Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Cool heads prevail

St. Denis at Notre Dame in Paris, minus not only his head, but also his "head halo" (which you can see, along with extra blood, in the item linked below).


My dear friend Fallen Sparrow is getting attention for his recent post connecting his love for saints with his love for zombies.

He observes:

"It is interesting to note, then, that the icon of St. Denis [a more gory version of which appears on Sparrow's post] depicts halos around both his severed head and over the stump on his body where the head was formerly attached, as if to reiterate the theological truth that the Bishop-Martyr of Paris was not only holy in mind and spirit, but in body as well. It is this particularly Catholic reference back to the body that might lead others to think of us as having a taste for the macabre, with our relics (e.g. St. Catherine of Siena's head) and our Crucifixes, which starkly depict the Man who gave himself over to death for the forgiveness of sins. We need constant reminders that our humanity entails being embodied, that our bodies are ourselves, and not merely our possessions to do with as we please. ... [Read the whole thing.]