Catholicism is probably the only religion that so perfectly fits human nature. You might say that if God hadn’t given it to us, we might have had to invent it. I say this because so much of Catholic sensibilities and customs are mirrored in secular life, often by those who would be horrified to be considered crypto-Catholics.
For example, there are rumors that relic-hunting scientists in Austria have found the skull of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and will reveal the results of DNA testing in an Austrian television documentary commemorating Mozart’s 250th birthday:
"In a documentary entitled Mozart: The Search for Evidence, researchers will reveal the conclusions of tests carried out on the skull at the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck last year. DNA from shavings from the skull was compared with genetic material from the thigh bones of Mozart’s maternal grandmother and niece.
"Until now, tests on the skull, which belongs to the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, have proved inconclusive, but today Dr. Walther Parson, the forensic pathologist who led the analysis said his team had ‘succeeded in getting a clear result.’
"Dr. Parson said the result had been ‘100 percent verified’ by a US Army laboratory but declined to elaborate."
By the way, anyone planning a birthday party for Mozart should consider sending an invitation to Pope Benedict, who is known to be a great admirer of the composer and once said of Mozart’s music, "His music is by no means just entertainment; it contains the whole tragedy of human existence."
I once illustrated an archeology book, and consequently spent a good deal of time at the area archeological survey office.
There is an inherent fascination with ancient human artifacts and remains. You find them in museums all over the world.
And yet, some view the Catholic veneration of holy relics as morbid and unnatural.
Go figure.
Luv Mozart, and always felt he got a bum rap for his Masonic affiliations.
M, you wrote: “Catholicism is probably the only religion that so perfectly fits human nature.” Ummm, “probably”?
“M, you wrote: ‘Catholicism is probably the only religion that so perfectly fits human nature.’ Ummm, ‘probably’?”
I was writing off the cuff and did not edit for theological precision. My ordinary writing style is to use qualifications, but had I given that line an apologetics edit I would have scrubbed the “probably.” Definitely.
I thought of relics, too, when I saw this article yesterday. Very interesting.
And, what is it about Mozart that’s different from his comtemporaries? (Other than the fact that he was brilliant, I mean.) Like Shakespeare, his work far surpasses anyone a generation before or after he wrote. Fascinating, that spark of creative genius & how it seems to visit us so rarely.
As a member of The Mozart Seminar, I insist that you admit that the so-called “historical Mozart” did not exist, but was merely invented by the Salzburgian community to explain their preexisting affinity for gathering at irregular intervals to hear random notes produced by wigged musicians in tights.
And most of the notes attributed to the “historical Mozart” were actually written by a different Austrian of the same name.
M, such slips happen to all of us. Stil lthese are confusing times, and we gotta watch ’em. we just fix’em, and go on with life. best, edp.
Nice one, Mio!
The problem with the Mozart Seminar analogy is that the confounding thing about Christianity is that no one has ever (other than Baigent and Leigh) claimed to have relics of Christ (or, indeed, of Our Lady).
This is perhaps the most profound problem to the thesis of gradual divinisation propounded by the Jesus Seminar.
PVO
I wish Pope Benedict would attend any party I through, be it for Mozart or someone else. His appreciation of Mozart does speak well of his taste.