www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Roman Catholic devotion to ikons

>>>If one was to read the Gospel accounts and the history of the Jewish people at that time, they would learn of the burial techniques, like how the cloth was to be wraped around the body while a separate napkin was placed over the face, etc. This is an interesting subject. One has to wonder if this is the burial cloth of our Savior, why did they not use the Jewish custom of burial?<<<

In part because the burial ritual was hurried and incomplete. They had to have Jesus in the tomb, and the tomb sealed, by sundown. That is why the Myrrh-Bearing Women were goint to the tomb--to complete the burial which had not been finished for lack of time.

Moreover, Jesus died by violence, with considerable spilling of blood, and I believe that the rituals for burial in such cases are different from those for death from natural causes.

I might also point out that we know relatively little about Jewish burial rituals c.AD 30, because that which has been given to us in Talmud actually dates from several hundred years later, when practices had changed. Archaeological discoveries of the past 30 years seem to indicate considerable local variations, including the use of a single-piece shroud laid laid lengthwise under and over the body.

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST!
GLORY TO HIM FOREVER!

A hearty WELL-DONE and BRAVO to Fr.Kyrill! Keep up the good work faithful servant of God!

and to Wendy, hang in there kid, I also don't "KNOW IT ALL!"

the least servant of the servants of God, the ikon-writer Mark

Glory to Jesus Christ ! This has been a very informative thread. Roman Catholics venerate several Byzantine ikons. Two of these are "not made by hands:" The Holy Shroud of Turin, now in Italy is almost certainly the same ikon venerated centuries earlier as Mandylion of Constantinople and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico, has a large cultus as Patroness of the Americas and Patroness of Mexico. The other ikons include: the 9th century Greek ikon, Our Lady of Czestochowa, in Poland is the Patroness of Poland; the 12th century Italo-Albanian ikon, Theotokos of Skudar (Scutari) in Italy, Patroness of Albania, known to Romans as Our Lady of Good Counsel; the 15th century Greek (Cretan) ikon, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Italy; and the 17th century Carpatho-Rusyn ikon, Theotokos of Mariapovch in Hungary and in Austria. It is informative to see the positve influence of Orthodox Spirituality on the Roman Catholic community of churches. It is also interesting to observe where these ikons are venerated. This happens in those Roman Catholic counties close to Ukraine, Albania, and Greece, Orthodox counties. Poland is next to Belarus and Ukraine. Hungary is next to Ukraine and Romania. Italy is across the Adriatic from Albania and Greece.

[This message has been edited by Doulos of Fatima (edited 11-10-1999).]