Every year on the evening of February 7 they always have a nice Mass celebrated over the incorrupt corpse of Bl. Pius IX, of happy memory.
A coach bus from the region of Marche always brings the faithful from his birthplace, Senigallia, located on the shore of the Adriatic Sea.
He was Pope for 31 years!
5 comments:
Pius V, Innocent XI and Pio Nono the greatest pontiffs in the last 500 years.
If he's incorrupt then why isn't he displayed as such?
Blessed Pius IX was one of the Catholic Church's greatest Popes.
But you can't forget Pope Leo XIII, the great St. Pius X, the equally great and saintly Pope Pius XII.
Hoepfully not for many years yet, but I believe that unlike most recent Popes, when the time comes Benedict XVI will be regarded in history as also one of our greatest Popes.
I don't believe that most Saints or Blesseds are totally incorrupt.
They have degress of degredation of their bodies (most often the face), but also the hands, etc. while the rest of the body remains intact. Sometimes their skin turns very dark (almost as if they were African..which of course wasn't true).
Although I understand the devotional tradition around it, and appreciate the devotion, I think it's rather disgusting to decapitate a Saint (like they did to St. Catherine of Siena), to display her head, or surgically remove the arm, leg,heart or tongue of other saints for veneration. The whole body yes, of course. But to dismember a Saint is disgusting and barbaric.
The most remarkable story I ever heard was of the finding of the body of St. Cecilia in the 17th century, when her tomb was opened and her body was found mostly incorrupt after 1,500 years!! Her body was so complete, that the wounds of her maryterdom were visible (cuts to her neck).
I don't remember who, but a famous Italian sculptor of the 17th century created a piece in honor of St. Cecilia which showed her body exactly as he saw it when the body was exhumed. The monument is in Rome, I believe in the Church of St. Cecilia.
There's even a little Order of cloistered nuns called the Benedettine di Santa Cecilia. Unfortunatly, there are only 2-3 monasteries in this Order, all in Italy, and out about 40 nuns in the whole Order.
He is not (or no longer) incorrupt because Galeazzi-Lisi got a hold of the relics in the 50's, when the beatificaiton was re-activated, and performed his famous "aromatizazzione" technique on them, later used (with notorious results) on the body of Pius XII in October '58. Well' PIX didn't explode but when they opened him up in this millenium, G-L's marinate had burned the flesh back and turned the hair red. THAT is why he is covered by a silver mask.
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