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Unholy Deceptions In Christianity
Miracles and Holy Relics
Since
the formation of the institutional Roman Catholic Church in the early
centuries AD and establishment of parishes, monasteries, cathedrals;
the multi-national corporate infrastructure we are familiar with
today, the number one priority has been financial sustainability.
Priests, monks, brothers and nuns farmed, produced wine, beer, brandy
and other worldly goods they could sell to generate income to keep
their orders and Church.
Cathedrals and monasteries were incredibly expensive to build and
perpetually expensive to maintain so parishioners and local
communities were called upon to give until it hurt, often with the
enticement of receiving a hundred fold what they gave in heaven.
Although parishioners could be relied upon to sprinkle pennies on the
Sunday plate the idea of attracting paying tourists was soon grasped,
the pre-Christian concept of pilgrimage advanced as a way for the
faithful of having their sins forgiven. To create piety every parish
lobbied for their own Saint to be proclaimed to attract tourists and
soon 1000's were canonized, their earthly effects put on display and
mortal disinterred for veneration. Claims of apparitions and
miraculous healings inevitably followed as did throngs of tourists,
pilgrims traveling all over Europe in search of a cure or
enlightenment and becoming a major source of income for the church.
Over 28.000 saints were proclaimed by the Catholic Church, over 80.000
in Orthodox orders, all putting obscure 3rd world towns on the pilgrim
trail. Tales of weeping statues or icons of the Virgin Mary and
bleeding statues of Christ became commonplace in small churches, who
often bottled or swabbed it for sale. Once established on the pilgrim
trail small churches soon underwent major rebuilding as the pilgrim
penny rained like pennies from heaven, providing a source of income
which even today keeps many going with ever declining Sunday
attendance.
As pilgrimage became increasingly popular parishes often had to
compete with each other to attract tourists, so were willing to pay
huge sums of money for relic which would attract larger crowds. The
Church manufactured vast amounts of holy relics, priests, monks and
other religious entrepreneurs took to robbing cemeteries to steal body
parts they could sell as saintly: skulls - pickled hearts - mummified
corpses or other gruesome relic guaranteeing to attract a crowd. Many
cathedrals and churches became religious freak shows, putting
shriveled corpses of patron saints on public display, often with gift
shops selling clothing fragments for large sums.
Even today Europe is awash with these fake holy relics or pious
frauds, although as society advanced and less impressed by grotesque
spectacles the more controversial relics were quietly removed from
view. A few of those still on display today are as follows:
Impressions of saintly knees
Stone pavement on which disciples Peter & Paul knelt in prayer,
claimed to have the impression of their knees, are in the wall of the
Church of Santa Francesca Romana.
A letter written by the Virgin Mary
Preserved at Messina is a letter written by the Virgin Mary,
claimed to have been to the Messenians when she heard of their
conversion by Saint Paul.
The Shroud of Gethsemane
The Shroud of the Virgin Mary is preserved in the Church of
Gethsemane.
Skulls of the Three Wise Men
In the Cathedral of Cologne, Germany, are preserved the skulls of
the Three Wise Men who followed the Star to Bethlehem.
Walls of saintly bones
The walls of Church of Saint Gereon, Germany, are covered with the
bones from a whole cemetery dug up and displayed as those of the
mythical Saint Gereon and his Theban Band of 10.000 Martyrs. In a
neighboring graveyard are the bones of Saint Ursula and her 11.000
virgin martyrs.
Saint made of goats bones
The miracle working bones of Santa Rosalia in Palermo are still on
display regardless of the fact they have been proven the bones of a
goat.
All three biblical Mary's in one place
The Church of Saintes Marias de la Mer contains three venerated
tombs, according to tradition they contain the bodies of all three
Mary's mentioned in the Gospels.
The blood of Christ and Virgins Breast Milk
The monastery of Alsace has the following relics: a spot of the
blood of Jesus Christ - a piece of the True Cross - the arm of the
disciple James - part of the skeleton of John the Baptist and a bottle
of the Virgin Mary's Breast Milk.
Holy Ghost's severed finger and tail feathers
A monastery in Jerusalem has one of the fingers of the holy ghost
and his wing & tail feathers, shed or pulled out when in the guise of
a dove he perched on a priests shoulder.
The Virgins Girdle and a bottle of her Breast Milk
In England at the time of Henry VIII (1501) the girdle (corset) of
the Virgin Mary was shown in not less than eleven places as was her
condensed Breast Milk. One of these girdles was bought by the mother
of Catherine of Aragon on her marriage with Henry, as a wedding
present.
A Tear of Jesus Christ and bottle of saintly Sweat
During the plague of 1531 Henry VIII spent a fortune buying the
tear which Christ shed over Lazarus and a bottle of sweat Saint
Michael excreted when he fought the Devil.
Virgin Mary's Hair and more of her Breast Milk
At Laon treasures shown to the public are: Breast Milk and Hair of
the Virgin Mary.
Christ's Baby Teeth and more of the Virgins Breast Milk
At Soisson treasures displayed included: the Baby Teeth of Jesus
and Breast Milk of the Virgin Mary - did they have breast pumps 2000
years ago or what?.
A complete set of Christ's Baby Teeth
The Monastery of Charroux has a complete set of Christ's Baby
Teeth.
Christ's Manger Cradle - Umbilical Cord - Foreskin and imprint
of his little Bottom
One of the greatest churches in Rome had Christ’s Manger Cradle.
Seven churches had his authentic Umbilical Cord - a number of churches
had his Foreskin souvenired by Mary. One church had the imprint of his
Bottom on a stone, on which he had sat as a child
Virgin Mary's worldly possessions
Mary apparently left enough personal effects to fill Boutique,
including: Wedding Rings, Shoes, Stockings, Shirts and Girdles with a
camisole displayed at Chartres Cathedral.
Aaron's Staff and multiple skulls of John the Baptist
One church had Aaron’s Rod. Six had as many Heads of John the
Baptist.
Jesus Christ's Forged Letters
On display in Rome and Genoa are letters written to Jesus Christ
from King Adgar, who may or may not have existed, regarded as "pious
frauds" they have nonetheless been on display and attracting paying
pilgrims for over fifteen centuries:
'Abgar the Black, sovereign of the country, to Jesus, the good Saviour,
who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem: Peace. I have heard
about Thee, and about the healing which is wrought by Thy hands
without drugs and roots. For, as it is reported, Thou makest the blind
to see, and the lame to walk; and Thou cleansest the lepers, and Thou
castest out unclean spirits and demons, and Thou healest those who are
tormented with lingering diseases, and Thou raisest the dead. And when
I heard all these things about Thee, I settled in my mind one of two
things: either that Thou art God, who has come down from heaven, and
doest these things; or that Thou art the Son of God, and doest these
things. On this account, therefore, I have written to beg of Thee that
Thou wouldest weary Thyself to come to me, and heal this disease which
I have. For I have also heard that the Jews murmur against Thee, and
wish to do Thee harm. But I have a city, small and beautiful, which is
sufficient for two.'
Here follows the reply from Jesus Christ
'Blessed is he that believeth in me, not having seen me. For it is
written concerning me, that those who see me will not believe in me,
and that those will believe who have not seen me, and will be saved.
But touching that which thou hast written to me, that I should come to
thee it is meet that I should finish here all that for the sake of
which I have been sent; and, after I have finished it, then I shall be
taken up to Him that sent me; and, when I have been taken up, I will
send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease, and
give salvation to thee and to those who are with thee.'
Although no theologian in the Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox orders
will publicly proclaim them authentic the Catholic Church will not
officially proclaim them frauds as like the Shroud of Turin they
attract the pilgrim penny.
Christian Theme Parks
The Catholic Church has turned the once sacred images and memory of
Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary into corporate logos reminiscent of
Ronald McDonald and Mickey Mouse to promote religious theme parks and
move millions of dollars worth of kitsch merchandise. They use the
same mass marketing techniques and sponsorship arrangements coca cola
and other modern corporations do, often employing the same PR &
Marketing firms to manage their image. Throughout the Catholic world
theme park shrines are plentiful, usually based on the legend of the
Virgin Mary, who has become the surrogate mother of the mind for the
faithful. Her first "otherworldly" appearance was reported whilst she
was still living, appearing c40AD to the disciple James when in Spain.
Ever since Mother Mary has been a regular visitor to the earth, unlike
the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, frequently ordering the construction
of churches and other places of pilgrimage for her glory. Three of the
most famous and noteworthy, out of 1000's, are Lourdes - Medjugorje
and Guadeloupe:
Lourdes - In 1858, in the grotto of Massabielle, near
Lourdes in southern France, the apparition of the Virgin Mary
reputedly appeared 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous, a young local
girl who told her that a chapel should be built on site of the vision.
The vision told the girl that the faithful should drink water from a
fountain in the grotto for cures, soon pilgrims flooded in, sipping
the waters and reminiscent of a Monty Python movie skit underwent
miraculous cures.
Prior to this miraculous event(s) Lourdes had little to attract the
holiday maker or pilgrim, the Church was and remains the biggest land
owner in the region and chief beneficiary of the massive amount of
tourists who have flooded into the town the past 143 years. Exploiting
the sick and desperate from all over the world, who spend millions on
bottles of "holy waters" and trinkets sold by various religious orders
who run gift shops. Every secular business in the town who benefits
from the pilgrim trail has to pay a percentage of its income to the
church, only souvenirs approved by them can be sold in gift shops. Not
perturbed by crass commercialism tea towels with the Virgin Mary are
often sold alongside beach towel reproductions of the Shroud of Turin
and chocolate crucifixes!.
Medjugorje - Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina (formerly
Yugoslavia) became a pilgrimage destination in 1981 after local
children claimed the Virgin Mary appeared to impart the earth shaking
news that "God exists". Although the local bishop denounced the
Medjugorje apparition as a fraud the district needed a tourist
attraction and his protestations were soon ignored, and the pilgrims
kept coming in their millions from all over the world. Like Orange
County in California prior to the opening of Disneyland the backwater
town of Medjugorje became prosperous overnight from tourism, hotels,
motels, shopping malls and travel agents springing out of the ground.
Our Lady of Guadeloupe - The A-typical and most
nonsensical of "visions" of the Virgin Mary manifested in Guadeloupe,
Mexico in 1531 to a young Aztec boy named Juan Diego, who told him she
wanted a church built (Our Lady of Guadeloupe) so his people could
experience her compassion. At the time the Spanish were slaughtering
and enslaving millions of Indians with the full consent of the "Holy
Catholic Church", their cultures systematically erased by Spanish
clergy. One would think the "Mother of God" would have called for a
halt to the carnage or demanded the Christian faithful respect native
culture not build an edifice to her, which was eventually built using
Indian slave labor and stone plundered from sacked temples of the
natives: vanity thy name is woman!.
Although a great deal is often made of alleged cures resulting from
visits to one Christian theme park or another never have any of them
been satisfactorily proven, they generally rely upon acceptance of
oral testimony or secondhand accounts. Impartial investigators have
highlighted innumerable cases where hypochondriacs have simply
imagined they had some illness or other and went to a holy place for a
cure, after which they visited a doctor and tests showed there was
nothing wrong with them. In cases where doctors have diagnosed an
illness prior to a patient visiting a holy place only to return cured,
the possibility of misdiagnosis seldom enters the equation. One should
also remember millions of people visit Christian theme parks and
sideshows every year and only the tiniest portion ever claim to have
been healed, which begs the question does god play favorites?, cures
for some continuance of misery for others?.
Sainthood's remain not only a legitimizer but also a great attention
grabber and money maker for the Church, who cannot churn out enough
saints to keep up with the popular demand, literally every Catholic
diocese in the world has a local candidate for sainthood and lobby
relentlessly. "A flurry of saints and saints-in-waiting are being
produced by Vatican authorities, mostly at the urging of Pope John
Paul II. In addition to the 283 declared saints, the current pontiff
has also ordered 819 beatification's. (2) Once these saints are
proclaimed their parishes are guaranteed an immediate upturn in
finances, necessitating in the establishment of museums, gift shops
and teas houses for the pilgrim trade. One cannot escape the fact the
Catholic Church is involved in show business, the Second of the Ten
Commandments: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above" went out the window in
the 4th century when they had to put on a good show to win over
Pagans, whose rituals were expropriated by the new Church and the show
goes on.
Sources
1. Forgery in Christianity. By Joseph Wheless (1930).
2. Churning Out The Saints. By Daily Telegraph. UK.
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