Relics of Father Popiełuszko

As an introduction, let us read on page 345 of J. C. Frazer’s valuable book The Golden Bough……

The best-known example is the systematic offering of human sacrifices to ensure good harvests among the Khonds or Khandas, one of the Dravidian peoples of Bengal. These ceremonies were described by British officers who, in the middle of the nineteenth century, were engaged in abolishing them. The sacrifices were offered to the earth goddess Tari Pennu or Bera Pennu. They were intended to ensure abundant harvests and to protect against all diseases and accidents. They were considered especially indispensable in the cultivation of turmeric because, as the Khonds explained, the plant would not attain its deep red colour without the shedding of blood. The goddess accepted the victim, or meriah, as it was called, only when the victim had been purchased, or when it was the child of a victim—that is, the son of a father who had been sacrificed—or when, as a child, it had been designated as a sacrifice by its father or guardian. Khonds living in poverty often sold their children as sacrifices, “remembering that in this way they ensured the sanctification of their Souls, and that their death for the good of humanity was most honourable.” On one occasion, a man from the Panua tribe was seen hurling curses at a Khond and finally spitting in his face because he had sold as a sacrifice his own child, whom the Panua man had wanted to marry. The Khonds who witnessed the incident hastened to console the man who had sold his child, saying: “Your child died so that the whole world might live, and the earth goddess herself will wipe the traces of spit from your face.” A meriah was often kept for years before being sacrificed. As a consecrated being, the person was surrounded with great sympathy mixed with respect and was welcomed wherever they appeared. Upon reaching maturity, a male meriah was usually given a wife, most often also a meriah—a victim—as well as an allotment of land and cattle. Their offspring were likewise meriah—sacrificial victims. Tribes, clans, or villages offered human sacrifices both during fixed festivals and on extraordinary occasions. Periodic victims were usually divided among tribes and sections of tribes in such a way that every head of a household could obtain at least once a year a piece of the meriah’s body for his fields, usually at the time of sowing the principal crops

The course of these tribal sacrifices was as follows. Ten or twelve days before the ceremony, the victim was consecrated by cutting hair that had never before been cut. Crowds of men and women gathered to watch the rite. No one could be forbidden from participating, since the sacrifice was being made for all humanity. The ceremony was preceded by several days of wild revelry and primitive debauchery. On the day before the ceremony, the victim, dressed in new garments, was led in a solemn procession, with music and dancing, to the meriah grove, a cluster of tall forest trees standing near the village and untouched by an axe. There the victim was tied to a post, sometimes standing between two sankissar shrubs. The victim was anointed with oils, buffalo butter, and turmeric and adorned with flowers. Throughout the day, the victim “was surrounded by a reverence not easily distinguishable from adoration.” Fierce struggles took place over the smallest keepsake; a particle of turmeric paste with which the victim had been smeared, a drop of saliva—everything had enormous value, especially in the eyes of women. The crowd danced around the post, the music played, and the people addressed the Earth with the words: “O God, we offer You this sacrifice; give us good harvests, seasons, and health.” To the victim they said: “We bought you for money; we did not abduct you. Now we sacrifice you according to custom, and no sin burdens us.”

On the final morning, the orgies, which had continued almost without interruption throughout the night, began again and lasted until noon, after which they ended and those assembled proceeded to carry out the rite. Once more the victim was anointed with oils, and each person in turn touched the anointed part of the body and wiped the oil onto their own head. In some places, the victim was led in procession through the village, from house to house, and some people tried to pull out at least one hair, while others asked for a drop of saliva with which they anointed their heads. Because the victim was not permitted to be tied and at the same time was not supposed to offer any resistance, precautions were taken by breaking the victim’s arms and legs; often, however, this precaution was unnecessary because the victim had been stupefied with opium. The manner of killing varied depending on the locality. One of the most common methods was strangulation. A green branch of a tree was split down the middle for a length of several feet, the victim’s neck—and in some places the chest—was inserted into the split, and the priest and his assistants pressed the branch together with all their strength. The priest then lightly wounded the victim with an axe, after which the crowd threw itself upon the unfortunate person and cut the flesh from the bones, leaving the head and entrails untouched. Sometimes a living person was quartered. In Chinna Kimedy, the victim was dragged across a field while the surrounding crowd cut pieces from the body, avoiding the head and entrails, until the victim died

The pieces of the victim’s body that had been obtained were immediately carried home by persons specially delegated for this purpose by each village. To ensure rapid delivery, they were sometimes transported by relay, and over a distance of fifty or sixty miles they were passed along with the speed of the postal service. In the villages, those who remained at home observed a strict fast until the piece of the body arrived. The messenger brought it to the place of public assembly, where it was received by the priest surrounded by the heads of households. The priest divided the flesh into two portions. One he offered to the earth goddess by burying it in a hole, with his back turned and without looking. Everyone added a clod of earth, and finally the priest poured water from a gourd over the place. The second portion was divided into as many parts as there were heads of households present. Each wrapped his piece of flesh in leaves and buried it in a favourite field, turning his back and not looking. In some places, each person carried his piece to the stream irrigating his fields and hung it there on a pole. For three days, no house was allowed to be swept, and in one district strict silence was observed; no fire could be carried out, no wood could be chopped, and no strangers could be received. The remains of the victim—the head, entrails, and bones—were guarded by strong guards throughout the night after the sacrifice, and the next morning they were burned together with an entire sheep on a funeral pyre. The ashes were scattered over the fields, smeared on houses and granaries, or mixed with grain to protect it from insects. Sometimes the head and bones were buried in the ground. After human sacrifices were abolished, they were replaced by inferior sacrifices; thus, for example, in the capital of Chinna Kimedy, a goat was sacrificed instead of a human being. In other areas, a buffalo was sacrificed

The meriah appears in the sources upon which we rely as a sacrifice offered by the Khonds to propitiate the earth goddess, but the treatment of the victim, both before and after death, shows that this custom cannot be explained solely as a propitiatory sacrifice. Undoubtedly, part of the victim’s body was offered to the earth goddess, but the remainder was buried by each farmer in his field, while other parts of the body were burned and the ashes scattered over the fields, smeared over granaries, or mixed with grain. It would therefore follow that the body of the meriah was believed to exert a direct, inherent influence upon the ripening of crops, independently of its effectiveness as a sacrifice intended to secure the favour of the deity. In other words, the body and ashes of the victim were believed to possess a magical or physical power to fertilise the earth. The same inherent power was attributed to the blood and tears of the meriah. Turmeric owed its redness to the victim’s blood, and the victim’s tears brought rain. There can be no doubt that, at least at the earliest stage, tears were regarded not only as a sign of rain but also as its cause. Similarly, the custom of pouring water over the body of the meriah was undoubtedly a magical procedure intended to bring rain

“Relics of Father Popiełuszko,” an article from Gazeta Wyborcza dated 9 April 2010. Author: Katarzyna Wiśniewska

The remains of the chaplain of “Solidarity” were removed from the grave beside St Stanislaus Kostka Church in Warsaw’s Żoliborz district. The examination was carried out by a specially sworn team of doctors and priests. Father Jerzy’s body had been preserved in very good condition, Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz, Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw, said yesterday at a press conference

During the exhumation, which took place on 6 and 7 April, a “canonical recognition of the relics of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko” was carried out, as required by the procedures of the beatification process. In December of the previous year, Benedict XVI signed a decree recognising the martyrdom of the chaplain of “Solidarity.” His beatification ceremony will take place on 6 June in Warsaw. Benedict XVI’s envoy, Archbishop Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, will attend

Small fragments of bones from Father Popiełuszko’s wrist were taken as relics. They will be placed in reliquaries, where they will be venerated by the faithful. A similar fate will probably await the relics of John Paul II after his beatification. The cult of relics has been rooted in the Church for centuries. In the Middle Ages, it sometimes assumed grotesque and horrifying forms—teeth were sometimes knocked out of a saint’s body and fingers were cut off. Even today, however, attachment to relics is criticised by some clergy as combining religion with superstition. Interestingly, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says almost nothing about the cult of relics. When asked by Gazeta whether he feared that Father Popiełuszko’s relics would be treated as talismans, Archbishop Nycz replied: “I am not afraid, because we do not treat this cult as absolute. First comes prayer through the intercession of the saint and drawing inspiration from his life, and only then the cult of relics. The cult of relics must be viewed in the proper proportions”

“The practice of relics gives a sense of direct contact with saints. When I myself take in my hand a holy card of St Faustina containing a small piece of her habit, I feel this closeness,” argues Father Rafał Markowski, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Warsaw

Almost twenty-six years have passed since Father Popiełuszko’s tragic death. In 1984, officers of the communist Security Service abducted him, brutally murdered him, and threw his body into the Vistula River. His grave has so far been visited by eighteen million people from all over the world

Archbishop Nycz is already receiving requests from all over Poland for relics of Father Popiełuszko. Officially, it is not yet certain who will receive them or how many were removed. It is known, however, which churches are applying for them. The parish of the Holy Polish Martyr Brothers in Bydgoszcz, where Father Popiełuszko celebrated his final Mass on the evening of 19 October 1984, would like to receive the relics. The parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Włocławek is also seeking them. Near the Włocławek dam, from which Father Jerzy’s body was thrown into the Vistula River, a Sanctuary of the Martyrdom of Father Jerzy will be built. The relics are also to be placed in the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw’s Wilanów district

As Archbishop Nycz announced, they may be given, among others, to new churches dedicated to Father Popiełuszko. The curia will try to fulfil the “important requests” of churches

According to our information, the church in Suchowola, Father Popiełuszko’s hometown, will also receive relics

During the exhumation, Father Popiełuszko’s chasuble was also recovered. After the beatification, it is to be displayed in the museum at the parish of St Stanislaus Kostka

After the relics had been separated, Father Jerzy Popiełuszko’s body was placed in a new coffin in the same location where it had rested since the day of his funeral

Father Popiełuszko will be beatified as a martyr for the faith, so a miracle through his intercession approved by the Vatican was not required, unlike, for example, in the beatification process of John Paul II. Nevertheless, very many people claim that through Father Popiełuszko’s intercession they received special graces, including healing from serious illnesses. His relics will therefore have special significance for some Catholics

After the June beatification Mass in Piłsudski Square, a procession carrying Father Popiełuszko’s relics will set out for the Temple of Divine Providence

This post has 2 comments

• s_majda writes: 17/03/2017 at 23:06
  (Edit) There were also other attractions in Constantinople that could draw Moschos like a magnet: an exceptionally large number of relics. Moschos spoke of the existence of relics in almost every place he described; only when writing about Constantinople did he carefully avoid giving the number of sacred remains displayed in the churches, even though their collection in the capital was the most magnificent in the entire Christian world. In one temple alone, located beside the porphyry column in the Forum of Constantine, there were kept the sacred nails used in the crucifixion of Jesus, the axe with which Noah built the ark, and the Dodekathronon, meaning all twelve baskets in which the bread and fish miraculously multiplied to feed five thousand people had been placed and which were supernaturally discovered by the widowed Empress Helena near the Sea of Galilee. In other places in the capital, one could encounter the crown of thorns, the head of John the Baptist—“complete with hair and beard,” according to one source—the bodies of most of the innocents murdered by King Herod, and more… Fragment from the book entitled From the Holy Mountain Reply
• s_majda writes: 12/04/2017 at 23:16
  (Edit) Hundreds of zealous Byzantine peasants hovered around dying elderly saints, waiting for the moment when they could cut them up once they fell from their perch—in the case of stylites, quite literally. Theodoret recorded one such incident when news spread that the famous hermit James of Cyrrhus was dying. Theodoret had to use all his authority to persuade the crowd of relic-seekers armed with sickles to disperse. Fragment from page 202 of the book entitled From the Holy Mountain

Opublikowano: 21/08/2026
Autor: Sławomir Majda
Kateogrie: Religions, priests, sects, idolatry, vows.

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