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Product Description
Holy relics -- the bodily remains of saints and other sacred figures -- were for centuries the most revered objects in the Western world, at center-stage in Europe's great churches and cathedrals. Today some relics have been shunted to side chapels and dark crypts, yet many continue to draw prayerful pilgrims, as they have for centuries, seeking solace, inspiration, and signs of miracles. In Magnificent Corpses, Anneli Rufus recounts her visits to 18 of Europe's most significant relics. With an engaging mix of history and personal narrative, Rufus tells their secret stories and, along the way, revisits with a fresh eye the compelling accounts of the saints whose physical bodies the relics represent.
Amazon.com Review
Travel with Anneli Rufus as she visits St. Anthony's jawbone, shriveled tongue, and vocal cords. Critically acclaimed author Rufus weaves a hair-raising travelogue out of 28 visits to garlanded skulls, disembodied hands, and fully clad mummies in towns and villages across Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, England, and France. Each tale is a literary gem as well as a wonderment of miracles attributed to the living saints and their corporeal remains. Known as an impassioned preacher and miracle maker during his life, after his death in 1231 his tomb was repeatedly reopened for relics. At one point, his tongue was reported to still be living and was placed on display. In 1981, his vocal cords were found still fresh! Incredible reports like these and the high quality of Rufus's narrative craftsmanship win Magnificent Corpses my vote for the most entertaining metaphysical read of the summer. --Randall Cohan
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