A reader writes:
I thought this question would have a nice spooky element for Halloween. In St. Liguori’s Glories of Mary, the author relates some fantastic stories:
Moreover, Pelbart says that in his time, when the emperor Sigismund was crossing the Alps with his army, a voice was heard coming from a skeleton asking for a confessor and declaring that the Mother of God, for whom he had a great devotion when a soldier, had obtained permission for him to live on in those bones until he had been able to confess his sins. The man made his confession and then died.
And:
…in the town of Aragorn there lived a young lady named Alexandra. She belonged to the nobility and, being very beautiful, was loved very much by two young men. One day, out of jealousy over Alexandra, the two youths quarreled and killed each other in a duel. Their parents were very much angered by this and, considering that the poor young girl was the cause of so much harm, they killed her too. They cut off her head and threw her into a well. A few days later, when Saint Dominic happened to be passing by the spot, he was inspired by the Lord to go to the well and call down: "Alexandra, come up!" With that, the head of the dead girl appeared, settled on the edge of the well, and begged Saint Dominic to hear her confession…the saint heard her confession and gave her Holy Communion.
My instinct is that these stories fall under pious legend. Can they really square with Church teachings regarding last things and death being the cut off point for repentence? Also, should a head, absent a digestive system, really receive Holy Communion?
While nice for Halloween, such stories are best regarded as the pious legends, at least absent further evidence for them. Stories of this type reflect the way the Christian imagination has shaped the folklore of Europe and infused it with Christian values.
That being said, God is omnipotent, and if he wants to do miracles like the ones reported in these stories, he certainly can.
As to how such events, if they really occurred, would square with Catholic teaching, the following things occur to me:
1) While the rule that death is the closure of our time to repent is one that we must regard as absolute, not promising ourselves a chance to repent afterwards, God might nevertheless make exceptions to it. It is hard to see how this would happen if, as is commonly taught, our wills become fixed on good or evil at the moment of death, but perhaps God can preserve the fluidity of the will even after death. We don’t have a clear idea about why our wills become fixed–why being discarnate would cause that to happen and why they don’t become re-fluid once we are resurrected–so it may be possible for God to preserve this kind of free will in a person who has died.
2) It is also possible that the individuals in question might not really be dead . . . just mostly dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there’s usually only one thing you can do.
But with mostly dead you might, for example, be able to get in a quick confession. So, it not being logically impossible (so far as I can tell) to have what appears to be a skeleton still having a bit of life or (even more clealry) a detached head that’s still alive (just watch The Brain That Woudn’t Die if you don’t believe me!), God could presumably allow these individuals to stay alive long enough to receive the sacraments.
3) As to receiving Communion with no digestive system–well, we’re already pretty far into the miraculous here. I mean, not only does the severed head have no digestive system, it doesn’t have the key parts of its circulatory and respiratory system either. In other words: No heart. No lungs. So what’s pumping and oxygenating the blood? And where are the vocal cords getting the air needed for speech to make the confession? If God is able to miraculously compensate for the absence of these bodily systems, I’m sure he can miraculously compensate for the absence of the digestive system, too.
Therefore, if I were St. Dominic and a severed head wanted me to hear its confession and give it Communion, I would seriously entertain the request.
4) BTW, in addition to the possibility that these people were somehow still alive, the possibility also should be considered that we’re dealing with some kind of spiritual echo or snakeskin phenomenon, where what is producing the phenomenon is not actually the person in question but a remnant of the person.
THAT’S SOMETHING WE’VE CONSIDERED HERE BEFORE ON THE BLOG.
AND THAT FOLKS HAVE COMMENTED ON.
Jimmy,
I see why Sci-Fi is so fascinating to you. When they separate Baltar’s head from his body in the final episode of BSG, God better not give his head absolution. He deserves to dwell in Hell’s well for eternity.
Does that mean that the stories of St. Francis and the wolf of Gubbio; St. Anthony and the mule, the restoration of the severed foot, and the reanimation of the young prince; St. Gregory the Wonderworker stopping the earthquake; etc… are all pious legends?
“There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there’s usually only one thing you can do. ”
Except go through his pockets and look for loose change.
Hey, Jimmy–
Happy All Saints Eve!
Your “possibility #4” makes me think of the Poor Souls from Purgatory. One of the Catholic explanations of “ghosts” is the souls of purgatory requesting prayer/Mass/sacrifices offered up on their behalf in order to lessen their sufferings. Whether it is the actual soul or somehow an image of it being projected or transmitted is not known, but from the study of many Saints and visionaries, this is not an unheard-of occurance.(If you’ll forgive my vanity link: Ghosts: The Secret of Poor Souls in Purgatory) But if they are requesting the Sacraments, it sure does seem like they’d need some life in them.
Thanks for the fun and spooky post to think about.
BTW, when will you be featuring another Literary Club story?
These sound similar to the legend of the Emperor Trajan who, according to the story, was raised to life 500 years after his death by the prayers of Pope Gregory I so that the emperor, a pagan in life, might be baptized a Christian and allowed into heaven.
But I prefer the skeleton story.
“such stories are best regarded as the pious legends”
IMHO, such stories are best regarded as stupid.
(Of course, there was that Lazarus incident I read about.)
There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.
I’m sorry, was that a Princess Bride reference?
+J.M.J+
Section 8 of Lumen Gentium, the section about Blessed Mother, says that devotion to her should avoid “vain credulity”. That phrase that came to mind when I first read that story of the penitent skeleton about a decade ago. It makes for a interesting story, but I highly doubt that it really happened. Yes, I believe that miracles can occur, and have no problem with the wolf of Gubbio and other such stories. Yet this just massively violates what the Church teaches about the separation of soul and body at death and the state of souls after death.
Let’s just appreciate it for the truth it tries to illustrate: that Our Lady will watch over her true devotees and make sure they get to Heaven.
In Jesu et Maria,
Isn’t it wonderful how Princess Bride quotes can be worked into most any conversation?
Was Lazarus all dead or mostly dead?
Oh Jimmy, you’ve opened a can of worms quoting the best movie of all time…
Hey, I thought of a good one for Halloween!
“I’m not a WITCH, I’m your WIFE!” (“But now I’m not sure I even want to be that anymore…”)
And don’t forget Nearly Headless Nick.
Or he could be called *mostly* headless…
Ed Peters,
“IMHO, such stories are best regarded as stupid.”
Wait, I am confused, are you possibly talking about Edward Scissorhands?
Now as for one of the best movies of all time…
The Grandson: A book?
Grandpa: That’s right. When I was your age, television was called books.
Take care and God bless,
Inocencio
J+M+J
I would luv to respond guys, but I’ve got my wife’s murder to plan, the whozacallits to blame for it and, well, I’m swampped.
“And where are the vocal cords getting the air needed for speech to make the confession?”
This reminds me of something that’s sorta slightly OT.
I was in a production of Danton’s Death – an 1830s play about the French Revolution &, specifically, the events that led to the death of Georges Danton. (Hence the title.) I was playing Danton. In the research I did for the role, I discovered that the guillotine sometimes severed heads below the vocal chords, allowing the head to speak briefly; so quickly did the guillotine do it’s work that the head didn’t realize it was dead & kept talking!
That creeped me out!
He deserves to dwell in Hell’s well for eternity.
We all deserve to dwell in Hell for eternity.
Why did one of the stories happened in the City of ‘Aragorn’?
Reminds me of that City in an Ancient Travelogue with the name of ‘Narnia’.
Why did one of the stories happened in the City of ‘Aragorn’? Reminds me of that City in an Ancient Travelogue with the name of ‘Narnia’.