“Magnificent Corpses: Searching Through Europe for St. Peter’s Head, St. Chiara’s Heart, St. Stephen’s Hand, and Other Saints’ Relics”, by Anneli Rufus

256 pages, Da Capo Press, ISBN-13: 978-1569246870

Like Anneli Rufus, I am not Catholic, and so much of what goes on with the reverence of saints and their relics – that would be the physical remains of these holy men and women – is beyond me; indeed, it kinda grosses me out. Dead bodies (in whole or the parts thereof) populating churches and holy places is just…weird (that must be my past Lutheran upbringing coming out). But Rufus does yeoman work in exploring and discovering these relics in Magnificent Corpses: Searching Through Europe for St. Peter’s Head, St. Chiara’s Heart, St. Stephen’s Hand, and Other Saints’ Relics. First things first: this is not an easy topic, but focusing on the morbid or gruesome aspects of the damn things will only anger the devout, while focusing on the spiritual beliefs behind relics will do precious little to convert the nonbeliever. And so Rufus attempted a journalistic – not to say irreverent – approach to the topic; while she never expressly discounts the relic in question nor insults the believer, through her accurate physical descriptions she does more to undermine both than any fire-breathing atheist could.

Not that I blame her. One of my first internal critiques of Magnificent Corpses was the lack of pictures of what Rufus was describing – that is, until I Googled these relics myself and recoiled; looking at picture after picture of dead bodies or, maybe worse, parts of dead bodies is no way to spend an afternoon, and after the first several chapters I stopped and stuck with the author’s descriptions. And believe me, brother, she was indelicate in the extreme with said descriptions and minced no words of the same. But, really now, how delicate is a mummified corpse, or a decapitated head or – I shit you not – a jawbone with the tongue and vocal chords still attached? Do people really need to see and revere such objects in order to find solace and comfort in their faith? (I’d rather not know). Oh, it’s not all bodies and stuff with Magnificent Corpses, as Rufus proves that she has explored the lives of these saints by providing a thumbnail sketch of each and how they came to be saintly. But it is their bodies and their reverence that concerns her here, a reverence I still don’t get.