in a pile ala Terminator that I cannot describe with words. I can only relate it to visiting the Vietnam Wa…

The Sedlec Ossuary is, or probably should be a great VR experience if you can't go in person (I have). The shock wears off and then you realize how human the place is. We whisk our dead out of sight, having the bones of your dead relatives be so visible, would be like having a time compass directing the path of the rest of your life.

It’d be kind of weird to bring someone there, count down the eleventh skull from the top right and then say “this here is grandpa”.
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