AmericanPapist Comments
Will the pieces of carpet qualify as second-class relics when our Holy Father is one day canonized? ;)
To answer a glib question seriously, I think second class relics are reserved to items which carry a more significant personal attachment to the Saint.
Third class.... hmmm. =)
A buddy of mine once visted the Cure' of Ars' rectory. On his way out, his big, wooly sweater got hung up on the door to the Cure's bedroom, and he carried away a fairly large splinter from the door, which he taped to a holy card of the Cure' with the words "ex foris" and gave to me as a second class relic, though I don't know if it is so intimate a posession as to justly qualify as such.
relics of the second class: any object worn by the saint or used by the saint (e.g., a book).
third class: any object touched to a first class relic (i.e., _ex corpore_)
You know the joke, that an elderly woman asked her priest if the Church still considered things that a saint touched to be relics. The priest said yes, that they were considered third-class relics. The old woman smiled and cheered "I was spanked by Mother Cabrini!"
Selling this kind of relic is always risky. All I can think of is that guy who bought up the bedsheets the Beatles slept in when they came to America. He cut them into a million tiny squares and tried to sell them as "Beatle Bedding" (sounds like it belongs in an ant farm), it was a flop.
To WhollyRoamin, never heard that before, but that's a scream!
This carpet will be neither 2nd class nor 3rd class relic. I think it's silly to be sellign rug bits, but hey, put it on a counter, and someone will buy it. Ding dongs.
Ah - except that the owner is *giving* the carpet away (free). If he does think that "the ultimate job would be working with the pope," then this act takes on a devotional character. Perhaps it is silly, but certainly not in an objectionable fashion - the man seems to want to spread the joy of the pope's visit.
Flemington is a very Catholic town and that store has been there for years. For a small town, it has four convents of sisters, one of which one is Discalced Carmelite, and which all wear habits. The Carmelites got a gigantic peice of the carpet because they all love BXVI alot. Also the parish there is very active. I am proud my town can be known for papal carpet.
If you would like it and do not live close enough to pick it up, they will ship it to you for $8.
Mine will be here "as soon as we can!"
:) I'm excited... and I'm not even a Catholic yet.
3 Visitors Online
Commenting by HaloScan
